Transit visa for Indian National through Singapore

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Accepted answer

I've known about the VFTF for a few years and I've never heard of it applying to only one leg of a journey, unless the qualifying visa is single entry. In that case the restriction is that it can only be used to travel directly from that country to your home country via Singapore after it has been used.

Travellers with Single Journey Visas (SJV) may still be granted VFTF on the return leg of their journey (i.e. after the SJV is used and no longer valid), but you must:

  • Travel directly from the country that issued the SJV, en route through Singapore, back to your home country
  • Not have returned to your home country since you last used the SJV.

With respect to your multiple entry student visa, no such restriction exists. You can use it for travel as long as it still has one month before its expiry date.

The airline should not deny you boarding in this case. Timatic, the database which airlines use to verify passenger travel documents, states:

TWOV (Transit Without Visa):
Nationals of China (People's Rep.) and India with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to a third country within 96 hours under the Visa Free Transit Facility (VFTF). They must:

  • have a residence permit issued by Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, USA or United Kingdom valid for a minimum of 1 month from the arrival date, and
  • have documents required for the next destination.

Upvote:2

After the trip, I can narrate my experience.

During my onward journey, I had a 12-hour layover and I explored both Changi International Airport(beautiful airport) as well as Singapore city. In case you plan on leaving the airport (and you are Indian or Chinese), you need either a transit VISA, or you need a residence permit (non-immigrant F1 visa counts) from either,

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Germany
  • Japan
  • New Zealand
  • Switzerland
  • USA
  • The United Kingdom

This document needs to be valid for at least a month after the arrival date, and of course, you need to show documents required for next destination. The VFTF is valid for a period of 96 hours during each transit, and although while returning I did not go outside the airport(in which case you don't need a transit VISA at all), I would have been granted another 96 hours of VFTF should I had asked for it.

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