No Additional Fees for Collection of Passport And Identity Card At Post Offices
The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) announced in May 2021 that the validity period of the Singapore passport will be increased to 10 years for Singapore Citizens aged 16 and above who submit a passport application on or after 1 October 2021.[1] The extended passport validity will reduce the frequency of passport renewals for Singapore Citizens.
Collection of Passport and/or IC at 27 Post Offices
2. Currently, Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents (collectively, “Singapore residents”) who collect their Singapore passport and/or identity card (IC) at post offices are charged an additional collection fee ranging from $6 to $12 by SingPost.
3. To provide added convenience to members of the public and encourage more people to collect their Singapore passport and/or IC at various locations island-wide, Singapore residents will no longer need to pay SingPost an additional collection fee from 1 October 2021, if they choose to collect their documents at the 27 designated post offices. ICA will bear the cost.
4. While most Singapore residents will be able to enjoy this convenience, there will be some residents who will still need to collect their documents at the ICA Building. For example, as SingPost staff rely on biometrics to verify the identity of a Singapore resident before issuing the document to him/her, those who have had prior unsuccessful biometric verification in transactions with ICA will only be offered the option of document collection at the ICA Building.[2] Applicants will be informed of the collection options available to them when the documents are ready for collection.
5. Eligible residents will need to make an online appointment (“eAppointment”) at https://eservices.ica.gov.sg/ibook to collect at their preferred post office. The list of designated post offices can be found at SingPost’s website.
Enhancing Customer Experience
6. Director of ICA’s Citizen Services Centre, Senior Assistant Commissioner Dominic Chua said, “This initiative to encourage the collection of the IC and passports at post offices is part of ICA’s transformation plan to provide greater convenience to our customers. ICA would also like to thank SingPost for working with us to provide document collection services at their post offices since 2010.”
IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
22 SEPTEMBER 2021
[1]The validity period of the passport issued to children below 16 years old will remain at five years.
[2]Unsuccessful biometric verification may be caused by poor quality fingerprints or excessively wet or dry thumbs/fingers.