Do I need a transit visa for a layover in Singapore?

Restrictions and bans on entry into Singapore due to coronavirus in 2021

A restriction and ban on entry into Singapore due to the coronavirus has been introduced for Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians and other foreigners flying into the country for short-term tourist purposes, according to the official website of the Russian Embassy in Singapore.

Transit flights are allowed; flights between Russia and Singapore officially opened on February 8, 2021, according to the ATOR website. For a transit transfer in Singapore, it is necessary to take a PCR test in English, which must be done no later than 72 hours before arrival in the country.

Due to the coronavirus, transit passengers are prohibited from leaving the airport building during the pandemic.

The country has closed its borders to ordinary tourists. The exception is for persons who have a residence permit or work permit in Singapore.

Visa to Singapore for Russians in 2021

→Except for unmarried women under 35 years of age applying for tourism.

1. Color scan of the first page of a foreign passport (scan larger than 899x1199 pixels). Valid for at least 6 months at the time of entry and with at least one blank page;
2. An electronic copy of a photograph on a white background in jpeg format measuring 400x514 pixels (original file, not scanned);
3. Ticket or round-trip ticket reservation (or we enclose);
4. Hotel reservation indicating the address and telephone number of the hotel, reservation dates, surname of each applicant;
5. Questionnaire >>> (fill in);
6. For children under 18 years of age additionally: a color scan of the birth certificate and consent to travel from the second parent (if the child is traveling with one of the parents).

Friendly and close cooperative relations have been established between the Russian and Singaporean states. Both countries are members of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). However, this did not affect the weakening of the visa regime.

To visit the Republic of Singapore, Russian citizens need a visa regardless of the purpose of the trip.

An exception is made for holders of official and diplomatic passports - a visa is not required if you stay in the country for less than 30 days. To stay in Singapore longer than this period, you must contact the Singapore Embassy in Moscow and pre-issue an entry permit.

Also, transit travelers do not need to worry about obtaining an entry permit - they are allowed to stay in the country without a visa.

The Singapore authorities have provided for the issuance of several types of visas depending on the purpose of the trip. Each category has its own characteristics and rules for receiving.

This type of entry permit corresponds to the following purposes of travel: tourism, visiting friends, relatives, participation in conferences, seminars. A multiple-entry visa is issued. The validity period of the permit is 9 weeks, but you are allowed to stay in the country for no more than 30 days at a time.

There are two main types of business visa:

• for entrepreneurs (Entre Pas);
• for highly qualified workers, directors, leading managers who plan to work in Singapore companies (Employment pass). Their salary level must be at least S$2.5 thousand.

Family members of a business visa holder of any type are entitled to obtain a dependent's visa (Dependant's Pass).

Photo requirements include digital photography parameters, requirements for the applicant’s appearance:

• size up to 60 KB, jpeg format, resolution no less than 400x514 pixels;
• the photograph must be taken no later than 3 months before the date of submission of the visa application;
• the background of the photo is light, plain;
• the image of the face should occupy most of the photo;
• without a smile;
• without wearing hats, glasses, or other items that can cover the face or part of it (except for cases stipulated by religious beliefs or medical indications).

Rules for transit entry during normal times

A transit visa to Singapore is issued directly at the airport and you can stay in the country for several days. This is enough to have time to see the most important Singapore attractions and understand local customs.

Statistics show that many transit passengers return to Singapore again for vacation.

Despite the relative simplicity of obtaining a transit visa, you need to know what risks you may encounter and what rules to follow.

Airlines and customs officers do not always act in accordance with the law, and sometimes they simply do not know all the nuances themselves.

What is the process of obtaining a visa to Singapore?

In fact, there is nothing difficult about this process. A visa to Singapore for Russians is issued in three days and does not require the preparation of any special documents. This means that if your trip is planned for 2021, you can start preparing each document closer to next year.

As noted earlier, the visa in question for Russians is issued online, which means that the key issue in this entire process is filling out the visa application form. In fact, even this is not complicated - this is another difference from a Schengen visa. Fill out the form, send scans of the necessary documents (passport, hotel reservation, air tickets, income certificate, medical insurance), pay the consular fee of $45 and after three days you receive the coveted visa to Singapore.

Features of transit stay without a visa

According to TIMATIC rules, a transit visa to Singapore is not required for Russians, but not all airlines agree to transport such passengers. Especially Singaporean low-cost airlines, which require a pre-visa.

This is what a transit visa to Singapore looks like

A dispute may arise, during which it will be necessary to prove the illegality of the ban, referring to the rules of transit, and not entry into the country. But according to TIMATIC rules, you can enter without a visa, all you need is the documents necessary to visit the state and an airline ticket.

A transit stay in Singapore, provided you have the necessary documents, is possible for a period of up to 96 hours – that’s four days. At the same time, you can leave the airport terminal to see the country.

It is better to issue a transit document, since in practice, passengers were still not allowed to leave the transit compartment, requiring documentary permission.

Transit means further departure to a third country. That is, for example, you cannot depart from one Russian city to Singapore on the next flight to another city in Russia. But you can go to another country. In this case, you can legally stay in Singapore for up to 4 days using a free stamp.

To do this, you must also have a foreign passport, which must be valid for at least six months at the time of entry into Singapore, and plane tickets to a third country.

How to travel to Singapore in transit

• ✔ Transit period is strictly up to 96 hours
• ✔ Departure by plane only
• ✔ Have a paid air ticket to a third country

This is enough in theory. But in practice, when you take off at the check-in counter, you are asked, “Where is the Singapore visa?” Therefore, it is important to prepare for such questions in advance.

Documents for departure to Singapore in transit

• The most important thing is air tickets to fly from Singapore to a third country. A third country is any other country, but not the one you are flying from. That is, 3 different countries (examples below). The ticket is checked using the reservation code, so no fake or unpaid tickets will help. You can fly with low-cost airlines, but avoid Scoot and don't fly from Vietnam. Buy a ticket to Aviasales.
• Hotel reservations may be required. Any hotel or hostel is suitable. Printout from Booking or Agoda in English. We stayed at G-Hotel.
• Additionally, print out official documents confirming transit to Singapore for Russians and other CIS countries:

You may need these pages from Singaporean legislation to prove the possibility of transit to Singapore for Russians, Ukrainians and other countries. Just in case the girl at the counter doesn’t want to let you on the plane without a Singapore visa.

Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other countries of the former USSR are designated “Commonwealth of Independent States” (in our opinion, CIS). Use a colored marker or just a pen to highlight the lines that say about transit for 96 hours in Singapore without a visa with the ability to leave the airport.

How to use transit correctly

To do everything correctly, you need to understand what transit is and what nuances should be taken into account in order to minimize possible complications at the border. Firstly, transit is an arrival in Singapore from one country, followed by a transfer to a third. Not a transit:

• departure from Yekaterinburg to Changi Airport (Singapore) with a subsequent flight to Moscow;
• flight from Pattaya (Thailand) to Singapore with a transfer to Bangkok (Thailand);
• departure from Russia with a connecting flight in Cambodia, then landing in Singapore and the next flight to another airport in Cambodia is also not transit.

It is almost impossible to transit to Singapore via the land border.

At border control, you will encounter a lot of questions from border guards about the purpose of the visit, the exact final destination, a detailed check of documents, and the availability of accommodation reservations. It may turn out that you are missing some document that you didn’t even know about. The bus will not wait until you solve your problems with the border guards, so it’s better to discard this idea right away.

For Singapore border guards, transit is:

• visiting a country followed by departure to the next country;
• availability of a visa to a third country, if it is provided for citizens of Russia or Ukraine;
• legal stay in Singapore by transit cannot exceed 4 days;
• further travel will be made on a specific flight.

The last point should be emphasized, since it is not always observed. It is impossible to know for sure; there have been successful further trips to a third country not by plane, but by water transport by sea. But now this most likely will not work; customs officers who are more responsible in complying with the legislation may be caught.

A transit visa to Singapore will be issued if you have:

• international passports with space for a stamp and a minimum of 6-month validity (the stamp will be placed at passport control at the airport);
• visas to a third country (if provided for your country);
• a copy of tickets for the next flight;
• migration card.

The migration card is issued on the plane and it is better to fill it out there

After this, you can safely stay in the country, but there are some subtleties here.

You will be given a stamp upon arrival, which will indicate only the date, and the time when these same 96 hours begin to count begins exactly with the arrival of your plane, and not with a visit to customs when affixing the stamp.

This is important to consider, since information about this will remain in the database and, if you do not leave the country on time and go to a third, then literally even 1 hour of illegal stay in Singapore can lead to problems with the migration service.

If you are going to apply for a transit visa, Singapore may indicate that you need to apply for a regular visa. This is possible if the flight was carried out by one airline, and your next flight to a third country will be carried out by another airline. Or if it is not recognized at all by the local consular department.

A standard visa will be needed if, when returning back, you will have to find yourself in Singapore again, this may be implied by the air ticket itself.

Read on our website: applying for an e-visa to Singapore.

According to local legislation, there are no restrictions on the number of transit visits. If during the same year you, even without violating a single rule of stay, are in transit in this country too often, the migration service may also have claims against you. The way out of this situation is to apply for a standard tourist visa.

What documents will be needed to obtain a transit visa?

Despite the fact that a transit visa is provided to Russians free of charge, no one will give you a document giving you the right to enter just like that. You will need to present the following:

• A foreign passport, which is valid for at least six months and still has free pages;
• A visa to the country of your destination (unless, of course, Russia has a visa-free regime);
• Air ticket to fly out of the country.

Officially, these are all the documents that may be required of you. However, there are several nuances that must be taken into account. For example, Singapore immigration and control authorities may say that you need to apply for an official visa rather than a transit visa if the ticket to their country and the ticket to your destination are issued by different airlines. Or if the company from which you purchased the ticket is not recognized by the local consulate. You will also need to apply for a visa if your air ticket involves returning to Singapore on your return trip.

Customs regulations

When arriving in Singapore, you need to take into account features, ignorance of which may result in fines. It is generally prohibited to import drugs and psychotropic drugs; this is punishable by death in this city-country.

Chewing gum is banned in Singapore, and cigarettes will be checked separately. Tobacco products are carefully inspected at customs; for each pack you will have to pay a duty of 7 Singapore dollars. Each cigarette will be marked in the filter area.

The import of pyrotechnics, lighters, weapons (even toy ones), pornography in any form, meat and food in which meat was used in cooking is prohibited.

The import and export of local and foreign currency is not regulated in any way, but when exporting more than 30 thousand Singapore dollars, the amount must be declared separately.

You can export weapons, jewelry, and medicines from the country. All this must be for personal use; if the quantity is exceeded, you must obtain a separate export permit.

While in this tiny state, according to transit rules, you must have the minimum amount for your own maintenance, otherwise you will not be allowed into the city.

From the practice of transit travelers

Transit problems may arise if you are departing from Cambodia. Often low-cost airlines do not allow passengers to board from Ho Chi Minh City without a Singapore visa. If you choose a standard rather than a budget one, you can arrive in Singapore without a transit visa.

Many people have encountered this problem in recent years. Russian websites often do not contain information about changes to legislation, but they occurred back in 2014.

Most often, refusal to board an airplane occurs from state employees of the Asian part of the world, these include: VietJet Air, Tigerair, Jetstar Airways.

Visa to Singapore yourself: we apply for a visa without intermediaries

Unfortunately, at the moment, Russians cannot obtain a visa to Singapore without intermediaries. Visa applications, as well as all other documents, are accepted only through trusted partners, a full list of which you will find at the link. Singapore Airlines also accepts documents.

Authorized partners charge applicants an additional fee for their services in the amount of 1,500 rubles per applicant. The completed visa document is sent by email to the applicant’s address.