The morning queue outside the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) is a common sight. The queue was said to start at the wee hours of the morning, snaking around the building close to the ICA’s official opening hours at 8am. Some were said to have started queueing as early as 11pm the night before. Above the hubbub rose a chorus of voices - what exactly are they queueing for?

2 Once the doors of the ICA officially open at 8am, the crowd surged towards the services centres. The crowd situation at the three services centres, particularly on weekends and peak periods are a growing concern. Why is there a rush for ICA services?

Identifying your concerns

3 With public safety weighing heavily in the minds of the ICA, a survey was conducted to find out the perceptions of customers who came to queue early. The ICA wanted to find out the reasons why the public is queueing early; what services the public are queueing for and to establish the awareness of the public on the e-services provided by the ICA.


4 It was noted from the survey that more than half the respondents were found to join the queue from 7am onwards. Respondents were asked to identify the services that they were seeking at the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority Building (ICAB). There was a relatively fair spread of demand for services from the three services centres with only a slightly higher percentage (43%) requesting for services at the Permanent Resident Services Centre (PRSC).

5 People queue not because they need to. They queued for the commonest reasons like urgency to submit their applications due to last minute needs, unsure of how to use the e-services or simply no access to internet facility at home. Unlike the perception that people were mainly queueing to rush for submission of their permanent residents (PR) applications, the other services that were highly sought after by the respondents include the completion of formalities for the issuance of Visit Passes (VP) and Student’s Passes (STP); and collection of passport service.

6 Interestingly, the majority of the respondents had acknowledged that they were aware there were alternative online facilities for the services that they were queueing for, yet they were still willing to wait. Some have indicated that they are prepared to hold out at the services centres even if the waiting time was 3 to 6 hours.

Is there a better option for you?

7 While many would suggest the simple solution of increasing our manpower resources or forcing overtime upon the staff to match the increase in demand for our services, the ICA seeks a cutting edge solution of leveraging on technology to streamline processes and reduce the number of trips that applicants need to make to the ICA. The results are the introduction of many customer-centric e-services, such as the e-Xtend (online extension of Visit Pass), e-REP (online renewal/transfer of re-entry permit), SAVE (online application for visa) and the e-Appointment (online appointment booking portal).

8 Use of the e-Appointment is a win-win situation for the ICA and our customers. The e-Appointment system allows the public to plan their time when they need to make a trip to the ICAB. They can expect a shorter waiting time if they turn up punctually for their appointment. Concurrently, it also helps the ICA to better manage our limited resources and alleviate any unpleasant or security concerns that could arise in an overcrowded services centre. Notwithstanding the advantages, the ICA recognizes that crowd and queues can still be expected on super peak periods, especially on Saturdays and eves of public holidays.

9 e-Appointment is certainly the better alternative to queue and wait. With a few simple clicks of the buttons, a customer will be able to make an appointment with the ICA for a wide array of immigration services and facilities. Currently, the ICA is in the process of making e-Appointment compulsory for our highly demanded services in phases. Customers who seek the following services will be required to make e-Appointment before they turn up at the ICAB:

 Services Centre

 Immigration Services which requires prior appointment

Permanent Resident Services Centre 

 (a) Submission of PR application

 (b) Complete formalities for PR

Visitor Services Centre

 (a) Complete formalities for issuance of Visit Pass

 (b) Complete formalities for issuance of Student’s Pass

Improvement in Queue situation

10 Feedback received from members of the public on our compulsory e-Appointment has been encouraging. It has significantly cut the time spent waiting in queue. Says a beaming Ms Annie Tan, “After an appointment was made through e-Appointment, I went down to the ICA on the appointed date and time to collect my new Singapore passport. I was most impressed by the efficiency of the new appointment system. It took less than ten minutes from the moment I arrived at the ICA to the time I left the building with my new passport in hand. Thank you and congratulations for an excellent job!”

11 With the proactive push for public to use the ICA’s wide array of e-services, the ICA has seen notable results as the morning queue outside the ICAB has shortened in the past few months. Nevertheless, the ICA, in its relentless pursue of service excellence, will not rest on its laurels. Besides encouraging more people to use the existing e-services, the ICA intends to push for more online services to make it more convenient for its customer to access it’s spectrum of facilities. As unveiled during the ICA’s annual Workplan Seminar on 21 Apr, the ICA is expected to launch the online portals for Singapore citizenship (SC) and PR applications in the coming months.

Greater Convenience to Customers

12 In the past few years, the ICA has seen a quantum increase in the demand for many of its immigration facilities. The ICA aim to delight our customers by understanding their needs and what motivates them. From there, we seek to innovate and explore ways to better our service delivery. We actively listen and the positive feedback from our customers has prompted us to push for use of our e-services. It is a practical approach that the ICA is adopting and we are confident that this is a worthwhile initiative that members of public would appreciate.
13 As Commissioner ICA, Mr Eric Tan says, “In our continuous strive for service excellence, we must move in tandem with customers’ expectations. Members of public are more informed and have grown to expect more from public services. It is indeed a challenge for ICA to continuously ensure that security is not compromised whilst we serve our customers well. The challenge for us is to delight our customers.”


END OF NEWS RELEASE

Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
22 April 2009