Singapore Visa

In travelling, when a foreign traveller is travelling to a foreign county, the traveller will be required to hold some kind of entry visa so if it is required by the destination country. The visa is required in order for the traveller to be able to gain entry into the country and of course, this is the same for the country of Singapore as travellers visiting Singapore will need a valid visa or pass to gain entry or to stay within the country. For Singapore, one of the most common types of entry is the social visit entry and there are actually two methods for gaining entry into Singapore under this category where these two methods include the social visit pass and a visa.

Depending on the nationality or the circumstances of the visitor, some only need a social visit pass to gain entry into Singapore and for others, they will need to apply a visa in order to gain entry into Singapore. For the visa, Singapore only requires travellers with the nationalities originating from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China (PR), CIS, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Myanmar, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Vietnam, Yemen and holders of Palestinian Authority passports to possess a valid visa when entering Singapore. In addition to that, travellers who are holding Refugee Travel Documents issued by Middle Eastern countries and travellers who are holding Hong Kong Document of Identity cards or a Macau SAR Travel Permit are also required to be in posses of a valid visa before entering the country of Singapore. For all other travellers where their original nationalities are not found above, all that is needed for the travellers to enter Singapore is a social visit pass where this pass is issued on arrival (at the discretion of the Immigration Officer) provided that the traveller holds a passport which is valid for 6 months beyond the date of departure, confirmed return travel documentation (commonly a return air ticket) and also sufficient funds to cover the expenses during the period of stay.

In order to apply for either a social visit pass or a visa, it is essential for the traveller to prepare some of the required documents beforehand. For a social visit pass, some of the required documentations include a valid passport and photocopies of data pages, valid travel documents including an onward or return ticket, sufficient funds, two passport-size photos, two completed application forms, yellow fever vaccination certificate if passing through or coming from an endemic zone within 6 days of arriving in Singapore and last but not least, a local sponsor’s ID card (only needed for long term stay which is more than 3 months). As for the application of a visa, some of the required documents include a valid passport, two completed application forms, two passport-size photos, two copies of letter stating purpose for visit, two copies of a letter from local sponsor in Singapore and as well as a yellow fever vaccination certificate if passing through or coming from an endemic zone within 6 days of arriving in Singapore.

For the cost of the application for both the social visit pass and as well as the visa, the fee which is required for both is S$20 where the S$20 is non-refundable regardless of the outcome of the application, whether it is successful or otherwise. As for the processing time of the visa, the processing time varies with the methods of submission where the visa processing time is 3 working days (excluding the day of submission) from the receipt of the visa applications, under the condition that all documents furnished are in order and no further verification is required. If the submission of application is done via the SAVE system, the visa processing time is 1 working day (excluding the day of submission). Therefore in short, it is highly advisable that all of the applications are made earlier prior to the arrival to Singapore as sometimes, there might be need for extra time if some of the details or documents needed are missing.

Singapore Visa Official Website

http://app.ica.gov.sg/serv_visitor/entry_visa/visa_level1.asp

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