MY WIFE and I got a biometric passport for our daughter in 2007, when she was two years old, as we were travelling overseas then. When we travelled again last year, an official at Changi Airport told us the photo in her passport would need to be updated as she had outgrown her look.

This year, when we checked with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, we were told that photo updating was not allowed and we would have to apply for a new passport.

All biometric passports are supposed to be valid for five years and our daughter's passport will not expire until 2012. Yet, because she has outgrown her look, which is to be expected in a growing child in the first five years, we are expected to pay another $80 for a new passport.

She is certain to outgrow her look again in the next few years. Are we expected to apply for a new passport for her every two or three years?

Alvin Chua

This forum letter was first published in The Straits Times.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.