Having a baby in Singapore: the deadlines that matter
Having a baby in Singapore sets off 6 deadlines that carry a real consequence for missing them. Three of them catch people out. Checked 22 September 2026.
Register the birth within 42 days, on LifeSG: 42 days to register the birth with ICA, under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act. Apply for the baby's Dependant's Pass before the Special Pass runs out: before the newborn's Special Pass expires, 42 days from the date of birth. Tell your employer, and check which maternity leave you get: at least 1 week's written notice before the maternity leave starts, and you need 3 months' service with the employer to qualify at all.
Tell your employer, and check which maternity leave you get
At least 1 week's written notice before the maternity leave starts, and you need 3 months' service with the employer to qualify at all. Without the week's notice you are entitled to only half the pay for the leave, and with under 3 months' service you have no statutory leave.
What this step involves · Official source, checked 22 September 2026
Decide on a confinement nanny, and sort her work permit early
The work permit can be applied for from 4 weeks before the due date and up to 16 weeks after the birth; it is usually issued for up to 16 weeks from the birth. The nanny cannot legally start without it, and the S$300 monthly levy for a non-citizen baby is charged from the day the permit is issued.
What this step involves · Official source, checked 22 September 2026
Register the birth within 42 days, on LifeSG
42 days to register the birth with ICA, under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act. MOM separately asks foreign families to register within 14 calendar days, because the certificate, the passport and the Dependant's Pass must all be done inside 42 days. Missing 42 days is an offence under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act. Missing the 42-day immigration deadline that follows from it is an offence under the Immigration Act — a different law, and the one a foreign family is far more likely to hit.
What this step involves · Official source, checked 22 September 2026
Get the baby a passport from your own country
Fast enough that the Dependant's Pass can be applied for before day 42 — ask the embassy how long they take before the birth. The Dependant's Pass application cannot go in without the passport, and the Special Pass does not wait for the embassy.
What this step involves · Official source, checked 22 September 2026
Apply for the baby's Dependant's Pass before the Special Pass runs out
Before the newborn's Special Pass expires, 42 days from the date of birth. A baby still here after the pass expires is overstaying under the Immigration Act. If the passport will not arrive in time, ask ICA to extend the Special Pass before day 42.
What this step involves · Official source, checked 22 September 2026
Childcare leave: 2 days a year for a non-citizen child
2 days a year for each parent of a non-citizen child under 7, after 3 months with the employer; 6 days for a citizen child. It does not carry over from 1 year to the next, so unused days are lost.
What this step involves · Official source, checked 22 September 2026
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