Expect longer waiting time during peak hours at ICA

ST Online

25 Dec 2009

WE REFER to Mr Tan Beng Beng's Forum Online letter last Saturday, 'Three-hour wait at ICA for one-minute job'. Based on the timing that Mr Tan has provided, he and his mother-in-law arrived at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) Building at 12.30pm, very much within the peak hours which generally see a larger crowd.

On that day, the Visitor Services Centre (VSC) was serving a record number of almost 1,600 customers as it was the peak period, it being the year-end school holidays. The surge in numbers is a fact that ICA strives to cope as best as it can with the available resources.

In the circumstances, we seek the understanding of our customers that a person inevitably would have to wait longer than normal.

The ICA is committed to service excellence without compromising on security. To the extent possible, we have taken steps to reduce the waiting time.

Nevertheless, the surge in demand for our services being unpredictable, walk-in customers like Mr Tan may still be required to wait a while depending on the number of people ahead in the queue.

Members of the public are advised to avoid the peak hours where possible. The hours, as stated below, can also be viewed on our website at http://www.ica.gov.sg

Peak periods to avoid:

- Saturday, eve of public holidays and the day after public holidays.

- Between 11am and 2pm on Monday and Friday

We welcome Mr Tan to contact our senior customer relations executive, ASP Goh Siew Lee, on 6391-6497 or 6391-6186 to provide more details so that we can look into his case more specifically.

The ICA is constantly exploring ways to enhance our systems and processes and we welcome his feedback to help us improve our service efficiency.

Chia Hui Keng (Ms)

Head, Public & Internal Communications Branch

Corporate Communications Division

Immigration & Checkpoints Authority


Three-hour wait at ICA for one-minute job at counter

ST Online

19 Dec 2009

MY MOTHER-IN-LAW and I visited the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) Visitor Services Centre on Thursday at about 12.30pm. We were shocked when we had to wait three solid hours just to have the visitor pass stamp transferred to my mother-in-law's new Malaysian passport - a task which took the ICA counter officer less than one minute.

It was an unforgettable experience for my 69-year-old mother-in-law.

I find such a 'one size fits all' service approach unacceptable, especially from an agency that has just been awarded the Singapore Quality Award by Spring Singapore.

I hope the ICA will review its service delivery processes and be more customer-centric.

Tan Beng Beng