[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

A elementary but crucial question! I have a 2 year Business visa but can I travel on for tourism purposes on it?

Typically, it is frowned upon but I am unclear for SIN.

Technically it amounts to fraud and with a country like Singapore you should not be taking any chances.

Speak to the consulate directly to get clarity and proceed accordingly.

Cheers

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Technically it amounts to fraud and with a country like Singapore you should not be taking any chances.

Speak to the consulate directly to get clarity and proceed accordingly.

Cheers

Fraud ('wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain') is an inappropriate word to describe my query .

Will certainly check official sources - this was just an initial query.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Fraud ('wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain') is an inappropriate word to describe my query

That's exactly the perspective Singapore Immigration will take

If you enter Singapore with a business visa for tourism purpose, it is a wrongful/criminal deception for your personal gain. You are in effect lying regarding the purpose of your visit and gaining from not having to invest in a visa for tourism purpose.

If caught in such a deception you will not be able to say "itwasntme"

Checking with the consulate and following their instructions is the only way to go brother.

Cheers

Cheers

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

You are in effect lying regarding the purpose of your visit and gaining from not having to invest in a visa for tourism purpose

Thank you for your e-mail. You may travel and seek entry into Singapore as long as your existing visa is valid for either social or business purposes.

Thank God I didn't rob Singapore of the 30SGD investment!

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Thank you for your e-mail. You may travel and seek entry into Singapore as long as your existing visa is valid for either social or business purposes.

I believe what you have is the social visit pass with 2 years validity; this can be used for entering Singapore either for casual visits or business meetings.

[fordday]

Originally Posted by tejas08

No need for any hotel confirmation. Only confirmed Flight Tickets required.

I have a plan to visit SGP with my family. This above statement caused some doubts. Does it mean I have to book flight tickets before applying for visa? What happens if they give visa but it does not fall within flight dates? Or if they reject my visa application altogether?

Do I lose my ticket money?

[raksrules]

Can one apply for Singapore Tourist Visa without having any actual travel dates? For how long is the Visa issued ?

[ajay_satpute]

Confirmed return tickets and stay information (hotel, relatives) is must for Singapore tourist visa.

When I visited, we were going to stay at my friend's place for 4 days, so we had to get a letter from my friend along with her Singapore VISA details and residential documentation.

Similarly, hotel booking confirmation is must while submitting the application for VISA.

[itwasntme]

Hotel stay can be made through a 100% cancellable site like booking.com so no worries. BUT confirmed, i.e. issued flight tickets are a must.

Don't worry, unless you're deemed to be a national security threat, they will issue a visa aligned to your ticket dates. Usually, they issue a visa for a limited period maybe 14 or 30 days but will cover your stay. 30+ days planned stay are covered by a different category I think.

VFS Global has a neat editable PDF file: https://www.vfsglobal.com/singapore/...A-fillable.pdf

[tejas08]

Originally Posted by fordday

I have a plan to visit SGP with my family. This above statement caused some doubts. Does it mean I have to book flight tickets before applying for visa? What happens if they give visa but it does not fall within flight dates? Or if they reject my visa application altogether?

Do I lose my ticket money?

Yes. You have to book flights before applying for a Visa. This is a requirement across all major tourist destinations. Recently visited Italy with family and I had to make all flight & accommodation bookings before applying for visa for the whole family. I essentially put approx. 4 big ones on line for this

At the same time, Tourist visas are never rejected if you have your travel plan laid out well with all the bookings done. The Visa dates will be in line with your bookings only and nothing different. In case of Singapore visa, you get two year multiple entry visa if you have decent travel history (1-2 other countries visited).

If you are too worried about losing money on Tickets, you could buy refundable tickets but then those again would be loss of money due to the higher pricing.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by fordday

Do I lose my ticket money?

Yes, you will end up with a loss if visa is rejected. Though tourist visas with proper documentations does not get rejected usually, there is a risk always. A friend of mine got his Holland visa rejected few weeks back, he ended up loosing his ticket + hotel costs.

Regarding the visa duration, the scenario you mentioned should not happen. Usually they issue visa for a duration and days. Say, your visa is valid for 2 years and you can visit the country for 30 days in that period. So this will cover your flight dates too.

[mpksuhas]

A late update.

Applied and got SGP tourist visa in May 2022. Applied through Thomas Cook, they seems to be providing the cheapest option apart from Make My Trip.

Both Make My trip and Thomas Cook have lot of negative reviews online, since my previous experiences with Thomas Cook was good and also since felt its good to have a direct interaction than sending passport and documents to some address.

Documents required -
1. Covering letter to consulate
2. 3 months bank statement / 1 month salary slip - For this, there was change in requirement when compared to different agents. Some asked for 3 months salary slip. Some asked for letter from office etc. In short, what is required is a proof that you are employed.
3. Return ticket + Hotel confirmation - This too, there was different versions online, with some saying return ticket is not required. However, all agents I discussed with asked for the same.
4. Address proof in case your current address is different from that in passport.
5. Photographs in matt finish.
6. Final vaccination certificate.

Cost of visa - Rs 2054

This as I mentioned is one of the cheapest I found. Most others were asking for Rs 3500 or above.

One of the issue with Thomas Cook is, irrespective of when you submit the application, they send for processing some 7-8 days before your travel date. This means there is always a photo finish. This apart, I felt their dealing good.


There been discussion here earlier too about the duration of visa given. I was hoping to get a longer visa duration based on travel history. While my wife have almost similar travel history + an expired visa to Singapore (was not able to travel due to pandemic lockdown).

However, both of us got only 1 month multiple entry visa with a validity of 3 months. The person at Thomas Cook desk mentioned that its purely a random thing and there is no definite pattern in that.


Singapore have now done away with RTPCR on arrival requirement and also pre flight RTPCR. Its required to fill a health form online, this can be done 3 days before the trip. This has a checklist and also a way to upload your vaccination certificate. However, on arrival there, they just glanced through it and instead asked for our Cowin certificate.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

A late update.

Applied and got SGP tourist visa in May 2022.

Cost of visa - Rs 2054.

That's a pretty decent deal. Back in 2019, I had taken services from Uniglobe (Chennai) - a local agency that someone had recommended. They charged me 2100Rs with a 3-5 day timelines. Documents and process was more or less similar without the covid related requirements.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Uniglobe (Chennai) - a local agency that someone had recommended. They charged me 2100Rs with a 3-5 day timelines.

That's a good deal.

I guess the consulate charges are near to Rs 1800 and rest will be the charges by the vendor.
Singapore visa as you know is a E-visa, i.e. its not printed on your passport. However, for Indian passport holders, the submission can be done via travel agents only.

Consulate has list of travel agents who is authorized to submit the same, Thomas cook & Make My Trip are part of that. In case the travel agent you are dealing with is not part of the list, they will have to redirect it through one of the authorized agent, hence causing higher cost of visa processing.

Also, since its an E Visa, the agent does not have to handover your passport to the consulate.
However if consulate asks for it, it will have to be produced by the agent on the same day. Hence for Bangalore applications, the passport will have to shipped to Chennai, this adds up the cost a bit when applying from Bangalore or any city where consulate is not located.

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

3. Return ticket + Hotel confirmation - This too, there was different versions online, with some saying return ticket is not required. However, all agents I discussed with asked for the same.

Is this hotel booking conformation required if one is planning to stay with relative's accommodation in SG?