National Registration Regulations

Subject to paragraph (3), a person who is required to register under the Act —

[Deleted by S 701/2016 wef 01/01/2017]

[Deleted by S 847/2020 wef 01/10/2020]

Every person who is required to register under the Act but who was resident outside Singapore during the whole of the specified period must, within one year after the person’s return to Singapore, apply for registration in accordance with these Regulations.

Nothing in this regulation prevents the registration of a person who fails to apply for registration within the time specified in paragraph (1) or (3), as the case may be.

Without prejudice to section 16(1)(a) of the Act, every person who is required to re-register under section 7 of the Act but who has failed to do so before 31st December 1995 shall, as soon as is practicable, apply for re‑registration in accordance with these Regulations.

Every person who applies for registration under regulation 3(1) or (3), or re‑registration under regulation 3(5), 14, 14A or 14B, shall —

(aa)provide such other personal identifiers as the registration officer may require;

(ab)submit to all reasonable steps for the taking or recording of any personal identifier;

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

A person is not required to submit an unmounted photograph under paragraph (1)(a) if the person has, within 3 months immediately preceding the date of the application mentioned in paragraph (1), submitted a photograph under regulation 3(1)(b) of the Passports Regulations 2007 (G.N. No. S 651/2007) that complies with regulation 3(2) of those Regulations.

The registration officer may issue to the person mentioned in regulation 4 an identity card containing that person’s photograph and such other particulars as the Commissioner considers necessary for the purposes of identification of that person.

Identity cards issued under these Regulations shall be of 2 types; one type being pink in colour for citizens of Singapore and the other being blue in colour for persons who are not citizens of Singapore.

[Deleted by S 701/2016 wef 01/01/2017]

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 from registration 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.

An inspecting officer may retain any identity card for the purpose of investigations.

Any inspecting officer, or any other officer authorised by the Commissioner, 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.

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 paragraphs (1) and (2).

Any authority to whom a person required to be registered under the Act applies for the grant of any licence, permit or other document or for the exercise of the authority’s lawful functions, may, in its discretion, require the applicant to produce his identity card.

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 under the Act, or exempted from registration under these Regulations, the authority may, in its discretion, defer consideration of the application until the applicant produces either his identity card or such other proof.

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 for cancellation.

For the purpose of this regulation, “invalid identity card” means an identity card which ceased to be valid under section 7(2) of the Act.

For the purposes of this regulation, a reference to a person required to be registered under the Act includes a reference to a person permitted to re‑register under regulation 14B.

Subject to paragraph (1A), where an identity card is lost, destroyed or so defaced that any particulars on the identity card are no longer decipherable, the person to whom the card relates must, within 14 days after the date on which the person becomes aware of that fact, report that fact and apply for a replacement identity card, in the form and manner required by the Commissioner.

If the person mentioned in paragraph (1) is resident outside Singapore at the time that the identity card is lost, destroyed or defaced, the person must, in the form and manner required by the Commissioner —

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.

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 the recovered identity card to a registration officer for cancellation.

Subject to paragraph (5), 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 officer.

Paragraph (4) does not apply to a person who, knowing of the death of another person (called in this paragraph the deceased person), finds or comes into possession of the deceased person’s identity card.

Any person who, without reasonable excuse, contravenes paragraph (4) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $3,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.

A person registered under the Act who —

A registration officer, if satisfied that any person who —

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.

Upon the issue of an identity card (including a replacement identity card), the Commissioner or a registration officer shall, by notice in writing, inform the person to whom the identity card is issued to collect the identity card and surrender any previous identity card within such time and in such manner as may be specified in the notice.

A registration officer may, by notice in writing, cancel any identity card that is not collected within the period specified in paragraph (1).

The fee payable in respect of an identity card that is cancelled under paragraph (2) shall not be refunded.

A report of change of residence under section 10 of the Act shall be in such form and manner as the Commissioner may require.

The form, if sent by post, shall be post-free.

Where the Commissioner amends the register in relation to a person’s residence after receiving a report of change of residence under section 10 of the Act, the Commissioner must send to the person a label stating the new residence (called in these Regulations a new address label) for affixing on the person’s identity card, or cause a new address label to be affixed on the person’s identity card.

Any person registered under the Act —

Any officer to whom any identity card is surrendered by any person under paragraph (1) shall issue a receipt to the person in such form as the Commissioner may determine.

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

Paragraph (1) does not apply to a person who has been issued with an identity card or a replacement identity card within 10 years immediately before the person attains the age of 30 years.

Where a person mentioned in paragraph (1) —

Nothing in this regulation prevents the re‑registration of a person who fails to apply for re‑registration within the time specified in paragraph (1) or (3), as the case may be.

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

Paragraph (1) does not apply to a person who has been issued with an identity card or a replacement identity card within 10 years immediately before the person attains the age of 55 years.

Where a person mentioned in paragraph (1) —

Nothing in this regulation prevents the re‑registration of a person who fails to apply for re‑registration within the time specified in paragraph (1) or (3), as the case may be.

Subject to paragraph (2), any person who —

Where a person mentioned in paragraph (1) receives a written notification from the Commissioner inviting that person to apply for re‑registration under that paragraph within a period of one year after the date of that notification (called in this regulation the specified period), that person may only apply for re‑registration —

Paragraphs (1) and (2) do not apply to a person who has been issued with an identity card or a replacement identity card on or after 1 January 2008.

[Deleted by S 847/2020 wef 01/10/2020]

To avoid doubt, a person mentioned in paragraph (1) or (2) is not a person required to re‑register, or to be re‑registered, under the Act.

The owner, manager or other person in charge of any 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.

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.

Where any person seeks accommodation at any hotel, boarding house, hostel or other like dwelling place and claims to be a person exempted from registration under regulation 22, 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.

Paragraph (3) does not apply if all of the following conditions are fulfilled by the owner, manager or other person in charge of the hotel, boarding house, hostel or other like dwelling place, or any person employed to work at such dwelling place, or any combination of such persons: (a)before the person seeking accommodation is allowed to occupy a room, all reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that the person’s physical facial features match his or her photograph in his or her passport;

For the purpose of paragraph (3A)(a), the use of any facial recognition technology to ascertain whether a person’s physical facial features match his or her photograph in his or her passport does not of itself constitute taking all reasonable steps unless the facial recognition technology —

For the purpose of paragraph (3A)(a), (b)(i) and (c)(i) and (iii), the same passport must be used for all the steps mentioned in those provisions.

For the purpose of paragraph (3A)(b) and (c)(ii), the check-in must take place within the premises of the hotel, boarding house, hostel or other like dwelling place at which the person is seeking accommodation.

The specifications for a photograph under paragraph (3A)(c)(ii) are as follows: (a)the photograph must be in colour;

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.

In this regulation, a reference to a person employed to work at a hotel, boarding house, hostel or other like dwelling place, includes a person who is engaged to work at such hotel, boarding house, hostel or other like dwelling place under a contract for services.

In this regulation, “EVA System” means the E-Visitor Authentication System owned by the Singapore Tourism Board.

The following persons shall be exempted from the requirement to register under the Act:

Every person referred to in paragraph (1)(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 —

Subject to Part 19 of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 and section 17 of the National Library Board Act 1995, the Commissioner may order the destruction of any of the following items in the Commissioner’s possession if the Commissioner is of the opinion that the item is obsolete, invalid or no longer required:

For the purposes of this regulation, a reference to a person required to be registered under the Act includes a reference to a person permitted to re‑register under regulation 14B.

The fees payable for the purposes of these Regulations shall be as set out in the Schedule.

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