Register the birth within 42 days, on LifeSG
Two different deadlines apply here and they are not in conflict, so it is worth knowing which is which. The law is 42 days: ICA is the registrar, and failing to give your child's birth particulars within 42 days is an offence under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act. Checked against ica.gov.sg on 22 September 2026.
- Who it applies to
- Everyone having a baby in Singapore
- On your timeline
- Paperbump schedules this within 2 weeks of the birth
- Official source
- ica.gov.sg
- Last checked
- 22 September 2026
What else to know
Separately, MOM asks you to register within 14 calendar days — that is guidance, not the statute, and it exists because for a foreign family the birth certificate is only the first of three things: the certificate, then the baby's passport from your own embassy, then the Dependant's Pass. All of that has to be finished within 42 days of the birth, after which staying is an offence under the Immigration Act. So a foreign family working to 42 days for the registration is obeying the law and still likely to miss the immigration deadline, because a first passport takes weeks. Treat 14 days as your deadline and 42 as the law's. Registration is done online through the LifeSG app or website and costs S$18. Nothing is printed: you get a digital birth certificate, which you download from ICA's e-service within 90 days of being told it is ready. Both parents' passports and passes are needed, plus your marriage certificate if you want it recorded. For a foreign baby ICA also issues an advisory note saying the child has a Special Pass to stay for 42 days from birth — that pass is the clock for the next two steps.
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