Changing Address on NRIC for a New Property

One of the numerous things to do after buying a new property and when ready to move into is to update our NRIC.

What does it take to change the address on our NRIC?  Pretty straightforward apparently. Just head to a friendly Neighbourhood Police Post. Bring along your NRIC, and some concrete evidence that you live in that property. 

I showed the Police officer documents that showed I bought the property, but he didn't seem none too impressed with that. Hello, that's a $1.5m contract ok? Nope, he was not impressed.  But his eyes sparkled when he saw the PUB bill for $7. Whatever works. Seems like the preferred document is a bill from PUB to the new property. Nevermind it was only $7.

The Police officer was able to get everything done on the spot, and neatly pasted a tamper-evident sticker of the new address over your NRIC, and you're done. I think he was bored to death having nothing to do and was happy to be of service.

The IT system will automatically update other government agencies - e.g. CPF, IRAS, LTA, etc.  Hmmm, all of whom collect money from you at some point? Although he said it might take a few days, I noticed all records were updated by the next day. Including my SingPass MyInfo. Neat. 

[It sure beats my experience in the US over getting my driving license and Social Security card!]

But what happens to the rest of the family members whose names are not shown on the PUB bill? I brought along my marriage certification (for my wife), and birth certificates (for my children). I'm pretty kiasu. Those showed the relationship between the other members with me. All good. He checked and was ok with them. Done in a jiffy.

I guess it gets complicated if the other residential members are not your family members and/or you can't produce the relevant relationship documents. Don't ask me how boy. Go ask ICA or enquire at the friendly Neighbourhood Police Post.  I'm sure there's a way out, though it might involve jumping over the moon and more leg work to get it done. Howling probably wouldn't work though. You can try.

Let me assure you, changing the address, this was easy. What was HARD, was changing my e-mail! One might think the virtual ought to be easier than the physical. But nooope. Do you know how much pain it is to change your e-mail, when almost everything are linked to your e-mail? And often, the e-mail is the login userID. Oh my gawd! It took me days and weeks to figure 'em out, one by one.

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