SINGAPORE: Full-time national servicemen (NSFs) and regulars will no longer need to surrender their National Registration Identity Cards (NRICs) when enlisting from May 15, the Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) said on Monday (May 9).
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will also cease the requirement for Home Team NSFs to surrender their physical NRICs for safekeeping, starting from the batch of NSFs enlisting in May 2022.
Currently, all full-time NSFs and regulars are required to exchange their NRICs for Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) military identity cards.
From May 15, military identity cards will still be issued to all SAF NSFs and regulars as it continues to “serve as the primary document to identify themselves as SAF service personnel”, said MINDEF.
NRICs will be returned to all serving NSFs and regulars in phases through their unit’s Manpower Officers. The return of the NRICs will be completed by November this year, said MINDEF.
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) will continue to issue the NS identity card to their NSFs, and the NRICs of serving Home Team NSFs will also be returned in phases.
