SINGAPORE - From Tuesday (April 7), counter services at the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) building will be reserved for urgent cases with appointments, and walk-ins will be denied entry.
As government agencies here also scale down the number of counter-staff for safe distancing, the ICA has urged members of the public to use its e-services instead.
These include those who have already made appointments on or after April 7 will have to defer their visits till after May 4.
New appointments during this period can no longer be made through the ICA's e-appointment service, and will only be processed through a dedicated webpage.
Only those who have received an approval appointment letter, expected within one working day, will be seen, the ICA said on Sunday.
Below are the urgent counter services that members of the public can still put in a request for:
- Birth registration
- Urgent citizenship registration
- Death registration
- Urgent IC replacement
- Urgent passport collection
- Oath of renunciation, allegiance and loyalty
- Urgent application for certificate of identity for permanent residents
- Urgent permanent resident completion of formalities
- Urgent long-term visit pass/student's pass completion of formalities
- Long-term visit pass/student's pass cancellation
- Urgent social visit pass extension
- Lost passport for foreign visitors
- Application for special pass for foreign child born in Singapore
Last Friday, the Government said all its public services will still be available but counter staff will be reduced to limit unnecessary contact.
Most of public agencies' staff are telecommuting from home to keep essential services working.
Non-essential workplaces will be shut from April 7 and eateries will stay open only for take-aways or delivery as Singapore enters a critical stage in its battle to contain the coronavirus outbreak, which has seen an increase in local transmissions in recent days.
As of Saturday noon, Singapore has reported 1,189 Covid-19 cases.
Of these, 297 have fully recovered. Six have died.
