Passports Bill - Singapore Statutes Online

Passports Bill

Bill No. 21/2007

Read the first time on 21st May 2007.

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, to repeal the Passports Act (Chapter 220 of the 1985 Revised Edition) and to make consequential and related amendments to the Immigration Act (Chapter 133 of the 1997 Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

PART I

PRELIMINARY

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Passports Act 2007 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

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 in that behalf 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 in that behalf by the Minister for the purposes of that provision; or
(d)	any other public officer authorised in that behalf 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 (Cap. 133);

“customs officer” has the same meaning as “officer of customs” in the Customs Act (Cap. 70);

“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 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 his 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 such international organisation as the Minister may approve;

“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;

“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) 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 shall be a reference —

(a)

to 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)

to a document that is a Singapore passport or a Singapore travel document that has been altered by a person who is not authorised to alter that document, or 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 shall be a reference —

(a)

to 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)	such international organisation as the Minister may approve 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)

to 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 First Schedule (including any in digital form).

(2) The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, amend the First 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 intimate sample within the meaning of section 13A of the Registration of Criminals Act (Cap. 268).

Extra-territorial 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, irrespective of their nationality or citizenship.

Controller and authorised officers

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

(2) The Minister may from time to time give the Controller 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, and the duties required to be discharged by the Controller under, this Act; and the Controller shall 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 him by this Act (except the power of delegation conferred by this subsection) to any authorised officer, subject to such conditions or limitations as set out in this Act or as the Controller may specify by directions; and any reference in this Act to the Controller shall include a reference to such an 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.

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