NSFs, regulars no longer required to surrender NRICs when enlisting; military ICs will still be issued

SINGAPORE — From May 15, full-time national servicemen (NSF) and regulars will no longer need to surrender their National Registration Identity Cards (NRIC) when enlisting, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said on Monday (May 9). 

Military identity cards (IC) will still be issued to all SAF soldiers, as they continue to serve as the primary document to identify themselves as SAF service personnel, said Mindef in a press release.

The NRICs of serving NSFs and regulars will be returned in phases, through their unit manpower officers. This will be completed by November.

"SAF personnel will hold both their NRICs and their military ICs going forward," said Mindef.

Similarly, the Ministry of Home Affairs 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, Mindef said.

The NRICs of serving Home Team NSFs will also be returned in phases, and Singapore Police Force and the Singapore Civil Defence Force will continue to issue the NS Identity Card to NSFs.

Previously, NSFs and regulars were required to exchange their civilian NRICs for Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) military ICs. This has been the case since since the introduction of National Service in 1967. 

"As a new and independent nation without strong military traditions, SAF soldiers carried the military IC instead of a civilian one to remind them of their roles and responsibilities to defend Singapore," Mindef explained. 

Noting that more than one million Singaporean males "have served their NS dutifully" over the past 55 years, the ministry said that Singaporeans have "accepted NS as a necessary commitment by enlistees to build a strong national defence through the SAF". 

"We have succeeded in building a military ethos that has been sustained across a few generations," said Mindef. 

"The Ministry of Defence has therefore decided that NSFs and regulars no longer need to surrender their NRICs when enlisting."