IME It's not quite so dire as taxico said, but perhaps it could be.
Anecdotally, ICA will walk with him/her to retrieve bags if they were checked. They'll do full customs inspection at the red lane, and then go back to the ICA office. ICA and the airline will work out returning the person to their home country on the next available flight. If this involves spending the night, it will be in a hospital like room somewhere at the airport. They will not have their passport until ICA escorts them to the boarding gate and hands it to the agent to check them in. If they had a return ticket, the airline will use that (no refund hah). If they didn't, airline will cover it.
ICA gave a reason in my anecdote, it was because the person spoke no English, had no evidence of a hotel stay, or evidence of money to do anything in Singapore and had the profile of someone likely to not be the kind of person ICA wants. ICA couldn't communicate with this person because her phone died, and we were waiting just outside to pick them up. This is why i said make sure the person has everything in writing outside of their phone.
I got this explanation by talking to the airport information counter, and they were able to put us in touch with ICA and have them contact me. Unfortunately at this point they had already started repatriation process so they wouldn't let me collect the person. I couldn't be too angry since the person was at fault IMO for being an idiot by not having the details of the email we sent printed out.
Othertimes I was called, and explained that yes the person was visiting me, I stay in XXXXX, my I/C is X########, etc, and they came right out.
taxico wrote:because you sound like a singaporean, i am assuming you are one. so i will prepare you for the worse!
there is nothing you can do if your girlfriend is refused entry right - even if you are her sponsor and beside her. she need not have stepped into singapore before, or she could have been a bona fide tourist in the past - it doesn't matter.
she will be returned to the last port she came from. so if her transit was in timbuktu, it is likely that's where she'll end up. ICA won't care what her onward ticket destination is.
she will probably not have her check-in luggage with her when she is put on that plane. someone will have to work at chasing her bags down. she will also probably never ever know why she was refused entry, and likely not given any paperwork (or at least any conclusive reason) attesting to such.
i doubt she will be "deported" quickly, as ICA tends to detain such persons until all arrangements have been made. whether 3 hours or 30 hours, she won't enjoy her detention, that's for sure.
in all likelihood, you will not be able to contact her until she has arrived at her last port and can finally use a phone (granted - there are inflight phones on some planes).
you can sure try, but it's a waste of time.
if there's something in her profile that made you think she might be at risk, i suggest mitigation earlier than upon arrival (premium cabin, proof of accommodation, plenty of money, tour itinerary, proof of real job back home, etc) because if she's deemed ineligible for entry/visa at the border, that's about that... and likely to persist, even if you take the long drawn out route of appealing to ICA.
otherwise/failing that, there's no much else you can do except sit and wait. hopefully it will be smooth sailing, but hey, you gotta prepare for the worse right?
