Flying in and out of Singapore on Tourist Visa

[tjdwls85]

Hi

I flew in and out of Singapore 8 times in the past 14 months...

So far I didn't have any problems, I always left the country for about one month and never exceeded my 90 days here.

I was just wondering if you heard or know of anyone who has encountered problems?

I am not engaged in any financial activities here and I feel that I am not doing anything wrong because I just come here to stay with my girlfriend.

Your comments would be appreciated

[JR8]

Hi

I flew in and out of Singapore 8 times in the past 14 months...

So far I didn't have any problems, I always left the country for about one month and never exceeded my 90 days here.

I was just wondering if you heard or know of anyone who has encountered problems?

I am not engaged in any financial activities here and I feel that I am not doing anything wrong because I just come here to stay with my girlfriend.

Your comments would be appreciated

What passport do you hold, EU?

[tjdwls85]

Non EU, but does that matter?

But is this considered illegal?

[JR8]

Non EU, but does that matter?
But is this considered illegal?

Yes your passport does matter as ICA will study patterns and judge accordingly. For example if you were a national of a relatively poor country they might wonder how you had the means to support yourself given SG is expensive, compounded by that during your extended stays in SG you are not working in a job in your home country and earning an income. So the red flags will go up. Whereas if you have a passport from a wealthy country, they are probably less likely to suspect you are traveling to SG and working illegally or some such.

I have seen some discussion on the acceptable frequency of social visits, but as I recall that applied to nationals of 'poorer countries'. Hence my earlier question to you.

Maybe someone else can recall in more detail where the acceptable boundary on SVP usage is?

[tjdwls85]

It will be great if someone could recall in more detail about the boundaries of the social visit pass.

But do I really have to worry about this if it is a fact that I am not working here? I am not engaged in any illegal activities and the purpose of my visit is purely social.

[JR8]

It would help greatly if you were not so vague, otherwise the advice you will receive is from people with one arm tied behind their backs. Vague input = vague output.

You say 8 visits in 14 months, but how long have your visits averaged? A clue to your passport would be helpful as well.

Bear in mind that it is ICA's job to presume the worst, and your job to convince otherwise.

[the lynx]

To put in other words, you would want to avoid from 'accidentally' alerting ICA on visa runs, hence it is important to keep your frequency and duration in check. And yes, ICA is capable to detect pattern in every traveller (if one were to do that frequent enough to establish a pattern). Yes you said you don't do illegal activities, but will ICA buy that or will you be able to convince them?

We have seen cases of Filipino/Vietnamese ladies who were actually really coming in frequently to visit their boyfriends here but ICA still flagged them as being suspicious after a while and deported them out the next moment they touched down, despite of their insistence that they were here purely for visiting their boyfriends.

You certainly do not want that to happen. And JR8's point on your nationality is actually valid. ICA is less likely to worry if you are from first world countries.

Yes you can visit but not too frequent. Not too frequent.

[tjdwls85]

I guess I will have to be more specific.

I am holding on to a Korean passport.

Actually I flew in 6 times and came in by land 2 times.

My visits include a few trips that range from 60~90 days and a few short visits 7 days, 30 days and so on.

What do you guys mean by frequency duration? and is there anyone who can define NOT TOO FREQUENT for me?

[JR8]

I guess I will have to be more specific.
I am holding on to a Korean passport.
Actually I flew in 6 times and came in by land 2 times.
My visits include a few trips that range from 60~90 days and a few short visits 7 days, 30 days and so on.

Looking at the time in/out country, if one assumed say 3 trips of 75 days, 3*7, and 2*30 to total 8 trips that would equal 10.2 months in country. 7 stays back home of 30+ days (as you say) in the interim would total say 7 months (total 17 months not 14). That would mean you have spent over 50% of that long period in SG on social visits. I would have thought ICA might have asked you at the border why you spend so much time in SG; perhaps having a Korean passport has helped avoid this so far?

What do you guys mean by frequency duration?

Frequency is how often you visit. Duration is how long you visit for.

and is there anyone who can define NOT TOO FREQUENT for me?

There are no written rules, and if there were ICA do not publish them, so we can only guess what ICA might think from looking at the pattern. As the lynx explained ICA will look at the pattern of your visits and if they are suspicious about it they will question you. If I were ICA and stopped you I think my first question would be how you manage to support yourself spending over 50% of your time in Singapore whilst not having a job or apparent income.

There was a discussion or two last year where a couple of people were denied entry for visiting too frequently. Maybe if you do a search on 'denied entry' (or try adding in the keywords SVP, visa, deported) you can find more information. But note that they were I believe Philippino and Vietnamese ladies, and so your profile and pattern is different.

[the lynx]

In my opinion, South Korean passport holders should be alright in comparison to say, Vietnamese or Filipino ones (in consideration to its socio-economical strength). Like JR8 said, there is no written rule by ICA so we go by observations here (which can be right most of the time, but sometimes can be wrong too)

Still, I wonder what would the experts say?

[zzm9980]

I recall MS giving the guide of being out of country (SG) 6 months for every 3 months visited. This was for someone with a Vietnamese wife though, and Vietnamese generally get 30 day SVPs each entry.

Since Koreans apparently get 90 day SVPs, ICA must view them as more desirable and are probably lax. I'd also assume not doing 'visa runs' (leaving and re-entering over land to Malaysia or Indonesia) makes your profile look better to ICA.

[tjdwls85]

I guess I will have to let you guys know after my next flight out and in.

I really appreciate your comments and input. Too bad ICA doesn't have any written policies on this issue as I usually prefer to follow guidelines especially in Singapore.

Thanks a lot everyone

[JR8]

I guess I will have to let you guys know after my next flight out and in.

I really appreciate your comments and input. Too bad ICA doesn't have any written policies on this issue as I usually prefer to follow guidelines especially in Singapore.

Thanks a lot everyone

ICA have unwritten policies in several areas, that way they maintain complete discretion as to what they do. If they did publish a policy re: SVP usage then it would immediately be exploited by some (many?) to the maximum, and those visitors could claim justification as 'I'm only doing what the policy says I can'.

Make sense?

If I were you I'd travel with evidence of proof of available funds, in case they do ask you questions. Good luck!

[tjdwls85]

Thank you for the suggestion. I really appreciate it

[DiegoU]

Non EU, but does that matter?
But is this considered illegal?

Yes your passport does matter as ICA will study patterns and judge accordingly. For example if you were a national of a relatively poor country they might wonder how you had the means to support yourself given SG is expensive, compounded by that during your extended stays in SG you are not working in a job in your home country and earning an income. So the red flags will go up.

What if i am freelance (from European Community which doesn´t matter in this case) who is looking for a job in Singapore in a social visit? Would it be possible to make some jobs for Europe online during that stay in Singapore, as long as i am looking for a job at the same time? It would be great to keep my clients in Europe and thus my savings above the surface, at least until i get a job and an EP, when i guess i should cancel any external profitable job. I guess this is not allowed but still didn´t find a clear answer. Any light on this would be very welcome!!