Issue with ICA

treymullen · #1 19-04-2010, 12:44 AM

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

see see only · #2 19-04-2010, 01:24 PM

TS,

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

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

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.

Unless you push hard enough

suteerak1099 · #3 19-04-2010, 06:47 PM

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.

treymullen · #4 19-04-2010, 08:52 PM

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.

sad83 · #5 19-04-2010, 08:56 PM

[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...

etct88 · #6 20-04-2010, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by treymullen

Hi guys........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

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

SH149 · #7 20-04-2010, 10:43 AM

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

sammyboyfor · #8 20-04-2010, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by treymullen

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.

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.

sexist84 · #9 20-04-2010, 10:54 AM

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.

Xgenre · #10 20-04-2010, 11:09 AM

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.

sexist84 · #11 20-04-2010, 12:18 PM

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....?

Xgenre · #12 20-04-2010, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sexist84

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.

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.