SIN · Before you leave the transit area · published · checked
Entering Singapore from a SIN layover
Leaving the transit area is entering Singapore. The airport does not issue a visa between flights. If the paperwork is wrong, the city guide stops at the glass.
Staying airside
Transfer passengers who do not clear immigration do not submit the SG Arrival Card. The terminals are the layover. Jewel is not available on that plan.
The SG Arrival Card
Everyone who will clear immigration submits it within three days before arrival, including the day you land. It is free, via ICA's e-service or the MyICA app. ICA says failing to submit it can mean you are denied entry. It is not a visa, and a site that charges for it is not ICA.
You present the passport at the desk. Biometrics are part of clearance. ICA also asks for six months of passport validity for non-residents, and a yellow-fever certificate if you are arriving from a risk country under their rule. Read the current page if that might be you.
Visa-exempt and visa-required
Whether you need a visa, and how many days you may stay, depends on the passport. A long list of nationalities enter for a short visit without one. Others must have a visa before they fly. Do not copy the rule you heard for a neighbouring passport. ICA publishes the list.
The 96-hour transit facility
The Visa-Free Transit Facility is not a general transit visa. ICA's list, updated in October 2026, names nationals of India, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and specific Commonwealth of Independent States countries, plus certain PRC, Hong Kong SAR, and Macau SAR travel documents. An ordinary PRC passport is not on that document list.
You need an onward air or sea ticket out within 96 hours. Indian nationals also need a visa or long-term pass, still valid for at least a month, for one of the countries ICA lists, among them Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Meeting the criteria does not guarantee entry, and the stay cannot be extended. If you are not clearly on the list, stay airside.