YannickLF wrote:I am a US passport holder and I have been staying Singapore
since February 2015 looking for a job. I am given a 90-day entry pass each time
I enter Singapore. So far I’ve done one visa run to Thailand for 7 days and was
able to re-enter the country without issue. My next visa run will be to Myanmar
for 16 days. I am hoping to re-enter the country and continue my job search.
I usually stay for around 85 days and leave the country for at least 7 days.
How many times will I be allowed to come in and out of Singapore for visa runs?
If I am barred from entry, would I be forced to return to the United States?
There is no proof that I am working illegally, overstaying or breaking any laws.
If questioned, I am on an extended holiday in the region and using Singapore as
my base while I stay with a Singaporean friend. Is this the best way to respond
to an interrogation?
This reminds me of the situation I was in, effectively living with my then GF/
now wife in New York. I continued visiting over and over, maxing out the Visa
Waiver Scheme (90 days each time) until the dung suddenly hit the fan. [I've
described the circumstances and details before, so if anyone were interested
they are searchable on this forum].
I suppose my situation was that was the easiest way in. I could book a flight,
and hop on the plane that day. My self-employment meant there were no obstacles
to doing this. But looking back I was rather naive thinking I could go on and
on doing this; the VWS scheme was meant to make life easier for mass-market
visitors and people genuinely on short-term holiday. Although the channel was
available to me I can understand why I (unwittingly) used it beyond it's inten-
ded limits.
When the dung hit the fan one night (EWR/JFK) I was 'interrogated'. It was a
hostile and highly uncomfortable experience. [again, the details of the
questions they asked are searchable].
My conclusion from this is, recognise the intention and limits of any entry
scheme. The upshot of my [inadvertant] use of the VWP was I was effectively
barred from using it again. I was given one last entry, for something like 2-4
weeks, then advised to go home and get a visa if I wished to return. [I've
ommitted the fury, flecks of spit, and finality of how that ... errr, 'order',
or 'advice' was conveyed].
That was what I did, enjoy my last VWP, then return home to the highly protracted
'full visa' process. Of course by then I was already on something os a back-foot.
I was no longer a first time tourist, I had to 101% convincingly demonstrate I
was not working in the US illegally, that I had ties to home (EU), the source of
my funds, pretty much all the facts and numbers about me and my life. It is much
simpler if you do not let it get to that stage IMO.If there is an element of
goodwill, you'll get it by showing you're trying to do things right in the first
place.
If I were the chap at immigration with you next in queue before me... (just
thoughts, based upon my above experience, please don't take this personally...):
- Job-hunting since Feb. How many interviews have you been to? Why can't you
conduct your search from outside Singapore?
- The SVP is not intended as a limitless job-hunting visa.
- [If questioned expect a '360' on how you're supporting yourself, i.e.
disclosure of assets and income etc. And they'll want the same info on your GF].
- The SVP is not (just IMO/IME) meant to facilitate effective residency. So what
are you actually trying to achieve? Singapore does not have a 'GF/BF visa'. Are
you engaged to be married (you suggest not), so meanwhile you're just a
plain-vanilla tourist but living in SG.
- You say the LTVP elegibility checker suggests you'd get a pass. But that's if
you were married, and you've already suggested (IIRC) that your GF isn't much
into that idea just yet.
The way I see it, you have a SGn GF, no plans to get married, settle down here,
make a life of it and meanwhile just wish to hang out here on a protracted basis.
As with me in NYC there's only so long that's going to fly.
p.s. 'visa runs', and you use the term yourself, are red-flags on your record.
Better you find yourself a sustainable longer term path now, rather than join
the final dots for the authorities on the one that you're currently on.
Despite the rather doomster tone I intend this entirely constructively, esp.
having been in almost precisely your shoes before
Best of luck!
