Delays in Issuance of Vaccination Verifications Prolonging Visa Application Processing

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At a Glance

• Foreign nationals applying for a Dependent’s Pass, Long-Term Visit Pass or Student Pass on behalf of dependent children twelve years and younger are experiencing processing delays at the vaccination verification stage due to a high influx of applications received by the Health Promotion Board.
• Since this process is a prerequisite to the filing of the child’s visa application, principal applicants who sponsor foreign national children requiring vaccination verifications should plan to file their applications earlier to avoid complications as it is not yet clear when the backlog of applications will be resolved.

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The situation

There are delays at the vaccination verification stage for Dependent Pass (DP), Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) and Student Pass applications filed on behalf of children twelve years and younger. Some applications may also take longer for the Health Promotion Board (HPB) to review.

A closer look

• Cause of delays. A high volume of applications has resulted in a backlog in the processing of vaccination verifications by the HBP, leading to extended vaccination verification processing times of 20 to 25 days, instead of the published processing timeframe of 10 business days.

• Affected applications. The processing delays are only affecting DP, LTVP and Student’s Pass applications filed on behalf of dependent foreign-born children who are 12 years old and younger.

 

Impact

Principal applicants who sponsor affected foreign national children should initiate the immigration process early, taking into account the extended vaccination verification timeframe required before the visa applications can be filed.

Background

• Vaccination verification requirement. On February 1, 2019, the Singaporean government began mandating that foreign-born children 12 years old and younger applying for a DP, LTVP or Student’s Pass submit proof of vaccination or evidence of immunity for diphtheria and measles before filing their visa applications with the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority or the Ministry of Manpower. The verifications are submitted to the Health Promotion Board (HBP) to certify that the child has undergone Singapore’s required vaccination schedule for diphtheria and measles.
• Other vaccination requirements. Other countries often require vaccinations for entry. For example, foreign nationals traveling to Papua New Guinea are required to obtain polio vaccinations and foreign nationals and Bolivian nationals entering and leaving Bolivia must present a yellow fever vaccination card upon entry and exit.

 

Looking ahead

Once the backlog of applications is addressed, it is expected that processing times will return to normal; however, it is still uncertain when this will occur. Fragomen will continue to monitor the situation and report on further developments on this issue.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to [email protected].