As the Lunar New Year holiday approaches, things are about to get squeezy.

Travellers should expect a longer than usual waiting time at Tuas and Woodlands checkpoints, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has advised.

As security checks will be tight, traffic at checkpoints will build up in the week leading to the Lunar New Year, in particular from Thursday, Jan. 26 to 31, 2017.

About 400,000 travellers use the land checkpoints daily and this number is expected to increase to 430,000 during peak periods.

No smuggling, please

As stringent checks will be carried out to deter smuggling attempts, travellers are reminded not to bring in prohibited items such as firecrackers.

More than 46,000 cases of contraband items were detected at the land checkpoints in 2016, or about 126 cases per day on average.

Other controlled items include bak kwa, eggs and potted plants, and are subjected to travellers’ allowance only from approved countries.

Passports

Travellers are also reminded to check and ensure that they are using their own passports with a remaining validity of six months or more.

Last year, about 800 cases of Singaporeans were detected at land checkpoints for using wrong passports or passports earlier reported as lost or stolen.

Such cases will lead to delays and cause inconvenience to the passport holders and other checkpoints users.

Passports that had been reported lost or stolen can no longer be used for travelling even if they are

found subsequently.

These passports will be cancelled by ICA, and any attempt to use them is an offence under the Passports Act and may be punished by a fine of up to S$10,000 or imprisonment of up to 10 years, or both.

Passports that have been recovered must be surrendered to the ICA within 14 days to prevent abuse by persons with ill-intent. Failure to surrender the recovered passport is an offence under the Passports Regulations and may be punished by a fine of up to S$3,000 or imprisonment for up to two years, or both.

Motorists are advised to check the traffic situation at both land checkpoints before embarking on their journey through LTA’s Expressway Monitoring & Advisory System (EMAS) installed along the AYE and BKE respectively.