The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) will begin collecting iris images from Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents as another identifier, in addition to photographs and fingerprints.

This comes as part of the amendments to the National Registration Act (NRA), which were passed in Parliament on Nov 10, and will take effect from Jan 1.

The NRA was enacted in 1965 for the registration of persons in Singapore, for the issue of identity cards and related purposes.

These amendments will strengthen the effectiveness and efficiency of ICA operations, said the release from the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday.

The collection of iris images will be done as part of the NRIC registration and re-registration process, as well as the passport application and renewal process.

ICA will also be appointing selected SingPost employees as registration officers who will assist to enrol iris images from NRIC holders at selected SingPost outlets, as part of NRIC registration or re-registration.