Since 15 August 2006, all
newly-issued Singapore passports contain biometricVisa Waiver
Program.[3]
The features also help to prevent forgery and minimize the abuse of
Singapore passports. A biometric passport contains 64 pages unlike
the machine
readable passports which contains 96 pages. It costs S$80 for a
passport, with a higher cost due to the special features encoded
into the passport. There is a ten dollar rebate if one applies for
the passport on the internet, by post or by the deposit box
with applicants having to collect the passport personally. features
(BioPass). A major reason for this addition was to comply with the
requirements for the US
The biometric passport is valid
for 5 years for first time applicants, compared with 10 years for
previously issued passports without biometric features before 1
April 2005. Also, the new passport does not accept modifications
such as extensions of validity, and the updating of photographs due
to ICAO's "write once"
policy.[4]
In a break from long standing practice, the passport number is now
unique to each passport, instead of being identical to the holder's
NRIC
number.[4]
Children are no longer allowed to travel on their parents'
passport.[5]
The biometric passport project cost the Singapore government a
total of S$9.7 million.[6]