Advice needed to stay for 6 months

[Keef]

Hi There Everyone!

I promise I've done all my research, looked through all these forums and read the all the relevant websites... I'm posting here pretty much as a last resort in case someone can help

I came here from Australia with my de-facto girlfriend almost a month ago. I'm here on a visitor visa (90 days i think) and she is working here on a category Q1 work pass,. I had done a lot of research and assumed that I could get a long term or dependants pass also with a stat dec from the embassy and proof that we shared a house etc...

the error I made is not realising that this was only possible via a P pass (a de-facto can only apply under a P pass) .. grrr

her contract is for 6 months and i really want to stay here with her... we have a flat with a lease here and i have no house back home to go back to!

obviously i only want to go down legal avenues.. the options i have thought about are:

* getting married (although i don't know how i could organise this quickly here, or even if it would work)
* leaving the country a few times (this seems dodgy and uncertain though)
* getting remote work from Australia and applying for some kind of pass (i have actually been offered remote work.. but i'm not sure if it's feasible from a MOM point of view)

I'd really appreciate any advice you can give me regarding my situation and best course of action... or if there are any other options i haven't though of...

thanks in advance Keith

[JR8]

I think your best option would be to use this time to travel regionally and use SG as a hub to operate out of. Nothing illegal in that.

Are you a diver? How about a couple of weeks in a beach hut up in Thailand or Malaysia or indeed Indon or PH...

You won't get to treat SG as your home as such, but it's better than not seeing your bird at all.

[Keef]

thanks JR8...

i think that i can probably get another 30 days tacked on to my visa (through e-XTEND).. so that leaves a couple of months more to squeeze out of my stay...

if i could be guaranteed that that the tactic you suggested would work, it would definitely be my preferred option... i have friends in bangkok or the philippines i could potentially stay with, although the travelling around could get expensive..

i'm assuming immigration would see right through this though, and i've seen a few comments on this site that warn against it... i definitely don't want to get on the wrong side of the government, i love singapore!

is this a commonly done thing? am i being paranoid or is it actually a risky prospect? how long do you need to be out of the country for each time? i've seen quotes of 5 days and longer..

[JR8]

I’m not suggesting you live in SG on SVPs and ‘border-hop’. I’m suggesting you travel and use, and think of, SG as a return-base for the 6 months your GF is working in-country. Do you see the major difference there (there is nothing for immigration to ‘see through’)?

- budget airlines are pretty cheap these days. For BKK you can also go by bus for peanuts (not much fun but I’ve done it certainly twice in my younger days ). In these local countries you can live as cheap as chips if you wish to...