On Thursday (Oct 4), The Strait Times reported, The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) will be requiring foreign travellers to submit an electronic arrival card online prior to their visit to Singapore. The electronic arrival card that will be issued by ICA later will replace the paper-based disembarkation/embarkation card. The submission can be done via online through ICA official site or ICA mobile application.
To assess whether this can be implemented in the long-run, ICA will conduct a three-month trial started from October 4.
The trial by ICA itself will be applied to most of the air, land, and sea checkpoints, such as the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints, Changi Airport, as well as four cruise and ferry terminals of Singapore Cruise Center, Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, Changi Point Ferry Terminal, and Changi Ferry Terminal.
During the three-month trial period, foreign travelers who visit Singapore and arrive at the aforementioned checkpoints but have not filled out the conventional paper-based disembarkation/embarkation card would be assisted by ICA officers to participate in the trial and will be asked for feedback.
Through this electronic arrival card, ICA aims to facilitate foreign travelers in completing the arrival card. Because, those who travel with families or in a small group, can choose to make a one-time group submission with some of the information such as last port embarkation and address in Singapore will automatically be replicated for all individuals in a group.
Some basic information such as full name, passport number, where the visitors will be staying, and length of stay will still exist on the new system. Please also note that the electronic arrival card also comes in various languages.
However, the new system will surely not affect Singaporeans, permanent residents (PRs) holders, student and worker visas returning to Singapore.
According to the authority, if the system can work progressively, they will save approximately 48 million paper cards a year.