Shortly after your son's or daughter's first birthday celebration, chances are you need to work on his/her LTVP renewal which only has one year validity.
Just in case you're in the same spot we were, here's what we did to renew my son's LTVP. Basically, three main parts, namely:
- Renew application online.
- Prepare requirements.
- Complete formalities (if approved).
BTW, as I was looking for the easiest way of renewing the pass, this post is intended for those who are eligible to renwe online. Those who aren't eligible have to personally report to ICA -- as far as I know.
PART I: RENEW APPLICATION ONLINE
For this part, I'm not going to discuss one by one how to renew online, as it is pretty straight-forward. All you need is the link to "e-VP Electronic Visit Pass (Longterm) System", which is:
https://ltpass.ica.gov.sg/eltsvp/main.do
Instead, I've listed below the factors that you need to consider BEFORE you renew your child's LTVP.
Timing of Online Renewal:
First thing to consider is WHEN should you apply online. From what I can gather online, the applicant (ie, your child) is allowed to renew online IF the pass is still valid for 10 days at the time of application.
It should be noted that the actual processing of renewals -- as per the online FAQ and our own experience -- takes around two weeks, which would probably explain the ten day limit -- must be ten working days, which spans two weeks.
At any rate, I think that if you're targetting as close as possible to the 10 day limit, it's cutting it too close -- and not worth the extra hassle. Us, we just submitted about four weeks before the expiry date. More time to maneuver, more time to prepare, more time to plan ahead.
Requirements for Online Renewal:
Go through the list in the "Important Notes" part of the link and make sure you have everything. Nothing worse than nearly completing everything only to fail because your laptop/PC cannot support your transaction.
- SingPass account
- Financial: AMEX, Visa, Mastercard, or Internet Banking
- Supported browsers + plugins.
Most of these you should already have, since this is a renewal. The only potential problems are forgotten pins and/or passwords, and if you're using a new/reformatted PC/laptop.
If it's the latter one (PC/laptop), I suggest going through the online renewal process until you reach the part where it's asking you to choose your payment method. If you reach this point and can select whatever method, then you're good to go. :)
Oh, on the financial side, whatever method you use, be sure that you can pay
SGD30.00. That's the processing fee.
Doing the Online Renewal:
Once you decide on the date to renew the application, just go to the link and enter whatever information is necessary. Since this is renewal, most of the information is already there, so you just need to enter a few more.
Once submitted, check the inbox of your email. You should have received a notification email about the submission. Expect the next email in two weeks. For the meantime, this would be a great time to prepare the requirements.
PART II: PREPARE REQUIREMENTS
Below is the list of required documents to be submitted in Part III. Note that "applicant" refers to your child and "sponsor" refers to you or your spouse, or whoever was the sponsor indicated in the renewal.
- Approval Notice (available once approved)
- Completed Form 14 (available once approved)
- Terms and Conditions of Issue for Long Term Pass Card (available once approved)
- Applicant's current Visit Pass
- Applicant's Passport + photocopy of applicant's passport particulars
- Applicant's birth certificate (original + photocopy)
- Sponsor's marriage certificate (original + photocopy)
- Sponsor's divorce certificate, if applicable (original + photocopy)
- Sponsor's spouse's death certificate, if applicable (original + photocopy)
- Applicant's recent passport-sized photograph (within 3 months, colored, white background, matt finish, full face shown).
The first three are available once approved; just need to print them out and sign afterwards. The others should readily be available, as they are most likely have been submitted in the original application. Only the photograph needs to be done, and the most difficult to get. If you have your own camera, that makes it a little better, maybe. But the most difficult part is "coercing" your child to stay still, and have his/her picture taken against a white background.
Just some pointers:
- For kids under 5, photo restrictions are relaxed:
- picture should be a good likeness of the baby;
- neutral expression not required;
- head does not need to be straight;
- eyes do not need to look straight in the camera; and
- eyecolor should be visible.
- Passport-sized photos are 35mm x 45mm or 400 x 514 pixels. Resize and/or crop as necessary.
- If your child is using a high-chair, use that and simply find a way to hang a white cloth behind. The stage is now set, making it easier to take pictures of your child.
- Background will not be perfectly white. Adjust as necessary with Photoshop or even with just MS Paint -- picture is small enough, that changes via Paint will not be visible if you are patient enough to do it.
For more information, checkout the links below:
http://www3.ica.gov.sg/apples/faq/photo_image.html
PART III: COMPLETE FORMALITIES
You should get an email informing you of the approval. Your child has been given Short-Term Visit Pass and the In-Principle Approval. As soon as you get this email, be sure to follow-through right away so you can make an appointment. Appointment slots are limited per day and if you wait too long, you might not find the date/time that you prefer.
Just follow the instructions in the email. You should be taken to the eVP site again, then just click on Enquire Status/Make Payment.
You will need to do the following:
- Print the Approval Notice (link provided)
- Print the Completed Form 14 (link provided)
- Print the Terms and Conditions of Issue for Long Term Pass Card (link provided)
- SGD 90.00 ready "online" (SGD60 Issuance Fee + SGD30 Visa Fee); you'll need to pay at some point when making the application.
Note that the Appointment date will be the Issuance Date in your child's LTVP; the old and new LTVP cards have no dependence on each other. That is, if your child's old LTVP had an Issue and Expiry Date set to November 30th, then you set your appointment to November 15th, then the new LTVP card will have the Issue and Expiry Dates set to November 15th.
Just be punctual for the appointment and have all of the above documents ready and sorted out. Go to the ICA Building 4th Floor at the Visitor's Centre, go to Kiosk 3, scan the barcode on the "Approval Notice", and get queue ticket. Wait for your turn. It should be finished in under an hour.
Lastly, note that the old LTVP card will be collected. So if you are the sentimental type, be sure to make digital copies of your child's old LTVP card; you will not see it again once the new one is issued.
