Issue with ICA
 

Hi guys,

I've been seeing my current girlfriend for about 2 years. She's Thai. I knew her in Thailand, back in 2008. I was travelling there for work quite frequently and got to know her through friends.

in 2009, she was retrenched from her job. with a bit of free time, she started visiting me on a monthly basis. I was aware of the 30 day tourist visa thing so we made arrangements to stay in singapore for 3 weeks, then she'd go back to thailand for a week, then come back again.

Things were fine for about 3 months, then on her fourth visit here, she got questioned at the checkpoint about her frequency of visit, but was subsequently free to come in. It raised concerns, so we took the initiative to go to ICA and enquire about the possible reasons for such 'questioning' at the airport checkpoint.

I was advised by the officer in the interview room that it's normal routine questioning and there should not be much to worry about, as long as she abides by the following rules:

1. That she does not illegally stay past the allowed days stated on her tourist visa
2. That she carries sufficient cash to prove she has sufficient means of living while staying in singapore
3. That she does not engage in any form of illegal activities during her stay in singapore.

Ok, that set our minds at ease, and we continued with our arrangement. On her 6th visit, she was detained at the checkpoint, and deported back to thailand. no reason given, no questions entertained.

I've since written in an appeal for re-entry, and even tried getting a student pass application for her, which were all rejected. Again, no reasons given, and according to ICA, they are not obliged to give any reason for refusing entry to anyone.

She is not a working girl, neither has she gotten into trouble with the law before, either in thailand or in singapore. she also has not come to singapore before she knew me.

Now i am filing for marriage for us and is appealing to ICA again to let her come in.

Have you guys experienced this? hope you can give me some advice what i can do.

thanks in advance

Re: Issue with ICA
 

TS,

Let skip the r/s part between you and her for the time being ... :rolleyes:

I suggest you go visit the ICA department personally to go find out for yourself why is the application is rejected.

• She might has violated some regulation in sillypore

• She might be caught for doing FL or whatever

:rolleyes:

Nevertheless it is so easy for the ICA department to send you a "unsucessful" application that they do not need to face any audit then a "sucessful" one. :D Unless you push hard enough ;)

Re: Issue with ICA
 

TS, dont mean to be a cold blanket to u, but honestly, her shuttling in & out of sg + avg length of stay suggests she's no longer here for social visiting purposes. ICA doesnt give 2 hoot if she's working or if she's perpetually caged in your apartment.

white or black, their job is just to weed out all reasonable doubts of any who may have abused the social visit privileges. and all thanks to such abusers, it has now made it a hurdle for all other legit social visitors.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

bros,

thanks for reply. I actually went down the first time I received the notice letter to say my appeal letter was unsuccessful, hoping they could give me some answers. Waited for half a day, and when it's my turn, the officer's standard answer was the checkpoint authority is a different department within ICA and they are not obliged to reveal the reason. However, you can write in again to re-appeal. wtf?

also, i agree with bro suteerak that shuttling in and out is not gonna be a long term solution, hence i took the initiative to go to ICA before she was denied entry to check what i can do. The advice does not seem to tally with the actions. So where else can i go for advice if not ICA rite?

btw, not sure if any bros here are aware but just to share this. I registered for us to get married on ROM website last nite and they actually have this notice from ICA that any foreigner being married to a spore citizen does not automatically guarantee that foreigner is granted permanent or long term stay in singapore. as long as you are fine with the possibility that your foreign spouse may still stay abroad EVEN IF you're married, please go ahead and register. ok i understand. this is standard procedure because still need to apply for long term visa or PR, which will take a long time.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

[She might has violated some regulation in sillypore[/LIST]

• She might be caught for doing FL or whatever

i dun tik its tis reasons behind it cos i have a frenz tat have a thai gf n he personally go to thai to fetch his gal here. all was wellduring e lst few times till on e 4th time,his gal kana send back after questioning n wif no reasons given. my frenz argue wif officer but they were firm n end up my frenz LL go home fr airport alone.. i strongly believe its due to too frequently come here. even u say apply for marriage oso no use cos ther r cases wher ppl do fake marriage. it depends on e officer in charge mood sometimes...

Re: Issue with ICA
 

Bro, your re entry, student pass application, filing for for marriage, etc sure raised the ICA's 'eyebrow'............ probably, your next best option is to see your MP. That's what they are for, you vote them in to help the people...

Choke dee na:):)

Re: Issue with ICA
 

Its not easy to married someone other than singapore
I have somr frenz that their wife ate from thai also
Cos she often in out here that makes her a easy target for ICA to sent her home w/o reason even there is u can't possibly argue with them as they have the authority to do it so the next step as mentioned look for the MP especially when the next GE is coming :p

Re: Issue with ICA
 

The ICA obviously knows something about her that you don't. I suggest you have a heart to heart talk with her and ask her to come clean.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

hi bro

maybe you can get married with her first to certify that both of you are officially married. Honestly speaking, ica is very wary of foreigners going in and out of Singapore too often. Max numbers of entries is perhaps 2 as they are allowed a stay of 30 days.

For application of PR, it will be difficult to do so as she's not contributing any cpf in Singapore but what you can do after getting married is to apply a long term visit pass for her which will only be valid for a year. But once all these has been successful, she can look for a job and contribute cpf along the way which in years to come, she will be able to get her PR status.

I do see Thai ladies having the PR status. It's possible. But first you have to get married with her and there will be a marriage certificate of proof.

This is just a suggestion you might want to consider.

Perhaps more bros here who are much familiar can advise bro TS.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

Interesting thread. I wonder if how this will work. Suppose a thai lady brings in stuff from Catuchak market (sorry, can't spell the name) to sell in Singapore either at Pasar Malams or Weekend Flea Markets. She has a valid reason to frequent Singapore right? If she sets up a $2 Pte Ltd company with Acra, can she fly in and out of Singapore as regularly as she wants? If ICA asks, just show her namecard with a registered singapore company number?

I think applying for a student pass is dodgy. Is she really coming here to study or to date and marry you? A lot of WLs use that path to enter and stay in Singapore.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

hi bro Xgenre

I dun think this will work. If she is able to set up a small business here, why would she want to fly back, she might as well apply for a work permit to work in Singapore. Then she need not fill up any more white cards which only allow her to stay in Singapore for 30 days.

Btw bro.. Can foreigners set up a business with ACRA? Any ideas how the procedures are like, i.e.. (the documents required from the foreigners) etc....?

Re: Issue with ICA
 

Well, the items sold at Chatuchak market tends to be small items, earrings, chopsticks, pouches etc. My thinking is that they will pack these items in their luggage and fully utilise the 20kg or whatever weight limit. Once the items are sold in Singapore, they will then fly back to Bangkok to replenish stocks. Thus the reason for frequent flying. Like you know, a lot of blogspot owners also search around the world for things to sell in Singapore. With budget airlines now, it's quite cheap to fly back.

Apply work permit not so easy these days. Registering a business allows her a legitimate reason to frequent Singapore and to meet TS often mah.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

i think foreigners need to put a deposit in order to set up business now..

Re: Issue with ICA
 

Foreigners cannot stay more than 60 days per trip and more than 90 days per year. If can then consider resident.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

Big Bro you know best :D
But I suggust you don't heart to heart talk with her ........... if she drop the bomb you are going to get a heart attack.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

My friend experienced exactly the same problem as you! She was questioned on her third visit back to Singapore. She's running some business in her home country and has been staying there for more than month. After I told him about your post, he's very worried. Hopefully, she won't be deported because they are going to get married soon in June. If she's deported, how is she going to apply for a long term social visit pass? Seriously, the authorities are really jumping the gun man.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

A foreigner, who is not a Singapore Permanent Resident (PR), but wishes to engage in any form of business in Singapore must apply for an EntrePass from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
A foreigner, who does not apply for EntrePass, may instead appoint a locally resident director to register a company in Singapore and continue to reside outside Singapore. “Locally resident” refers to a person who is a Singapore Citizen, Singapore PR or EntrePass holder, and resides in Singapore.

So would it help my friend if he becomes a director of the company and his girlfriend becomes the registered owner?

Re: Issue with ICA
 

she is likely hiding something from you
are u with her during the interaction with the officers ?

let me share a similar story heard from somewhere sometimes ago
this naive man and his wife from ...
bring wife in being denied entry at custom
typical sg kpkb.... complain ........
and little money in his pocket to call lawyer
at the same time call family call reporters

turn out to be, his wife was in sg for yrs before
and the computer records store all the informations to deny her entry

LL

Re: Issue with ICA
 

If no dirty records, this is the most probably cause as otherwise unlimited short-term social visits with only small breaks in-between is as good as a long-term pass right? :rolleyes:

I've had similar experiences with a PRC gf in the past, first few time no prob, extension also no prob. Until perhaps at some point where the total# of days clocked in a year surpass some limit, all subsequent applications got rejected.

If you're serious in getting married for the purpose of having a family, once she's pregnant, that'll be a better ticket to get her into sg; for medical purpose (delivery here) and subsequently the baby is registered as here as a citizen, the chances of your wife getting PR/etc will go up. Any appeals (if needed) from then onwards will be more solid ;)

Re: Issue with ICA
 

So, even if the wife didn't violate any offence, her application for LTSVP (Long-term Social Visit Pass) can be rejected based on the whims of the ICA ppl? What if it keeps getting rejected? Do they expect us to divorce or immigrate?

Re: Issue with ICA
 

Reject or not... I'm sure there's a formula with many variables which get influenced by policies, events, timing, quota, etc. So that sometimes transform to heng-suay...

One factor I think most will agree is the "economic contribution" of whoever staying or coming to Sg (not just contributing in terms of $$$). The e.g. of having a baby here is align with what the country need now, maybe may not work back in the days where 2 is enuff. And the women charter will support the need for the mom to be with the kid, and so it make sense approval will be granted to the mom/wife to be here.

Tourist/Social Visit? OK spend money in Sg, but the easiest to abuse.
Student pass? Too easy to be abused as an excuse to be here.
EntrePass? A lit-bit harder but still can be fake.
Getting Married? Can also be fake...
Make babies? Say for the army... :D How to fake it?
Well-educated professional? Hard to fake. Sure contribute to some policies here relating to manpower/talent.
Olympic games material? Can get citizenship in weeks ;)
etc...

Re: Issue with ICA
 

basically, u waited till she's been denied entry, before u started to go thru the necessary means & channels to make her entry legit........ in short, its a very steep slope to climb for you now.

u could've done all the necessary long before her denied entry too place. who knows, u could've already tied the knot officially by now.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

basically, u waited till she's been denied entry, before u started to go thru the necessary means & channels to make her entry legit........ in short, its a very steep slope to climb for you now.

u could've done all the necessary long before her denied entry too place. who knows, u could've already tied the knot officially by now.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

However it turns out, all the best to you.

But really can't blame ICA either, such repeated entries are bound to raise suspicions. On the other hand, I am not familiar with the goverment bodies, maybe some bros can give some info on which ministry TS can go to check if there is something more ?

Re: Issue with ICA
 

Yes...this applies to all nations and not just sin...:)

Re: Issue with ICA
 

Well i've experience this situation too few years back when i bring my girlfriend(now my wife) to sillypore.The officers intend to deport her and i told the officers that we plan to get married.They let her pass with a 2 weeks stamp and a 'ROM' remark is written beside it.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

IMHO ICA r "biased" against female tourists from the developing country. this is the main reason i can think of.

Have u ever heard of a SWW been deported at the airport? :cool: :mad:

Re: Issue with ICA
 

duplicate post. please del. sorry.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

Seeing there are lots of brothers with experience and that the other thread for people with foreign wives is kind of dead, may I seek some opinions to my situation.

My gf has lived in Singapore since last May. She left once in July for Taiwan and then Bangkok in Sept for a tour. She's never experienced any problems with the immigration. We went to Hong Kong for a tour in December and on our way back, she was stopped by the immigration. They interviewed her in a room without letting me in.

They asked her why she kept leaving and entering Singapore. So my gf told them that she wasn't working. She merely enjoyed touring the SEA countries and was using Singapore as a base. Furthermore, her boyfriend's a Singaporean and she stays here to accompany him. They let her in.

Fast-forward to March. She left for her home country in March and is still there. She won't be coming back to Singapore until May. That's a good 7 weeks actually.

I will be going to her country in May to do some wedding preparations and she will then come back with me. I'm afraid she will be rejected from entering.

In June, (three weeks after entering Singapore), we will go back to our home country to prepare for our wedding. We'll get married in her home country in mid June. We will come back to Singapore for a day or two, then fly to Europe for our Honeymoon. A week later, we plan to come back and that's when I plan to apply for a LTSVP or PR for her.

As you can see, she was questioned in MArch. And from March till late June when we finally really settle in Singapore, she will be entering and leaving Singapore for another three times. There are many opportunities for her to be deported like TS's case.

Can brothers please advise? Our real wedding is in her home country in June. Should I kind of get a date with ROM (Singapore) somewhere in June and print out the confirmation slip in case the ICA tries to stop her from entering?

Should I get a date with ROM in May instead? This would be more prudent as we could apply for the pass earlier and kind of set in stone the nature of our r/ship. However, this would mean our "real" wedding isn't in June. It becomes May instead.

Sorry for the long reply. I really want to avoid any trouble. By the way, she gets 90day SVP each time she enters Singapore.

Re: Issue with ICA
 

TS, would you please share your experience after that? Like how and when you applied for LTSVP and PR and whether you experienced other problems? I'm gathering information to better plan. Hope you help. Thanks a lot!