Sharing our recent experience obtaining a Singapore Police Clearance (COC) as former expat
- Prepare a copy of your ITA or Lodgement letter that clearly shows the applicant’s name. This can be uploaded as supporting evidence when submitting the COC request.
- If you are applying from overseas, only two types of institutions are accepted to stamp your fingerprint form: a Notary Public or the Singapore Embassy/High Commission.
- In our case, my spouse submitted the COC request through the Singapore Police website, uploaded the required documents, and paid the fee. An appointment was then booked at the Singapore Embassy in the country of current residence to complete the fingerprinting.
- The next day, we still hadn’t received the acknowledgement email for the COC request. We submitted an enquiry asking how to upload the scanned fingerprint form and clarified that the request was for migration purposes. A few hours later, we received instructions on how to upload or send the scanned fingerprint document. We uploaded it immediately, and by the following morning we received confirmation that the fingerprint form had been received. About half a day after that, the digital copy of the COC was issued.
Overall, the process was very fast—well under the 7–15 days stated on the website. It seems important to notify them if you haven’t received the acknowledgement email and to clearly mention that the request is for migration purposes, as this appears to prompt quicker guidance and processing.