ICA News & Media

On 9 December 2025, 10 men, aged between 17 and 32, were charged by the Police for their suspected involvement in relation to a series of unauthorised attempts to change registered residential addresses through the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority's (ICA) electronic change of address (eCOA) service. The case was first made known by ICA to the public on 11 January 2025. Four other men were earlier charged in January 2025 in relation to this case. On 9 December, the Police tendered additional charges against three of the four men. The remaining man, a 30-year-old man who is believed to be the mastermind, was charged with 42 additional charges in July and November 2025. With these developments, a total of 14 persons have been charged by the Police in relation to this case so far. Of these, five were also charged by the ICA for their suspected involvement in the false reporting of changes of residential address. Investigations by the Police and ICA have revealed a criminal network that allegedly intercepted ICA PIN mailers, which were then used to change the registered residential addresses of their victims. The criminal network had allegedly done this in order to receive Singpass password reset mailers, which enabled them to take over the victims' Singpass accounts.

From 30 January 2026, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) will issue No-Boarding Directive (NBD) notices to airline operators at Changi and Seletar Airports, to prevent undesirable or prohibited immigrants, and those who do not meet Singapore's entry requirements, from boarding flights bound for Singapore. This upstream measure will enhance our border security. ICA currently leverages advance traveller information, including that provided in the SG Arrival Card (SGAC), flight manifests and other sources of data, to identify high-risk travellers before they arrive at our checkpoints. From January 2026, ICA will issue NBD notices to airlines against identified prohibited or undesirable travellers. Airlines that receive an NBD notice must not allow these travellers to board the flight for Singapore. ICA may also issue NBDs against travellers who do not meet Singapore's entry requirements, such as possessing a valid visa or a travel document with at least six months' validity.

The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) expects heavy traffic at both Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints during the upcoming year end school holidays from Friday, 21 November 2025 to Thursday, 1 January 2026. The recent Deepavali long weekend from 17 to 20 October 2025 saw close to two million travellers cross Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints. Traveller volume peaked on 17 October, with over 550,000 travellers clearing immigration through the land checkpoints in a single day. Car travellers who departed during the peak hours had to wait up to three hours for immigration clearance, due to traffic tailbacks from Malaysia. Vaping and possession of e-vaporisers are prohibited in Singapore. ICA adopts a multi-pronged approach to detect and foil smuggling attempts through our land checkpoints. With the upcoming school holidays, intensified checks against the smuggling of e-vaporisers will be conducted.

The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority and Land Transport Authority have established operational procedures to address equipment failures at checkpoint toll booths. When payment machine failures occur, checkpoint personnel are required to notify the LTA office located within the checkpoint, report to supervisors, and close the counter for maintenance. In a recent incident, although counter personnel notified LTA of the equipment failure, the counter was not closed promptly as required by procedure. The agencies have apologized for the inconvenience caused and have reminded staff to strictly adhere to the established operational procedures.

Officers from the Singapore Police Force (SPF), Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA), Singapore Customs, and Health Sciences Authority (HSA) conducted a multi-agency enforcement operation between 9 and 15 October 2025 across our land, air, and sea checkpoints. The operation was part of the authorities' continued efforts to detect and enforce against non-compliance with Singapore's Cross-Border Cash Reporting Regime (CBCRR) and other illegal cross-border smuggling activities. During the week-long operation, the authorities conducted enhanced checks on travellers and vehicles at the checkpoints. More than 14,000 travellers and 280 vehicles were identified for checks, and more than 11,700 pieces of luggage and hand-carry bags were scanned or searched. 11 travellers were caught moving cash exceeding S$20,000 without proper declaration, with four issued warnings and six issued composition sums.