Great news for Singaporeans with erratic schedules – you will soon be able to drop by Lavender on a whim to collect your new passports and NRICs, as prior appointments will no longer be needed at the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) once the new ICA Services Centre (ISC) kicks off its operations in the near future.
Set to be located right next to the existing ICA building, the ISC will use a special technology called the Integrated Smart Document Management System – known as iSMART for short – which digitises various processes via biometrics for a more convenient experience. This will likely also shorten waiting times by a margin.
Currently, walk-ins are strictly not allowed for passport and IC collection, unless they’re deemed “urgent cases on an exceptional basis”.
The ISC is slated to open on an unspecified date in 2025. Till then, it’ll be the usual ICA appointments or post office visits if you’re looking to pick up your new legal documents – so it’s best not to keep things to the last minute if your passport expiry is looming and you’ve got a trip planned soon after.
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