A DUI in Singapore or anywhere could have serious implications on your future career and mobility around the world.
DUI is most countries including Singapore is a criminal offense, not a traffic offense and stays on the police criminal record for eternity alongside rapists, murderers, thugs etc.
Implications of a DUI in Singapore
- a first time offender can be fined anywhere between $1000 and $5000 depending upon the severity of your offense ( alcohol content in your breath/blood, aggravated circumstances etc) and a mandatory license disqualification for at least 1 year. Starting with the permissible limit of 35 mg in your breath a fine of $500 is added to $1000 for every additional 5 mg, so if you have X mg of alcohol, your fine would be $1000 + $500 * [(X-35)/5]. The same applies for license disqualification period - 1/2 year is added for every 5 mg of breath.
So the question is what if you exhaust the maximum fine amount of $5000 owing to a high alcohol level ? Answer is simple - you go to PRISON. Yes even first time offenders can go to PRISON.
And do not bother about the fine if you are involved in an accident, you are going to PRISON for sure.
Once your disqualification period is over, you would have to sit through the entire process including the theory tests and driving lessons before giving the practical test and obtaining your license again. Cost of insurance would skyrocket as well.
- if you have a first time DUI offense in Singapore with only a fine and license disqualification, I would recommend you to inform MOM/ICA depending upon your resident status. .
It does more harm than good by not declaring these things right away. From what I heard from credible sources, Singapore in general issues EPs to foreigners who try to come in with a "minor" DUI abroad, but not sure how they see a DUI in Singapore. A MOM officer I spoke to said that "minor offenses" involving only a fine should be OK. But there is no hard data as of now to corroborate this.
A PRISON term in your offense would most probably have you deported but I am not very sure about this though. And a second DUI would have you deported for sure.
- I would also recommend that you inform your employer as they would come to know about it at some point in future ( during EP renewal for eg ). The action taken by your employer would most probably depend upon your industry and your past behaviour during your stint with the firm. If you are working for the govt, there are good chances of you getting fired.
You will also bid goodbye to your careers if they are in law, airlines, politics to name a few.
Long term implications of a DUI
- DUI will have severe implications on your travel abroad esp to the North Americas ( USA and Canada ).
CANADA - As a general rule, Canada does not admit anyone with a DUI, whether it is a 2 year old DUI or a 20 year old DUI. So if you have a DUI, you can safely assume that the path to Canada is closed for good. George W Bush required a special waiver to enter Canada as he had a DUI dating to back to 1976 in Maine. I read that Canada is trying to relax the rules a little bit if your DUI is very old but I dont see anything changing drastically.
USA - As for the US, a single DUI is NOT grounds to deny entry and visa applicants with such records are investigated further. You may read these links for further information. The visa officer upon deciding to approve your visa requests for a waiver of inadmissability on your behalf and it delays your application by as long as 6 months.
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail ... i-offenses
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/86942.pdf
http://www.murthy.com/2012/10/01/dos-po ... g-records/
However do not attempt to apply for a visa if you are still serving the sentence ( i.e license disqualification period ). There is a very good chance that you will get rejected. Of late I have been hearing that US is getting more strict with applicants having DUI on their record.
UK/Australia - I hear that they are less strict when it comes to DUIs, but no data to corroborate this.
"Dont drink and drive" is a old adage which every Tom, Dick and Harry knows. But what most of us dont know is that we need to wait for 1 day before driving if we consume drinks.
In Singapore you could be charged for drink driving even if you are below the limit. If there is an accident and even if you are the innocent party and the cops find out that there are traces of alcohol in your blood, you will be charged for drink driving and prosecuted in court.
I am trying to spread this message on drink driving so that people dont screw up big time , but being on EP has serious limitations in terms of getting volunteering opportunities with the People's Association or any other govt/quasi-govt body. You need to be a PR or a citizen to be eligible for such volunteering positions.
If someone can review this and Sticky it, it will be of great help and save many from screwing up big time. I added all the possible synonyms for DUI in my subject so that if people search on web they might hit upon this thread.
But the sad irony is that most people do not bother to investigate the repercussions of a DUI until they have committed one themselves. If the Traffic Police or some govt body publicizes this kind of unofficial info , the number of DUI cases would definitely come down. I tried this with TP, but in vain.