It enables the bearer to exit and re-enter Singapore freely; travel to and from other countries in accordance with visa requirements; facilitates the process of securing assistance from Singapore consular officials abroad, if necessary; and requests protection for the bearer while abroad.

All Singapore passports are issued exclusively by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on behalf of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

[6] In response, the ICA has thus adopted several measures to foil forgers, including adding digital photos and special ink since October 1999, and converting to a biometric passport from August 2006.

[7] The Straits Settlements, of which Singapore was its capital from 1832 until 1946, also issued its own passports prior to World War II.

The Restricted Passport was conceived due to the fact that many Singaporeans would regularly travel to West Malaysia for business and leisure purposes.

However, if the application is made in person at a Singapore diplomatic mission, it will cost S$80 in foreign currency equivalent.

Also, the new passport does not accept modifications such as extensions of validity, and updating of photographs due to ICAO's "write once" policy.

New visa page designs, featuring the Singapore Botanic Gardens, Esplanade, Marina Barrage, Gardens by the Bay, Singapore Sports Hub and Punggol New Town were also introduced in the new biometric passport, replacing the previous Central Business District and Esplanade visa page designs.

Facial recognition technology was introduced with the release of the ePassport to improve identity verification and reduce identity-related fraud.

Singapore citizens aged 6 and older are eligible to use the automated clearance lanes at the country's checkpoints, provided that their biometric identifiers (iris / facial / fingerprints) have been enrolled with ICA.

[17] In addition, for young Singapore citizens who wish to use the automated lanes but had collected their passports before turning six, they may enrol their biometrics at the staffed immigration counters (with the supervision of their parent / guardian).

[17] In addition, with Singapore's developed and high-income status, Singapore citizens who intend to travel as tourists, are also eligible to use the automated border control systems (eGates) when arriving in (or departing from) the various following countries: a) The Trusted Traveller Program offered by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA), is limited to: b) The e-gate can only be used after first-time arrival and registration at the manual immigration counter.