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Singapore entry with us visa

abby

TF Buzz
VIP Lounge
Hi,

I am planning for a 2 day trip to singapore and have a us visa.. would appreciate if anybody who has gone through immigration with a visa free transit, can share their experience
 

gurbina

TF Premier
VIP Lounge
@abby Singapore ONLY has a Visa Free Transit Facility (VFTF) for Indians which have certain visas/passes, also you must be enroute to or from a third country and transiting in Singapore.

In your case US visa suffices as long as the validity is at least 1 month.

However seems like you are planning a roundtrip flight to Singapore from India which is NOT eligible for VFTF as you are NOT transiting.

 
You can pass through Singapore immigration if you have US visa with 6 month validity. I had a 16 hour layover at Singapore and easily exited the immigration showing the US B1/B2(tourist) visa and again entered back with flight tickets in hand. But this was in 2019. Don't know if the rules have changed but i doubt it. Enjoy your trip. :cool:
 

CARDBITRAGE

TF Ace
Hi,

I am planning for a 2 day trip to singapore and have a us visa.. would appreciate if anybody who has gone through immigration with a visa free transit, can share their experience
Please clarify whether you would be flying to a different country after Singapore. If yes, you can avail VTFT(preferably during the onward leg from India). To avoid complications, book a flight that offers you a stopover in Singapore for your connecting flights. If you have split your itinerary, it would be a good idea to reconfirm with the embassy and your airline.
 

abby

TF Buzz
VIP Lounge
Yes.. I am flying to bali post singapore in 48hrs .. but it's two separate itenaries..
 

abby

TF Buzz
VIP Lounge
You can pass through Singapore immigration if you have US visa with 6 month validity. I had a 16 hour layover at Singapore and easily exited the immigration showing the US B1/B2(tourist) visa and again entered back with flight tickets in hand. But this was in 2019. Don't know if the rules have changed but i doubt it. Enjoy your trip. :cool:
Was your flight out of singapore part of the same itenary or a different itenary
 
Was your flight out of singapore part of the same itenary or a different itenary
My flight was part of the same itinerary.. but i suggest you can get the e ticket for your next flight generated before so that you can enter the airport. Do check with a travel agent for confirmation.
 

Harry1

TF Legend
VIP Lounge
@abby Did u find out the answer?

I am planning for Bali via Singapore/Malaysia on both to and fro in same pnr on same day without going outside airport. Do I need to cross immigration at any of singapore /Malaysia airport and does any of these require transit visa for the same?
 

CARDBITRAGE

TF Ace
@abby Did u find out the answer?

I am planning for Bali via Singapore/Malaysia on both to and fro in same pnr on same day without going outside airport. Do I need to cross immigration at any of singapore /Malaysia airport and does any of these require transit visa for the same?
Nope. If on the same PNR, you don’t need to exit the airport. You will get both your boarding passes issued to you at the airport before your first flight. And your luggage will be transferred while you transit.
 

Harry1

TF Legend
VIP Lounge
Nope. If on the same PNR, you don’t need to exit the airport. You will get both your boarding passes issued to you at the airport before your first flight. And your luggage will be transferred while you transit.
Are u sure or just guessing? If sure, are you saying for both singapore and Malaysia? Because some countries require transit visa even if it is on same pnr. See here one similar issue for Germany transit without transit visa.

 

CARDBITRAGE

TF Ace
Are u sure or just guessing? If sure, are you saying for both singapore and Malaysia? Because some countries require transit visa even if it is on same pnr. See here one similar issue for Germany transit without transit visa.


Am I guessing? I did sound pretty affirmative. I've transitted through both SIN and KUL plenty of times. You specifically asked for the two countries, so I said that. But what I said above is not a generalisation for all the countries. If you are unsure, it would be better to contact the concerned airline or embassy to clarify. If you are transiting through Europe, you would 100% need a transit visa if you do not hold a valid Schengen Visa. Last time I was at the Airport, I saw some students were denied boarding as they had booked with KLM and didn't have a transit/Schengen visa for the Netherlands.
It's the same is the case with New Zealand and Australia and you'd need to apply for a transit visa. It's free of cost and pretty straightforward.

Now let's talk about SIN and KUL. SIN doesn't have any specific requirement or regulation while transiting. You can stay within the transit area as long as you have your upcoming flight. If you have a visa from a few select countries, you can get a free transit visa(VTFT) and exit the airport without a prior visa. For more information-> Singapore VTFT for Indians

And Malaysia does require a transit visa if your layover is >24 hours. 90% of the people will not have a layover over 8 hours. And besides, Indians can now get VOA for Malaysia so I didn't think it was worth mentioning.

Also, I brought up PNR as some people end up buying the cheapest flight fare available. Some websites will curate a flight itinerary by combining two separate flight itineraries (different PNR). This might require you to exit and re-enter the airport terminal or in some cases go to a different airport altogether within the transit city. So for that, you would definitely need a visa to obtain the boarding pass for the flight out of the transit city. And if you have checked-in baggage, you would need to re-check it with the other airline.

I hope this clears things up. (y)
 
Last edited:

Harry1

TF Legend
VIP Lounge
Am I guessing? I did sound pretty affirmative. I've transitted through both SIN and KUL plenty of times. You specifically asked for the two countries, so I said that. But what I said above is not a generalisation for all the countries. If you are unsure, it would be better to contact the concerned airline or embassy to clarify. If you are transiting through Europe, you would 100% need a transit visa if you do not hold a valid Schengen Visa. Last time I was at the Airport, I saw some students were denied boarding as they had booked with KLM and didn't have a transit/Schengen visa for the Netherlands.
It's the same is the case with New Zealand and Australia and you'd need to apply for a transit visa. It's free of cost and pretty straightforward.

Now let's talk about SIN and KUL. SIN doesn't have any specific requirement or regulation while transiting. You can stay within the transit area as long as you have your upcoming flight. If you have a visa from a few select countries, you can get a free transit visa(VTFT) and exit the airport without a prior visa. For more information-> Singapore VTFT for Indians

And Malaysia does require a transit visa if your layover is >24 hours. 90% of the people will not have a layover over 8 hours. And besides, Indians can now get VOA for Malaysia so I didn't think it was worth mentioning.

Also, I brought up PNR as some people end up buying the cheapest flight fare available. Some websites will curate a flight itinerary by combining two separate flight itineraries (different PNR). This you will require you to exit and re-enter the airport terminal or in some cases go to a different airport altogether within the transit city. So for that, you would definitely need a visa to obtain the boarding pass for the flight out of the transit city. And if you have checked-in baggage, you would need to re-check it with the other airline.

I hope this clears things up. (y)
Thanks for detailed explanation. I do call airlines for confirmation. But the customer care is mostly clueless.

They keep saying to contact consulate of the country, even though it's their airport check in staff 99% of the time, which denies boarding passes😅.

Once I called srilankan airlines for transit in Sri Lanka. I ended up applying for transit visa due to insufficient info and it seemed easier task (completely online and free). But none asked for it later.

Another time, called vistara for confirmation on Entry from Dubai and Exit from Abu dhabi with Dubai Visa. Somehow UAE visa is called as Dubai visa. Vistara didn't say anything. I read lot of articles and kept getting confused with mixed responses. In the end, went with gut feeling and it worked fine.
 

chasni

TF Ace
VIP Lounge
Thanks for detailed explanation. I do call airlines for confirmation. But the customer care is mostly clueless.

They keep saying to contact consulate of the country, even though it's their airport check in staff 99% of the time, which denies boarding passes😅.

Once I called srilankan airlines for transit in Sri Lanka. I ended up applying for transit visa due to insufficient info and it seemed easier task (completely online and free). But none asked for it later.

Another time, called vistara for confirmation on Entry from Dubai and Exit from Abu dhabi with Dubai Visa. Somehow UAE visa is called as Dubai visa. Vistara didn't say anything. I read lot of articles and kept getting confused with mixed responses. In the end, went with gut feeling and it worked fine.
I have also transited through SIN 3 times in the last one yr. You don't require visa as long as you stay air side and catch your next flight.
 

CARDBITRAGE

TF Ace
Thanks for detailed explanation. I do call airlines for confirmation. But the customer care is mostly clueless.

They keep saying to contact consulate of the country, even though it's their airport check in staff 99% of the time, which denies boarding passes😅.

Once I called srilankan airlines for transit in Sri Lanka. I ended up applying for transit visa due to insufficient info and it seemed easier task (completely online and free). But none asked for it later.

Another time, called vistara for confirmation on Entry from Dubai and Exit from Abu dhabi with Dubai Visa. Somehow UAE visa is called as Dubai visa. Vistara didn't say anything. I read lot of articles and kept getting confused with mixed responses. In the end, went with gut feeling and it worked fine.
I agree! The airline staff(especially the telephone customer care) are mostly half-baked. It is better to email their helpdesk to assist you with immigration-related queries. I sometimes find it is better to consult with people with prior experience.
When in doubt though, get a confirmation from the embassy first. Then contact the airline helpdesk. Sometimes, you might get into a tricky situation as the laws can change at any point or you get misinformed by random information available online. My friend almost lost a lot of money thinking he could avail South Korea VOA, but he wasn't satisfying all the requirements. And besides it's too risky as even the immigration officers are sometimes not aware of this special provision.
 
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