LOST IDENTITY CARDS AND PASSPORTS

LOST IDENTITY CARDS AND PASSPORTS

17.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Home Affairs what is the reason for penalising applicants for replacement of lost identity cards and passports due to robbery, theft or natural disasters like flooding and tsunami.

Mr Wong Kan Seng: The identity card and passport are important documents. In the wrong hands, they can be used for illegal purposes. Singaporeans must take good care of these documents. Their loss cannot be taken lightly. ICA adopts a range of strategies to impress the importance of this responsibility on Singaporeans. Charging Singaporeans who lose these documents a replacement fee is one way of doing so.

Nevertheless, when someone loses his identity card or passport, ICA will consider the merits of the case for the waiver of the replacement fee. In situations where the identity card or passport holder was deemed not to be at fault, eg, loss as a result of robbery or a natural disaster like flooding or the recent tsunami, he will only be asked to pay the cost of the document. If the applicant has financial difficulties in paying even this fee, ICA will consider waiving it.

In addition, the document fee can also be waived in exceptional circumstances. The recent tsunami disaster is one such example. We have taken the decision to waive the replacement fee as well as the document fee for all Singaporeans who lost their documents in the tragedy.

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But I must reiterate that the NRIC and passport are very important documents. Hence, every Singaporean should take good care of them.

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