URGENT : Extension of Social Visit Pass

[febzz]

Hi there,

I would like to explain my situation first here before asking some help from all of you.

So, I am an International student here and I'm currently holding a Student Pass. My Student Pass will expire on 7 November 2007. From what I've heard, upon the surrender of my Student Pass, I would then be given a 1-month Social Visit Pass. So if I surrender my Student Pass on 7 November, then my Social Visit Pass will be valid until 7 December 2007.

What I would like to know is whether it would be possible for me to get an extension of Social Visit Pass after the first Social Visit Pass given upon the surrender of my Student Pass (on 7 November 2007) expires? I suppose that the first Social Visit pass given is not an "extension" but rather a pass which is given to allow the student to settle everything before leaving Singapore. So, could I get an extension?

The justification for this is that my course here will end around the 2nd week of October and I still have to do a final project. The project will require quite a long time to complete, and I'm worried that I could not finish before my Student Pass expires. So while holding the first Social Visit Pass (given upon the surrender of my Student Pass), I still have to work on my project. Then after that I will also need to collect all my certificates and results slips (It will certainly take some time to collect them. From my past experience, it took around 1 month to get them). I'm really afraid that there will be no enough time for me to do all these.

I've also bought a flight ticket scheduled to fly on 11 December. So if I could get a Social Visit Pass, at least, for until that day, It would certainly alleviate my worries.

Can someone advise me on this? I'm really confused and I do not know what to do.

Thank you again. I'm looking forward to any answer from all of you.

[headless]

what about applying for a 90-day social visit pass?
http://app.ica.gov.sg/serv_visitor/soci ... .asp#short

[febzz]

I have had a look on that possibility, but again I am not sure whether they will consider my Social Visit Pass granted when surrendering my Student Pass as an "extension" or not. I suppose it is not an extension. I hope anyone could confirm this. It is written at the website mentioned above, that I could not seek any further extension if I already get one before.

Moreover, it is also written that I will also need a Disembarkation/Embarkation (DE) card. But since I am holding a Student Pass currently, I do not own any Disembarkation/Embarkation (DE) card.

Anyone could help me?

Your kind help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[sundaymorningstaple]

If your school work is not finished why are you giving up your student pass? Something's fishy in Denmark that you are not telling us.

I would assume, first that the school you are attending is an accredited school and second, all members of your school cohort should in the same boat. Therefore I would assume that the school would have dealt with this before. I know I recently hired an international student (10 days ago) who has been on a student pass even though her courses finished some 2 months ago. She just gave up the student pass after we got her IPA for her "S" pass.

Again, the school will already have made relevant arrangements assuming you are telling us everything.

[febzz]

No, my I haven't given up my Student Pass. I won't do it intentionally either. But my Student Pass is only valid until 7 November 2007.

P.S. When I said "surrendering my Student Pass", I didn't mean that I give it up before my course ends, but instead, it means that I will need to hand my Student Pass to ICA on the Student Pass end date which is 7 November 2007.

My course will actually finish this early October. I am also expected to finish my final project by then. So I still have another month (from early October to 7 November 2007) before my Student Pass expires. But since I got something to settle before, I could not do my final project until now.

The only thing that makes me worry is that I am afraid that I would not be able to finish my final project before my Student Pass expires, or worse, until the Social Visit Pass (given when my Student Pass expires) runs out. I've talked to my school officers and they said they couldn't do anything. I know it's actually my fault since I didn't start doing my final project earlier (I wish I could, but a family problem forced me to postpone doing it). They only said, I still can do my final project while holding a Social Visit Pass and submit it to them.

I really hope that the ICA here can give me a Social Visit Pass with validity of more than 1 month so I could finish my final project and collect all my certificates as well as my results slips. I need at least a 1-month-and-2-weeks pass so I could settle everything.

I'm wondering if I could get an extension again after my Social Visit Pass (given when surrendering my Student Pass) expires. I've talked to some former students, one said that ICA used to allow a student to get an extension again after the first Social Visit Pass expires, but now, they don't allow it. Other said that yes, I still could get an extension again. These two opposite answers make me really confused. Can anyone confirm this?

Thanks a lot.

[febzz]

Anyone has got any info on this?

Thank you very much..

[Taoism32]

Yes, they will extend your social pass. You will need to get a letter from your professer on your school's letterhead. He/She will need to state the reason and put her IC number. They should extend it, no problems.

[febzz]

Thank you for all your information.

I have finally received reply directly from ICA. I will post the reply here, as I think this would be useful for anybody else facing this problem.

Reply from ICA:
"Please be advised that should a further request to stay beyond the
period granted, the student needs to submit an application for extension of
Social Visit Pass (SVP) through a local sponsor before the current SVP
expiry date at the Visitor Services Centre, 4th Storey, ICA Building (Next
to the Lavender MRT Station) for our consideration. The student needs to
state clearly the reason(s) for his/her purpose of stay on the form 14. In
addition, he/she may also include other supporting document(s), if any, or
a self-explanatory letter which he/she deems relevant to substantiate
his/her application.

All application for Social Visit Pass (SVP) is considered on its own
merits.

Details of applications, procedure and documents required as well as
application forms (Form 14, Form V39I (Form V39I is for non-Malaysians
only), for applying social visit pass are available in our department’s
Internet website at http://www.ica.gov.sg under Visitor Services. We hope
you will find other useful information while surfing our website."