ICA urges Singaporeans with travel plans to submit their passport renewal applications now

With many expecting to leave the country for a year-end holiday, the Immigrant & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has urged Singaporeans needing to renew their passports to submit their applications now.

In a press release on Thursday (Aug 18), ICA said that this will give them sufficient time to meet the demand for passport renewals before the year end holiday season. Singaporeans with expired passports or those with six months validity remaining are encouraged to submit their applications now to avoid delays.

Applicants can submit and monitor their passport applications on the ICA website or MyICA Mobile, which can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play. The processing time for passport renewals may take up to six weeks.

To avoid unnecessary delays when submitting passport photographs, applicants who choose to take a photo of themselves are advised to refer to the updated photo guidelines on ICA’s website. These include how one must maintain a neutral facial expression and have their mouths closed in the photo. Applicants with photos that do not meet the guidelines will be required to resubmit a new photo. 

ICA will notify applicants through email or a pink notification card when their passports are ready for collection. They can either make an online appointment to collect their passports at the ICA Building or head to any of the 29 designated post offices. There is no additional fee for passport collections at the post offices.

For more enquiries, one can refer to ICA’s FAQs or contact the passport hotline (6812 5555) from 8.30am to 11.59pm daily.

Additionally, they can reach out via ICA’s online Live Chat from 8am to 5pm on Mondays to Fridays or 8am to 1pm on Saturdays.