ICA sets passport waiting time from one to six weeks
Singapore. New passport applicants can expect a one-week processing time, according to the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority (ICA).
According to the ICA, this year-end target is based on the number of passport applicants received every day and how many they can process after introducing new steps to handle the surge of applicants. The current waiting time for passports is six weeks.
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“We seek the understanding of customers that wait times may be longer than usual, up to 60 minutes at certain times of the day. We are working with ICA to reduce wait times for customers,” stated Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) Dominic Chua.
Last May, the ICA received more than 7,000 passport applications a day – a 5,000 jump from the 2,000 per day applicants before the pandemic. In June, a total of 4,500 applicants daily were received.
“Never in the history of ICA have we issued such a huge number of passports at one go,” said Chua.
Close to 300 officers from other work units across the government agency have been deployed to help the 100 officers from the passport unit produce passports. These workers do their job in eight-hour shifts and many have also cancelled their travel plans to get more work done.
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