RE ENTRY THRU JB

[ashton]

Hi Guys,

I'd come dwn to Singapore for a cousins wedding, all family related, and plus had quite a bit of time on my hands, i got a multiple entry visa for 2 years
on entry, they stamped validity for 30 days

the functions bieng over 2 months, a colleague applied for an short term extension on my behalf, which was approved,

after this i required abt a week more for the actual wedding, so i was told to step out into jb over the weekend, for which i had already had a malaysian visa, and return back to singapore.

Here's where it got messy, the ICA gentlemen took me to an interogation center, sifted thru my personal belongings, and after repeatedly trying to get me to confess that i was working in singapore since my stay was so long, they let me go and wait for another hour in the lounge after which they handed me my passport and said i couldnt return to singapore

then i was escorted to the bus for malaysia, there at the m'sian customs i noticed tht they had stamped my passport with IMS/WXXXX can anybody please guide me to what this means?

and wether its possible for me to go back into singapore

warm regards

[ecureilx]

Hi Guys,

I'd come dwn to Singapore for a cousins wedding, all family related, and plus had quite a bit of time on my hands, i got a multiple entry visa for 2 years on entry, they stamped validity for 30 days

That piqued my curiosity - which country are you from ??

after this i required abt a week more for the actual wedding, so i was told to step out into jb over the weekend, for which i had already had a malaysian visa, and return back to singapore.

Not a good idea ..

Here's where it got messy, the ICA gentlemen took me to an interogation center, sifted thru my personal belongings, and after repeatedly trying to get me to confess that i was working in singapore since my stay was so long, they let me go and wait for another hour in the lounge after which they handed me my passport and said i couldnt return to singapore

then i was escorted to the bus for malaysia, there at the m'sian customs i noticed tht they had stamped my passport with IMS/WXXXX can anybody please guide me to what this means?

and wether its possible for me to go back into singapore

warm regards

They did nothing wrong, other than pick you up, with the hundreds of people who get stopped at the checkpoints, Woodlands, Tuas and Changi, who have obvious signs of illegal employment. Now if you try to convince me that you decided to spend two months here, and didnt' make money, if I am an ICA officer, I will have a tough time believing it, as, if you are rich enough, you wouldn't be loitering in Singapore

And the W followed by a number, indicates approximately how many months you are not allowed here .. there are guys and gals who got W36, and so ...

That mistake will haunt you, when you are in Malaysia, and on every visit to Singapore.

You can ask a Singaporean / PR to write and seek a selective entry, and the chance of getting it is about 50/50.

Now here is where it gets muddy. Somewhere you said your colleague extended your visa - so if you are not working, then how did a colleague appear here ?

And while you have spelt out the episode, I don't know what else you forgot to reveal - like, is it your first visit here, and when you went to JB, did you have a valid return ticket (confirmed - not an itin) ..

I dunno if i answered your question, but .. not much you can do, once the govt, anywhere, decides you are not here for holiday, and that goes for Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, And .. Singapore ..

[ashton]

tks fr the info

definitely not here for a job, as i got a really good thing goin back home.

by colleague, i meant a realtive in singapore.

and i'm indian, we generally have a long planning soiree and tons of ceremonies
carried out prior to the wedding,

and yes this was my first visit to singapore, and wth a valid ticket for 7 days after i entered again.

[ecureilx]

tks fr the info

definitely not here for a job, as i got a really good thing goin back home.

by colleague, i meant a realtive in singapore.

and i'm indian, we generally have a long planning soiree and tons of ceremonies
carried out prior to the wedding,

and yes this was my first visit to singapore, and wth a valid ticket for 7 days after i entered again.

Problem # 1: you say you were not working, but for ICA, they see a lot of illegal workers, and even short term contracts - two months to three months, and they are not registered with MOM .. so ..

And Problem # 2: with a 7 day return ticket, obviously you are not giving the right signals.

And, the rest don't matter ...

On and on, the stamp from ICA is going to hurt you, not just here, but to any other country you are gonna visit .. Sorry mate, seen a lot of people who got their b*lls mashed up doing this stuff with ICA

[Saint]

Your actions would have raised so many alarm bells that I'm not surprised you were denied entry. You had already been sponsored for one extension and you must have know you couldn't get a 2nd sponsored extension so you thought you'd try the JB visa run (I'm assuming you tried to re-enter SG on the same day) and unfortunately for you the ICA are wise to this scam.

Some people don't have a problem using this method but to be totally blunt, you would have stuck out like a sore thumb to the ICA.

[revhappy]

I really doubt whether an Indian would come over to Singapore to work illegally that too for short term like couple of months.

We are talking about Singapore here for heavens sake, not the US of A, the UK or Australia. Illegal immigrants take up low skill jobs like work in petrol bunks, yeah? How much would you get paid here to do that kind of a job? The to and fro flight costs wont wouldnt justify the salaries here

Like someone said sometime before Singapore is pricing its ego too much.

[ecureilx]

I really doubt whether an Indian would come over to Singapore to work illegally that too for short term like couple of months.

Well, not to be funny, I know, there are enough of companies / consultants who do this - engaging engineers from India and Sri Lanka, for short term contracts, while the guys are here on Social Visit ?

No kidding, but, there are enough of them, on .net development, and Notes Development going on ..

And, closer to home, one of my distant cousins was engaging guys from Andhra, on social visit, for software development ..

Not sure why they do it, but, I guess they just don't want to hassle MOM for a 2 months project ..

For that matter, as of now, there are two Pakistani's now, doing a 2 month contract to do some development work on some payment solution .. and both are on social visit pass. And offically, they guys officially claiming that they are here for on-the-job training, though only the customer knows better ..

Like someone said sometime before Singapore is pricing its ego too much.

Not done - if you club me in as a Singaporean defending Singapore's honor ..

And, yes, Singapore is not US/or Europe, but don't tell me that all the Indians who graduate have jobs paying them 10,000 US$ pay as they leave the uni ..

[revhappy]

I really doubt whether an Indian would come over to Singapore to work illegally that too for short term like couple of months.

Well, not to be funny, I know, there are enough of companies / consultants who do this - engaging engineers from India and Sri Lanka, for short term contracts, while the guys are here on Social Visit ?

No kidding, but, there are enough of them, on .net development, and Notes Development going on ..

And, closer to home, one of my distant cousins was engaging guys from Andhra, on social visit, for software development ..

Not sure why they do it, but, I guess they just don't want to hassle MOM for a 2 months project ..

For that matter, as of now, there are two Pakistani's now, doing a 2 month contract to do some development work on some payment solution .. and both are on social visit pass. And offically, they guys officially claiming that they are here for on-the-job training, though only the customer knows better ..

Wow! Thats news to me. I knew people did that in UK. Even large Indian IT MNCs send people to client site's and get them to work on Business Visa which is illegal, but its widespread. Didn't know it happens here.

Like someone said sometime before Singapore is pricing its ego too much.

Not done - if you club me in as a Singaporean defending Singapore's honor ..

And, yes, Singapore is not US/or Europe, but don't tell me that all the Indians who graduate have jobs paying them 10,000 US$ pay as they leave the uni ..

What I meant was Indians coming here to seek unskilled jobs, illegally. Its just not worth the effort. Australia, UK or Canada? Its a different story. There you can work as a taxi driver and still earn a great living. Not so here.

[ecureilx]

Wow! Thats news to me. I knew people did that in UK. Even large Indian IT MNCs send people to client site's and get them to work on Business Visa which is illegal, but its widespread. Didn't know it happens here.

Well, it happens, and I am sure MOM/ICA knows, but ..

What I meant was Indians coming here to seek unskilled jobs, illegally. Its just not worth the effort. Australia, UK or Canada? Its a different story. There you can work as a taxi driver and still earn a great living. Not so here.

Well, to be honest, I have also met some Indians, and Pakistani's who asked why Singapore does'nt allow them to be Taxi drivers, and that it is unfair, etc. etc.

[sundaymorningstaple]

For the same reason, I know of some Indian Degree holders who work as "illegal" S pass holders (e.g., what they are actually getting versus what they are supposed to be getting. These are in low paying service jobs that are on the same level as Shipyard workers, but not on WP's. Why do they do it? Oh, but it is done and fairly widespread. The numbers that are in Malaysia that hop over here are fairly large as well. Some people need to open their perceptions as there is an awful lot here that doesn't meet the eye.

[ecureilx]

The numbers that are in Malaysia that hop over here are fairly large as well. Some people need to open their perceptions as there is an awful lot here that doesn't meet the eye.

Well, the last time I said it, like a pack of wolves, a few guys decided to tear me a new one, saying Indians and the Pakistanis are not so cheap and never will they work for such low salaries (I am exaggerating a bit - well, Of course, it was not Indians AND Pakistanis' but you get the drift right ?? )

Talking of cheap, a safe estimate says there are atleast 1,000 Indian IT guys in KL/ Cyberjaya, all on Social visa, extended monthly, drawing approx 5,000 RM or there. Oh, well, they do get company paid condos (considering condos are cheap in Malaysia) .. and of course, they love Malaysia, as they can afford to have a car, long drives .. etc. etc..

Well, some may beg to differ though ..