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Response to "Confusion over biometric passport for travel to US " (My Paper, 2 July 2008)
ICA clarifies visa issue
7 July 2008
MyPaper
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited. All Rights Reserved
Corrections :
ICA CLARIFIES REPLY ON VISA - IN THE letter, ICA clarifies visa issue, published yesterday, the editorial amendments made changed the meaning of the reply. The original reply had noted that the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority’s customer relations officers are familiar with the passport requirements under the United States Visa Waiver Programme. This was taken out during the editing process.
I REFER to the letter “Confusion over biometric passport for travel to US” (my paper, July 2).
We would like to clarify that Singapore citizens currently holding non- biometric machine-readable passports can continue to travel to the United States for up to 90 days under the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) as long as their passports were not extended on or after Oct 26, 2006.
In the case of Mr Teo’s daughter, she should be eligible to travel under the VWP, but admission will be decided by the US immi- gration authority at the point of entry.We would like to apologise to Mr Teo if he had received the wrong advice. We have reminded our officers to be clear when issuing advice. We also strongly advise Singaporeans to check with the relevant foreign authorities before travelling.
Ms Lim Jing Jing
Deputy Head, Public & Internal Communications
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
Confusion over biometric passport for travel to US
2 July 2008
MyPaper
English
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited. All Rights Reserved
MY DAUGHTER will be visiting Silicon Valley and other places in the United States with her teachers and classmates for about two weeks in November.
We have recently been advised by an officer from the Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) that my daughter is required to change her current passport in order to enter the US.
This is because her passport, though machine-readable with a digital photograph, was issued in late April 2006 and is not a biometric passport.
If she did not change her passport, she would have to get a visa from the US Embassy to travel to the US, we were told.
However, according to the website of the US Embassy in Singapore, my daughter would be able to enter the US without a visa as she has a machine-readable (non-biometric) passport.
Similar advice was also found on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Singapore.
In view of the contradicting advice, could the relevant authorities clarify the situation?
Mr Teo Hui Kian
7 July 2008
MyPaper
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited. All Rights Reserved
Corrections :
ICA CLARIFIES REPLY ON VISA - IN THE letter, ICA clarifies visa issue, published yesterday, the editorial amendments made changed the meaning of the reply. The original reply had noted that the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority’s customer relations officers are familiar with the passport requirements under the United States Visa Waiver Programme. This was taken out during the editing process.
I REFER to the letter “Confusion over biometric passport for travel to US” (my paper, July 2).
We would like to clarify that Singapore citizens currently holding non- biometric machine-readable passports can continue to travel to the United States for up to 90 days under the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) as long as their passports were not extended on or after Oct 26, 2006.
In the case of Mr Teo’s daughter, she should be eligible to travel under the VWP, but admission will be decided by the US immi- gration authority at the point of entry.We would like to apologise to Mr Teo if he had received the wrong advice. We have reminded our officers to be clear when issuing advice. We also strongly advise Singaporeans to check with the relevant foreign authorities before travelling.
Ms Lim Jing Jing
Deputy Head, Public & Internal Communications
Immigration & Checkpoints Authority
Confusion over biometric passport for travel to US
2 July 2008
MyPaper
English
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited. All Rights Reserved
MY DAUGHTER will be visiting Silicon Valley and other places in the United States with her teachers and classmates for about two weeks in November.
We have recently been advised by an officer from the Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) that my daughter is required to change her current passport in order to enter the US.
This is because her passport, though machine-readable with a digital photograph, was issued in late April 2006 and is not a biometric passport.
If she did not change her passport, she would have to get a visa from the US Embassy to travel to the US, we were told.
However, according to the website of the US Embassy in Singapore, my daughter would be able to enter the US without a visa as she has a machine-readable (non-biometric) passport.
Similar advice was also found on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Singapore.
In view of the contradicting advice, could the relevant authorities clarify the situation?
Mr Teo Hui Kian