Singapore Expats

Hi there, this is not my current situation but I am just wondering what would happen in this scenario.
If a person holding a work pass, ie EP or Spass in SG loses his job, he will only be able to stay 30 more days in SG to look for a new job. Let's say if he has not received the offer during the interim and is still hunting for a job, can he just travel to his home country and then re-enter SG under the 30-day tourist visa to continue staying in SG in order to attend on-site interviews? Can he repeat this process multiple times until he gets a job offer? And if so, how long should he remain in his home country whenever he goes back so that ICA will not treat him as someone doing suspicious things?

kungfu.tofu wrote: ↑

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 11:51 pm

Hi there, this is not my current situation but I am just wondering what would happen in this scenario.
If a person holding a work pass, ie EP or Spass in SG loses his job, he will only be able to stay 30 more days in SG to look for a new job. Let's say if he has not received the offer during the interim and is still hunting for a job, can he just travel to his home country and then re-enter SG under the 30-day tourist visa to continue staying in SG in order to attend on-site interviews? Can he repeat this process multiple times until he gets a job offer? And if so, how long should he remain in his home country whenever he goes back so that ICA will not treat him as someone doing suspicious things?

Please think logically. How will IcA allow someone to repeat this until he gets a job ? He may be able to do this 1 time if lucky. More than that would be free chance to get banned entering SG

My father had to travel in and out Singapore 3 times in 2 months while on tourist pass ( his Tourist Pass has one year validity with max stat limit of 30days ) .
On his third visit ICA had lot of questions. Thankfully he had his LTVP under process and he was let go.

So no .. your plan will not work

Of course ICA is wise to visa runs, and they won't tell anyone what criteria they use for obvious reasons. Does he really want to risk it?

Visa Runs were tightened up considerably around the turn of the century. You plan will get you banned for a minimum of 6 months after the 2nd one, in normal instances (of which there are no normal ones) - if you are lucky to get a 2nd one.

Even in 1996 when I first arrived here, I didn’t want to risk making visa runs, so I extended my 30d SVP. My GF at the time (now wife) was a PR and had to sponsor my extensions. At first they only gave 14 days, but we requested 30 and that triggered a brief interview where they asked about the purpose of my visit. We were honest and explained that we were a couple and I was looking for work. They said there was nothing wrong with looking as long as I’m not working, and gave us the 30d. After that we extended again and got another 30d without an interview. Technically, that should have been the limit, but we tried our luck and requested another extension, and it worked, another 30d. Before the last 30 expired I got job offer, and once my EP was being processed they kept extending in 30d increments. Even though my EP was rejected multiple times, once the appeal was made they kept on extending, and finally after 9 months on SVP, I got my first EP which was good for 12 months. Keep in mind that I hold a US passport… even back then it crossed my mind that had I been holding an Indian passport (as an example), even with a local sponsor it might have been far more difficult to get those initial extensions.

kungfu.tofu wrote: ↑

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 11:51 pm

Hi there, this is not my current situation but I am just wondering what would happen in this scenario.
If a person holding a work pass, ie EP or Spass in SG loses his job, he will only be able to stay 30 more days in SG to look for a new job. Let's say if he has not received the offer during the interim and is still hunting for a job, can he just travel to his home country and then re-enter SG under the 30-day tourist visa to continue staying in SG in order to attend on-site interviews? Can he repeat this process multiple times until he gets a job offer? And if so, how long should he remain in his home country whenever he goes back so that ICA will not treat him as someone doing suspicious things?

I did a lot of travel from UAE to Singapore from 2011-2012 for business for my company on my INdian passport and Singapore visa .. the ICA did not ask me the reason of travel or ever stopped me but then my trips were not more than 5 days.

truthhurts1 wrote: ↑

Sun, 11 Sep 2022 8:39 am

kungfu.tofu wrote: ↑

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 11:51 pm

Hi there, this is not my current situation but I am just wondering what would happen in this scenario.
If a person holding a work pass, ie EP or Spass in SG loses his job, he will only be able to stay 30 more days in SG to look for a new job. Let's say if he has not received the offer during the interim and is still hunting for a job, can he just travel to his home country and then re-enter SG under the 30-day tourist visa to continue staying in SG in order to attend on-site interviews? Can he repeat this process multiple times until he gets a job offer? And if so, how long should he remain in his home country whenever he goes back so that ICA will not treat him as someone doing suspicious things?

I did a lot of travel from UAE to Singapore from 2011-2012 for business for my company on my INdian passport and Singapore visa .. the ICA did not ask me the reason of travel or ever stopped me but then my trips were not more than 5 days.

There is a difference. You were holding an EP which is a multiple entry visa. It's not unusual for EP holders to be frequently in and out of Singapore on business trips.