Alicia Chong
Image credit: @thehypetraveler
Passports will be distributed for free to newborn Singaporean children as of Jan 1, 2020. This new initiative comes as part of a broader effort to encourage more Singaporean couples to have babies.
The standard $70 application fee for children aged less than a year, will be waived. However, this is only applicable to online submissions through the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) website.
ICA announced last Tuesday (Oct 15) that this scheme will also now apply to children who were born this year. From January 1, children who have not reached their first year birthdays will be eligible for the waiver when they apply online.
Eligible parents will also receive electronic notifications on January 1 to make the application online.
Children below six years of age will also not be needed to be present at the collection of their passports. Older children will have to be present to submit their biometric identifiers such as iris images and fingerprints so as to get access to the automated immigration gates.
Image credit: Khoa Pham
Also read: Singapore and Japan Are Now Tied for the World’s Most Powerful Passport
