National Registration Regulations - Singapore Statutes Online

National Registration Act

(Chapter 201, Section 19)

National Registration Regulations

Rg 2

REVISED EDITION 1996

(25th March 1992)

[3rd June 1991]

Citation

1. These Regulations may be cited as the National Registration Regulations.

Definition

2. In these Regulations, “ police officer” shall have the same meaning as in the Police Force Act [Cap. 235] and shall include a member of the Special Constabulary and a member of the Auxiliary Police Force constituted under that Act.

Registration and re-registration under Act

3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), every person who is required to register under the Act shall, within one year of attaining the age of 15 years, report to the registration officer and register in accordance with these Regulations.

(2) Where any person wo was below the age of 15 years before 1st January 1997 has been issued with an identity card or replacement in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations in force immediately before that date, he shall not be required to register under paragraph (1) upon attaining the age of 15 years.

(3) Every perosn who is required to register under the Act but who was resident outside Singapore during the whole of the period specified in paragraph (1) shall, within one year of his return to Singapore, report to the registration officer and register in accordance with these Regulations.

(4) Nothing in this regulation shall prevent the registration of a person who fails to register within the period specified in paragraph (1).

(5) Without prejudice to section 13(1)(a) of the Act, every person who is required to re-register under section 6 of the Act but who has failed to do so before 31st December 1995 shall, as soon as is practicable, report to the registration officer and re-register in accordance with these Regulations.

Procedure and documents

4.—(1) Every person required to register or re-register under the Act shall —

(a)

deliver to the registration officer one unmounted photograph showing a true likeness of himself taken in accordance with the conditions laid down in the National Registration (Photographs) Regulations or submit to all such steps as may be reasonably necessary for the taking of a photograph of himself in accordance with any directions given by the registration officer;

[Rg 1.]

(b)

surrender his previous identity card, if any;

(c)

submit to all such steps as may be reasonably necessary for the taking of a finger impression;

(d)

give the following particulars to the registration officer:

(i)	his name or if he is known by different names, each of his names in full;
(ii)	his previous identity card number, if any, and its date of issue;
(iii)	the full particulars of his place of residence;
(iv)	his race;
(v)	his language or dialect;
(vi)	his place of birth;
(vii)	his date of birth and sex;
(viii)	his blood group;
(ix)	his status as a citizen of Singapore or other citizenship or national status;
(x)	his occupation; and
(xi)	such other particulars as the registration officer may consider necessary; and

(e)

produce such documentary evidence as the registration officer may consider necessary to support the accuracy of any particulars submitted.

(2) The registration officer may, at his discretion, endorse, with a stamp or other distinguishing mark, any document produced to him under this regulation.

Issue of identity cards

5.—(1) The registration officer may, at his discretion, issue to the person giving the particulars referred to in regulation 4 an identity card containing the person’ s photograph, his finger impression as provided in regulation 4(1)(c), his blood group and such other particulars as may be necessary for is identification.

(2) In this regulation —

“photograph” includes an image, in the likeness of a photograph reproduced from data acquired by electronic, photographic or similar means and stored by means of a computer or other like instrument;

“finger impression” includes an image, in the likeness of a thumb or finger impression reproduced from data acquired by electronic, photographic or similar means and stored by means of a computer or other like instrument.

(3) Identity cards issued under these Regulations shall be of two types; one type being pink in colour for citizens of Singapore and the other blue in colour for persons who are not citizens of Singapore.

Custody of identity card

6. Any person to whom an identity card is issued shall, subject to the provisions of these Regulations, be responsible for its custody.

Officers who may require production of identity cards

7.—(1) Any registration officer, immigration officer, police officer, officer of customs, officer of the Central Narcotics Bureau or Special Investigator of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (referred to in this regulation as the inspecting officer) and any other officer or class or description of officer authorised in writing in that behalf by the Commissioner, may at any time require any person (not being a person exempted under regulation 22) to produce his identity card for inspection, or to produce it within such time to such person and at such place as the officer requiring its production may think fit. The inspecting officer may retain the identity card for the purpose of investigations.

(2) Any inspecting officer, other than a police officer in uniform purporting to act under paragraph (1), shall, if so requested by any person from whom he has required the production of an identity card, produce for inspection by the person the written authority under which he purports to be acting.

(3) For the purpose of receiving or considering any application for, or any matter connected with, the citizenship of Singapore as provided in any law for the time being in force relating to the citizenship of Singapore, any public officer or other person having any statutory duty under the provisions of any such law shall have all the powers of an inspecting officer conferred by paragraph (1).

Other authority entitled to demand production of identity cards

8.—(1) Any authority to whom a person required to be registered or re-registered under these Regulations applies for the grant of any licence, permit or other document or for the exercise of the authority’ s lawful functions, may in the authority’ s discretion require the applicant to produce his identity card; and if the applicant does not produce to the authority his identity card or other proof to the satisfaction of the authority that he has been registered, re-registered or exempted from registration under these Regulations, the authority may, in the authority’ s discretion, defer consideration of the application until the applicant produces either his identity card or such other proof.

[S 560 /95 wef 22.12.95.]

(2) Where an invalid identity card has been produced to any authority referred to in paragraph (1), it shall be lawful for the authority to retain such identity card and forward it to the Commissioner of National Registration for cancellation.

[S 560 /95 wef 22.12.95.]

(3) For the purpose of this regulation, “ invalid identity card” means an identity card which has been declared to be invalid under section 6(2) of the Act.

[S 560 /95 wef 22.12.95.]

Replacement identity cards

9.—(1) When an identity card is lost, destroyed or so defaced that any particulars thereon are no longer decipherable, the person to whom the card relates shall, within 14 days, report the fact to the nearest registration office and apply for a replacement identity card.

(2) A replacement identity card may be issued in place of the one lost, destroyed or defaced on such conditions as may be imposed by the Commissioner.

(3) Any person issued with a replacement for a lost identity card and who subsequently recovers possession of the lost identity card shall within 7 days of its recovery, surrender it to the registration officer for cancellation.

(4) Any person who finds or comes into possession of an identity card which does not belong to him shall, without undue delay, deliver it to the person to whom it relates or to a registration officer or to a police station.

Replacement identity cards for incorrect particulars

10.—(1) A person registered under these Regulations who —

(a)	changes his name; or
(b)	has in his possession an identity card containing any particulars, other than his address, which are to his knowledge incorrect,

shall within 28 days report the fact to the nearest registration office and apply for a replacement identity card with the correct particulars.

(2) A registration officer, if satisfied that any person —

(a)	who reports any change of name under paragraph (1), has in fact changed his name; or
(b)	who reports that any particulars on his identity card, other than his address, are incorrect,

may issue him a replacement identity card.

(3) A registration officer or a police officer may, in his discretion, require a person in possession of an identity card which, in the opinion of the registration officer or police officer, is in any way unsatisfactory for the purpose of the identification of that person to surrender the card and apply for the issue of a replacement identity card.

Report of change of residence

11.—(1) A report of change of residence under section 8 of the Act shall be in such form as the Commissioner may require and shall be completed and returned to the Commissioner; the form, if sent by post, shall be post-free.

(2) On receipt of a report of change of residence, the Commissioner shall send an acknowledgment card which shall be retained by the person as proof that the report was made.

Death of identity card holder

12. Upon the death of a person to whom an identity card was issued, the person in possession of his identity card shall, within 7 days after the date of death, deliver the identity card to the Registrar of Births and Deaths or to a registration officer.

Persons leaving Singapore permanently

13. Any person registered under these Regulations who intends to leave Singapore permanently for a place outside Malaysia shall, within 14 days of the date of his intended departure, surrender his identity card to a registration officer, or in exceptional circumstances, to an immigration officer, in return for a receipt to be issued by that officer in such form as the Commissioner may devise.

Re-registration at age of 30 years

14.—(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), any person who —

(a)	has been registered in accordance with these Regulations; and
(b)	attains the age of 30 years on or after 1st January 2002,

shall, within one year of attaining the age of 30 years, apply for re-registration under these Regulations.

(2) Where any person to whom this regulation applies has been issued with an identity card or replacement within 10 years immediately before attaining the age of 30 years, he shall not be required to re-register under paragraph (1).

(3) Every person who is required to re-register under this regulation but who was resident outside Singapore during the whole of the period specified in paragraph (1) shall, within one year of his return to Singapore, report to the registration officer and re-register in accordance with these Regulations.

(4) Nothing in this regulation shall prevent the re-registration of a person who fails to re-register within the period specified in paragraph (1).

Publication of information

15. The Commissioner may, at his discretion, cause to be published any information derived from the register required to be kept and maintained under section 4 of the Act.

Powers of registration officer

16. A registration officer may, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of these Regulations —

(a)	call upon any person to appear before him to answer any question which the registration officer may consider reasonably necessary to ask that person;
(b)	require any person applying for registration or re-registration to make such further declaration or supply such further particulars or documents as the registration officer may reasonably require; or
(c)	impound any document produced to him in connection with any application for registration or re-registration if he has reason to doubt its genuineness or correctness or the validity of its issue.

Duties of hotel keepers, etc.

17.—(1) The owner, manager or other person in charge of a hotel, boarding house, hostel or other like dwelling place shall not accommodate any person, other than a person exempted from registration or re-registration under regulation 22, unless he is in possession of an identity card issued to him and produces it at the time of his request for accommodation to the owner, manager or other person.

(2) Where any person seeks accommodation at any hotel, boarding house, hostel or other like dwelling place and is not in possession of, or fails to produce, an identity card issued to him, it shall be the duty of the owner, manager or other person in charge thereof to notify the nearest police station of the fact immediately.

(3) Where any person seeks accommodation at any hotel, boarding house, hostel or other like dwelling place and claims to be a person exempted under regulation 22 from the duty to register or re-register, the owner, manager or other person in charge thereof shall take all reasonable steps to satisfy himself that the person claiming such exemption is entitled in law to the exemption before providing accommodation for him.

(4) Any owner, manager or person in charge of a hotel, boarding house, hostel or other like dwelling place who accommodates any person in contravention of this regulation or fails or neglects to notify the police in accordance with paragraph (2) shall be guilty of an offence.

Duties of pawnbroker

18. A pawnbroker shall not take any article in pawn unless —

(a)	the person offering to pawn the article produces for the inspection of the pawnbroker his identity card; and
(b)	the number of the identity card is entered in the books required to be kept by the pawnbroker under the Pawnbrokers Act [Cap. 222] or any rules made thereunder.

Duties of licensed dealer in secondhand goods

19. A licensed dealer in secondhand goods shall not buy any goods unless —

(a)	the person offering to sell the goods produces for the inspection of the licensed dealer his identity card; and
(b)	the number of the identity card is entered in the books required to be kept by the licensed dealer under the Secondhand Dealers Act or any rules made thereunder.

Offences

20. Any person who —

(a)	in giving any particulars referred to in regulation 4 makes any statement or gives any information which is false in any material particular, and which he either knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be true;
(b)	fails to comply with a summons or requisition of a registration officer made under regulation 16;
(c)	sends or takes out of Singapore, contrary to regulation 13, any identity card;
(d)	being a parent or guardian of a person under the age of 16 years, conduces, by neglect or otherwise, to the commission of an offence by such person;
(e)	being a person who has been granted unrestricted residence in Singapore under any written law relating to immigration in force in Singapore and who has not registered himself under the provisions of the Act and of these Regulations within 30 days from the date of his entry into Singapore or, if he was already in Singapore at the time of the grant, within 30 days from the date of the grant; [S 538 /96 wef 1.1.97.]
(f)	being a public officer, except in the public interest and with the permission of the Commissioner, or for the purpose of criminal proceedings, publishes or communicates to any person any information contained in the register required to be kept under section 4 of the Act or any book or record made under or for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of these Regulations; or
(g)	fails to comply with any of these Regulations,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to a fine not exceeding $3,000 or to both.

Composition of offences

21. The Commissioner may in his discretion compound any offence under these Regulations by collecting from the person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence a sum of money not exceeding $100.

Exempted persons

22. The following persons shall be exempted from registering under these Regulations:

(a)	the President of Singapore;
(b)	a child under the age of 15 years; [S 538 /96 wef 1.1.97.]
(c)	any bona fide traveller who is in possession of a valid passport or other travel document or official document of identity that has been stamped by an immigration officer of Singapore to show that he is permitted to remain in Singapore for a restricted period;
(d)	any person to whom a diplomatic identity card, a consular identity card or an international organisation identity card has been issued by the Government;
(e)	a member of any visiting armed force lawfully present in Singapore (excluding locally enlisted personnel) in possession of the official identity card or other document of identity ordinarily issued to members of such force; and
(f)	any person in possession of a valid identity card which has been issued to him in any of the States of Malaya under the provisions of any law for the time being in force in the States of Malaya relating to the issue of identity cards and who has not been granted unrestricted residence in Singapore under any written law relating to immigration in force in Singapore:

Provided that every person referred to in paragraph (f) who resides in Singapore for a period exceeding 30 days shall report to a registration officer in such form as the Commissioner may require —

(i)	his place of residence in Singapore, within 40 days of his arrival in Singapore; and
(ii)	every subsequent change of residence in Singapore, within 28 days of such change.

Destruction of documents, etc.

23. The Commissioner may order the destruction of identity cards, photographs, finger impressions, information and documents furnished by the applicants which are in his possession when he considers that such identity cards, photographs, finger impressions, information or documents are obsolete or invalid or no longer required.

Fees

24.—(1) The fees payable for the purposes of these Regulations shall be as set out in the Schedule.

(2) The Minister may, from time to time, by notification in the Gazette, add to or vary the Schedule as he may think appropriate.

(3) The Commissioner may in his discretion waive any fee required to be paid under these Regulations.

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