Passports Act 2007

Passports Act 2007

2020 REVISED EDITION

This revised edition incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 December 2021 and comes into operation on 31 December 2021

An Act to provide for the issue of Singapore passports and other travel documents to be used as evidence of identity and citizenship by citizens of Singapore who are travelling internationally and for matters connected therewith.

[1 December 2007]

PART 1

PRELIMINARY

Short title

1.  This Act is the Passports Act 2007.

General interpretation

2.—(1)  In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“applicant”, in relation to an application for a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document, means the person who will be the holder of the Singapore passport or Singapore travel document if the application is granted;

“approved form” means any form approved by the Controller for the purposes of any of the provisions of this Act;

“authorised officer”, in relation to any provision in this Act or the regulations, means —

(a) the Controller;

(b) any immigration officer authorised by the Minister for the purposes of that provision;

(c) any diplomatic or consular officer of the Government in any foreign country, or any Trade Commissioner of Singapore in any foreign country, authorised by the Minister for the purposes of that provision; or

(d) any other public officer authorised by the Minister for the purposes of that provision;

“biometric passport” means a passport which contains unique biological data specific to the holder;

“child” means a person who is below 16 years of age;

“conduct” means an act, an omission to perform an act or a state of affairs;

“Controller” means the Controller of Immigration appointed under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1959;

“customs officer” has the same meaning as “officer of customs” in the Customs Act 1960;

“document” includes —

(a) any paper or other material where there is writing;

(b) any paper or other material on which there are marks, figures, symbols or perforations that are —

(i) capable of being given a meaning by persons qualified to interpret them; or

(ii) capable of being responded to by a computer, a machine or an electronic device; or

(c) any article or material from which information is capable of being reproduced with or without the aid of any other article or device;

“engage in conduct” means to do an act or omit to perform an act;

“fingerprint”, in relation to an individual, means a record (in any form and produced by any method) of the skin pattern and other physical characteristics or features of any of the individual’s thumbs or fingers;

“foreign travel document” means —

(a) a passport; or

(b) a document issued for travel purposes (whether or not also issued for another purpose),

that is issued by or on behalf of the government of a foreign country or an international organisation approved by the Minister;

“holder”, in relation to a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document, means the person in whose name the Singapore passport or Singapore travel document has been issued;

“immigration officer” means an immigration officer appointed under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1959;

“public authority” means any board or authority established by or under any written law to perform or discharge any public function;

“regulations” means the regulations made under this Act;

“repealed Act” means the Passports Act (Cap. 220, 1985 Revised Edition) repealed by this Act;

“Singapore document of identity” means a document issued under section 16 to any person who is a citizen of Singapore for the purposes of urgently facilitating the person’s entry into or exit from any country, and purporting to establish the identity and nationality of that person;

“Singapore passport” means —

(a) a Singapore ordinary passport;

(b) a Singapore diplomatic passport; or

(c) a Singapore official passport,

issued by or on behalf of the Government under this Act;

“Singapore temporary travel document” means a Singapore temporary travel document issued under section 13 to any person who is a citizen of Singapore for the purposes of facilitating the person’s entry into or exit from any country, and purporting to establish the identity and nationality of that person;

“Singapore travel document” means —

(a) a Singapore temporary travel document;

(b) a Singapore document of identity or other emergency travel document issued under section 16; or

(c) a Singapore travel document of the kind prescribed under section 18.

(2)  A reference in this Act to a false Singapore passport or a false Singapore travel document is a reference to —

(a) a document —

(i) that is not a Singapore passport but purports to be a Singapore passport; or

(ii) that is not a Singapore travel document but purports to be a Singapore travel document; or

(b) a document that is a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document —

(i) that has been altered by a person who is not authorised to alter that document; or

(ii) that purports to have been altered on a date on which, or at a place at which, or otherwise in circumstances in which, it was not in fact made or altered.

(3)  A reference in this Act to a false foreign travel document is a reference to —

(a) a document that purports to be a passport, or a document for travel purposes, issued by or on behalf of —

(i) the government of a foreign country; or

(ii) an international organisation approved by the Minister for the purposes of the definition of “foreign travel document” under subsection (1),

but that was not issued by or on behalf of that government or international organisation; or

(b) a document that is a foreign travel document that has been altered by a person who is not authorised to alter that document.

(4)  For the purposes of this Act, a person has parental responsibility for a child if, and only if —

(a) the person is the child’s parent;

(b) under any order of court, the child is to live with the person; or

(c) the person is entitled to guardianship or custody of the child under any written law.

Meaning of “personal identifier”

3.—(1)  In this Act, “personal identifier” means any of the identifiers specified in the Schedule (including any in digital form).

(2)  The Minister may, by order in the Gazette, amend the Schedule, except that any other personal identifier so prescribed in the order must —

(a) be an image of, or a measurement or recording of, an external part of the human body or a person’s voice; and

(b) not be an identifier the obtaining of which would involve the taking of an invasive sample within the meaning given by section 8 of the Registration of Criminals Act 1949.

[Act 26 of 2022 wef 12/06/2023]

Extraterritorial operation of Act

4.  Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Act, this Act extends —

(a) to acts, omissions, matters and things outside Singapore; and

(b) to all persons, regardless of their nationality or citizenship.

Controller and authorised officers

5.—(1)  The Controller is, subject to any general or special directions of the Minister, responsible for the administration of this Act and may perform the duties imposed and may exercise the powers conferred upon the Controller by this Act.

(2)  The Minister may from time to time give the Controller —

(a) directions of a general character, and not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, as to the exercise of the powers and discretions conferred on the Controller by this Act; and

(b) the duties required to be discharged by the Controller under this Act,

and the Controller must give effect to all such directions given.

(3)  The Controller may delegate the exercise of all or any of the powers conferred or duties imposed upon the Controller by this Act (except the power of delegation conferred by this subsection) to any authorised officer, subject to the conditions or limitations set out in this Act or that the Controller may specify by directions; and any reference in this Act to the Controller includes a reference to that authorised officer.

(4)  In exercising any powers or functions under a delegation under subsection (3), an authorised officer must comply with the directions of the Controller.

PART 2

ISSUE OF SINGAPORE PASSPORTS AND TRAVEL DOCUMENTS

Division 1 — Singapore passports

Application for Singapore passport

6.  An application for a Singapore passport must —

(a) be made to the Controller in the approved form;

(b) be accompanied by the applicant’s prescribed particulars (which may include personal identifiers), and such other particulars, information and documents as may be specified by the Controller in any particular case; and

(c) be accompanied by the fee prescribed (if any).

Issue of Singapore passport

7.—(1)  Before issuing a Singapore passport to an applicant, the Controller must be satisfied —

(a) that the applicant is a citizen of Singapore in the case of a Singapore ordinary passport;

(b) that the applicant is a citizen of Singapore who is travelling for diplomatic or official purposes, or is a dependent of a person who is travelling for diplomatic or official purposes, in the case of a Singapore diplomatic passport or a Singapore official passport; and

(c) of the identity of the applicant in all cases.

(2)  Every Singapore passport is issued by the Controller for and on behalf of the Government.

(3)  A Singapore passport may be issued under this section subject to —

(a) such conditions as may be prescribed for that class of Singapore passport; and

(b) any other conditions that the Controller may specify in any particular case.

(4)  The Controller may, before issuing a Singapore passport, require the applicant to furnish to the Controller a monetary deposit or any other security (by bond or otherwise) that the Controller may think sufficient to secure the performance or due observance by the applicant of any conditions imposed under subsection (3).

Validity of Singapore passport

8.—(1)  Subject to subsection (2) or unless earlier cancelled, every Singapore ordinary passport is valid for a period not exceeding 6 years for Singapore ordinary passports issued on or after 1 April 2005.

(2)  Unless earlier cancelled, every Singapore diplomatic passport or Singapore official passport is valid for the period specified in the passport.

(3)  Despite subsection (1), the Minister may, in any particular case, if satisfied that good reasons exist and that it would be in the interests of the proper administration of this Act to do so, direct that any Singapore ordinary passport be issued for a period shorter than that stated in that subsection.

(4)  The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, increase the validity period specified in subsection (1) for all Singapore ordinary passports issued on or after such date as is specified in the notification.

[S 759/2022]

No extension of biometric Singapore passport

9.  Singapore passports that are biometric passports must not be extended.

Endorsement of Singapore passport

10.—(1)  The Controller may at any time endorse on any Singapore passport —

(a) such alterations or additions as may be necessary to render accurate the particulars recorded in the Singapore passport regarding the identity or status of the holder of that Singapore passport; and

(b) such conditions as may be prescribed for that class of Singapore passport or such other conditions as the Controller may specify in that particular case.

(2)  The Controller may at any time delete any endorsement made under subsection (1).

Division 2 — Singapore temporary travel document

Purpose of Singapore temporary travel document

11.  Subject to section 13 and Part 3, the Controller may issue a Singapore temporary travel document for and on behalf of the Government to a citizen of Singapore where —

(a) for reasons of passport security and integrity, the Controller considers that it is not desirable to issue that citizen with a Singapore passport; or

(b) the Controller is satisfied that there are other exceptional circumstances where that citizen is already the holder of a Singapore passport.

Application for Singapore temporary travel document

12.  An application for a Singapore temporary travel document must —

(a) be made to the Controller in the approved form;

(b) be accompanied by the applicant’s prescribed particulars (which may include personal identifiers), and such other particulars, information and documents as may be specified by the Controller in any particular case; and

(c) be accompanied by the fee prescribed, if any.

Issue of Singapore temporary travel document

13.—(1)  Before issuing a Singapore temporary travel document to any person, the Controller must be satisfied —

(a) that the applicant is a citizen of Singapore; and

(b) of the identity of the person.

(2)  Every Singapore temporary travel document is issued by the Controller for and on behalf of the Government.

(3)  A Singapore temporary travel document may be issued under this section subject to —

(a) such conditions as may be prescribed for temporary travel documents; and

(b) such other conditions as the Controller may specify in any particular case.

(4)  The Controller may, before issuing a Singapore temporary travel document, require the applicant to furnish to the Controller a monetary deposit or any other security (by bond or otherwise) that the Controller may think sufficient to secure the performance or due observance by the applicant of any conditions imposed under subsection (3).

Validity of Singapore temporary travel document

14.—(1)  A Singapore temporary travel document is valid for one year.

(2)  Despite subsection (1), the Minister may, in any particular case, if satisfied that good reasons exist and that it would be in the interests of the proper administration of this Act to do so, direct that any Singapore temporary travel document be issued for a period shorter than that stated in that subsection.

(3)  The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, increase the validity period stated in subsection (1) for all Singapore temporary travel documents issued on or after such date as is specified in the notification.

No extension of Singapore temporary travel document

15.  Singapore temporary travel documents must not be extended.

Division 3 — Emergency and other travel documents

Issue of Singapore document of identity, etc.

16.—(1)  Except as otherwise provided in Part 3, the Controller may issue a Singapore document of identity or other emergency travel document to any person where —

(a) the Controller has reasonable cause to believe that the person is a citizen of Singapore;

(b) the Controller has reasonable cause to believe that —

(i) the person’s Singapore passport has been lost or stolen or destroyed or is temporarily unavailable; or

(ii) an emergency has affected the availability of the information necessary to ascertain whether or not that person is already the holder of a Singapore passport; and

(c) the person wishes to travel immediately, but, for reasons of passport security and integrity, the Controller considers that it is not desirable to issue that person with a Singapore passport.

(2)  An application for any Singapore document of identity or other emergency travel document must —

(a) be made to the Controller in the approved form;

(b) be accompanied by the applicant’s prescribed particulars (which may include personal identifiers), and such other particulars, information and documents as may be specified by the Controller in any particular case; and

(c) be accompanied by the fee prescribed, if any.

Validity of Singapore document of identity, etc.

17.  A Singapore document of identity or other emergency travel document in section 16 is valid for such a time as, in the opinion of the Controller, will be sufficient to enable the person —

(a) to leave and return to Singapore;

(b) to return to Singapore; or

(c) to complete his or her specified journey,

as the case may require.

Issue of other Singapore travel documents

18.—(1)  Subject to subsection (2) and Part 3, the Controller may, on application to the Controller in circumstances prescribed, issue the applicant with a Singapore travel document of a kind prescribed, being a document issued for the purposes of travel.

(2)  Before issuing a Singapore travel document under subsection (1) to any person, the Controller must be satisfied of the identity of the person.

(3)  A Singapore travel document may be issued under this section subject to —

(a) such conditions as may be prescribed for Singapore travel documents of that kind; and

(b) such other conditions as the Controller may specify in any particular case.

(4)  The Controller may, before issuing a Singapore travel document, require the applicant to furnish to the Controller a monetary deposit or any other security (by bond or otherwise) that the Controller may think sufficient to secure the performance or due observance by the applicant of any conditions imposed under subsection (3).

(5)  An application for any Singapore travel document in subsection (1) must —

(a) be made to the Controller in the approved form;

(b) be accompanied by the applicant’s prescribed particulars (which may include personal identifiers), and such other particulars, information and documents as may be specified by the Controller in any particular case; and

(c) be accompanied by the fee prescribed, if any.