Much like common sense and KTV outlets, people have not been using their passports during the pandemic.
Once a ticket to peace and relaxation or fun and adventure, our passports now sit sadly in an old drawer collecting dust while we wait for leisure travel to return.
When that’ll be, no one knows.
It’s not all bad, though. The Singapore authorities recently released some news that’s going to please avid travellers:
S’pore Passport Will be Valid for 10 Years Instead of 5 Years from 1 Oct 2021
It may be a while before you decide to renew your passport, but when you do, it’ll be valid for a long, long time.
From 1 Oct this year, Singapore passports will be valid for 10 years, up from the current five.
That’ll be great news for the lucky Singaporeans who finally get to travel after the COVID-19 pandemic in 2084.
The move was announced by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Friday (7 May), which explained that this will reduce the frequency of passport renewals and offer more convenience to Singaporeans.
This will only apply to citizens over 16 years old, however.
For citizens under 16, passports will remain valid for 5 years as children’s facial features change as they grow. Consequently, the photo on their passports needs to be updated more frequently.
The fee for renewing one’s passport remains unchanged at $70.
Validity Period Used to Be 10 Years Before 2005
Unbeknownst to some, the passport validity period used to be 10 years up until April 2005.
It was reduced to five years when the biometric passport system was introduced as ICA wanted to monitor the stability of the technology.
Now that that technology has stabilised and the durability of microchips embedded in such passports has been assessed to be adequate, ICA has decided to change the validity period back to 10 years.
“It has been 15 years since the introduction of the biometric passport. There is now widespread use of biometric screening technology by immigration authorities around the world,” ICA said.
“In view of these developments, ICA has assessed that it is now viable to increase the validity of the Singapore passport to 10 years without compromising security or global confidence in the Singapore passport.”
Passport Renewals & Applications Down By 50%
Until COVID-19 has vanished, however, travellers may see no need to renew their passports.
Last year, fewer Singaporeans renewed their passports or applied for new ones.
320,709 passports were issued in 2020, down from 711,617 in 2019. That’s a drop of over 50%.
When travellers do finally renew their passports, let’s hope it’ll actually be used instead of residing in a dusty drawer until the next renewal is due.
Featured Image: tristan tan / shutterstock.com