Immigration Act

In addition to regulations for jobs, the government recently tightened the immigration act in 2017 for four main areas:

• Criminalises marriages of convenience by anyone to get immigration facility, including those trying to get entry visas, permanent residency, or long-term passes

• Makes it an offence to “manufacture, traffic, and possess paraphernalia used to forge immigration documents”. In this case, if caught, offenders will be assumed to have the intent of committing forgery.

• Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) will have the power to cancel the re-entry permits of any permanent resident who has broken the law.

• ICA can also collect passengers and crew information for inbound travellers

Some other interesting laws in the Immigration Act include:

1. “Non-citizens born in Singapore”

A child born after 15th January 2005 and is not a Singapore citizen will be issued a special pass to remain in Singapore for 42 days. This pass can be extended by the father and mother of a legitimate child, or the mother of an illegitimate child and extension of said pass is left to the decision of a “controller of immigration” – a minister designated individual. The father and mother will then be responsible for ensuring that the child is no longer in the country after the expiry of the pass.

2. “Prohibited immigrants”

There is a group of immigrants called Prohibited Immigrants and they are deemed such under the following (not the full list):

• any person who is unable to show that he has the means of supporting himself and his dependants (if any) or that he has definite employment awaiting him, or who is likely to become a pauper or a charge on the public;

• any person suffering from a contagious or infectious disease which makes his presence in Singapore dangerous to the community;

• any person suffering from AIDS or infected HIV

• any person who —

1. has been convicted in any country or state of an offence for which a sentence of imprisonment has been passed for any term;

2. has not received a free pardon; and

3. by reason of the circumstances connected with that conviction is deemed by the Controller to be an undesirable immigrant;

• any prostitute or any person who is living on or receiving or who, prior to entering Singapore, lived on or received the proceeds of prostitution;

• any person who procures or attempts to bring into Singapore prostitutes or women or girls for the purpose of prostitution or other immoral purpose;

• vagrants or habitual beggars