I thought I'd share my experience getting a Singaporean Certificate of Clearance as a non-citizen that's outside Singapore right now. I'm not finished yet but will be posting an update about the timeline and final decision. If you had spent 6 consecutive months or more in Singapore in the last 10 years (study abroad, work abroad etc), you will need to submit a COC/Police certificate as part of your PR (Express Entry) application. To obtain this Certificate though you MUST received an ITA first before you can start the process. You will first need to submit an appeal in order to show that you need a COC. Once that is reviewed, they will invite you to apply for COC at which point you will complete a form and pay the fee. You will then need to send in fingerprints after which the application will be reviewed. If approved they will finally mail you your COC.
Summary of process:
1) Receive ITA. Complete the ITA profile to obtain your customized document checklist for your PR application
2) Save the ITA letter and personal checklist as a pdf file. Note that ideally the checklist would show that you require a Singapore Police Certificate
3) Go to https://eservices.police.gov.sg/content/policehubhome/homepage/certificate-of-clearance-hub.html
4) Since I am not in Singapore and I am not a Singaporean citizen, I selected the "Appeal by Non-Citizen to apply for COC" and "Login with FIN" options
5) Make sure you have your old NRIC number. It's the identification number they assigned to you on your Work/Student Pass. Thank God I kept my card from 8 years ago. Bullet dodged!
6) Complete the appeal form, upload a photo, submit any supporting documentation they ask for (Front and back of your card as jpg, ITA letter as pdf, etc. etc.). Submit
7) Wait for an e-mail to tell you your appeal has been approved (3-5 business days). The e-mail will have the Appeal number on it and a Fingerprinting Form. You will need this (it looks like APP/00000000/0000
8) Go back to the website/click on the link in the e-mail and select the "Apply for Certificate of Clearance" and "Login via FIN" options
9) Complete the form again and pay the fee with any major credit card. Mine ended up costing 60 SGD (because it include 5SGD mailing fee).
9*) just in case, save/print the final acknowledgment page at the end for your records
10) Wait for an e-mail to tell you your application was accepted. They will give you your application reference number (#00000000) and tell you where to submit your physical fingerprints along with a Payment Receipt. You will need to mail in both fingerprints and the receipt to the provided address.
11) Go and get your fingerprinting done at a legitimate place - using the form provided in the appeal approval e-mail from step 7.
12) Mail in all required documents to the provided address ( i recommend courier or other mailing service with tracking numbers)
13) Wait for the decision and final COC in your mail (heard it can take a while since they use snail mail and not courier services)
My timeline so far (will update as new info comes in):
- 9/17: obtain ITA
- 9/17: submit an appeal for Singapore COC as a non-citizen outside the US
- 9/22: receive appeal approval
- 9/22: applied for COC and made payment
- 9/23: obtained e-mail confirmation and payment receipt
-9/23: obtained fingerprints and mailed to Singapore (via Fedex with ETA delivery 9/28)
- TBD: confirmation of completeness of documentation from Singapore
- TBD: confirmation of mailing of COC
- TBD: receipt of COC
Some additional notes:
- when you apply for COC you get two options of how to obtain your final COC. First one is via mail which I chose. It costs extra 5 SGD and will take time. Second option is to use a Proxy. It means that if you have a friend or family member in Singapore, they will be able to pick it up themselves from a Singaporean office. You will have to complete a release form etc. but it will be quicker. Since they can pick it up and just scan it for you. Obviously I didn't have anybody to ask so chose the mail option.
- the website is pretty crappy and might take multiple reloads. I had best success using Internet Explorer or Mozilla browsers
- i only know this info from my experience. If you have questions it's very possible i won't know the answer. Just thought I'd share this since i haven't seen a recent COC post.
- if it helps for context: I'm a south east national residing in US currently for work. I was in Singapore a few years ago for Study Abroad and Internship Abroad program. I retained my Work Pass Card and other documentation from that time. I won't be able to help if you don't have your NRIC card.
Summary of process:
1) Receive ITA. Complete the ITA profile to obtain your customized document checklist for your PR application
2) Save the ITA letter and personal checklist as a pdf file. Note that ideally the checklist would show that you require a Singapore Police Certificate
3) Go to https://eservices.police.gov.sg/content/policehubhome/homepage/certificate-of-clearance-hub.html
4) Since I am not in Singapore and I am not a Singaporean citizen, I selected the "Appeal by Non-Citizen to apply for COC" and "Login with FIN" options
5) Make sure you have your old NRIC number. It's the identification number they assigned to you on your Work/Student Pass. Thank God I kept my card from 8 years ago. Bullet dodged!
6) Complete the appeal form, upload a photo, submit any supporting documentation they ask for (Front and back of your card as jpg, ITA letter as pdf, etc. etc.). Submit
7) Wait for an e-mail to tell you your appeal has been approved (3-5 business days). The e-mail will have the Appeal number on it and a Fingerprinting Form. You will need this (it looks like APP/00000000/0000
8) Go back to the website/click on the link in the e-mail and select the "Apply for Certificate of Clearance" and "Login via FIN" options
9) Complete the form again and pay the fee with any major credit card. Mine ended up costing 60 SGD (because it include 5SGD mailing fee).
9*) just in case, save/print the final acknowledgment page at the end for your records
10) Wait for an e-mail to tell you your application was accepted. They will give you your application reference number (#00000000) and tell you where to submit your physical fingerprints along with a Payment Receipt. You will need to mail in both fingerprints and the receipt to the provided address.
11) Go and get your fingerprinting done at a legitimate place - using the form provided in the appeal approval e-mail from step 7.
12) Mail in all required documents to the provided address ( i recommend courier or other mailing service with tracking numbers)
13) Wait for the decision and final COC in your mail (heard it can take a while since they use snail mail and not courier services)
My timeline so far (will update as new info comes in):
- 9/17: obtain ITA
- 9/17: submit an appeal for Singapore COC as a non-citizen outside the US
- 9/22: receive appeal approval
- 9/22: applied for COC and made payment
- 9/23: obtained e-mail confirmation and payment receipt
-9/23: obtained fingerprints and mailed to Singapore (via Fedex with ETA delivery 9/28)
- TBD: confirmation of completeness of documentation from Singapore
- TBD: confirmation of mailing of COC
- TBD: receipt of COC
Some additional notes:
- when you apply for COC you get two options of how to obtain your final COC. First one is via mail which I chose. It costs extra 5 SGD and will take time. Second option is to use a Proxy. It means that if you have a friend or family member in Singapore, they will be able to pick it up themselves from a Singaporean office. You will have to complete a release form etc. but it will be quicker. Since they can pick it up and just scan it for you. Obviously I didn't have anybody to ask so chose the mail option.
- the website is pretty crappy and might take multiple reloads. I had best success using Internet Explorer or Mozilla browsers
- i only know this info from my experience. If you have questions it's very possible i won't know the answer. Just thought I'd share this since i haven't seen a recent COC post.
- if it helps for context: I'm a south east national residing in US currently for work. I was in Singapore a few years ago for Study Abroad and Internship Abroad program. I retained my Work Pass Card and other documentation from that time. I won't be able to help if you don't have your NRIC card.
