SG Arrival Card: When to Submit It, Who Is Exempt and What Happens at Changi

What is the SG Arrival Card, and when must you submit it?

Think of the window as a three-day rolling slot. If you land on 30 June, the earliest you can submit is 28 June. Submit earlier and the system will not accept it. Submit later, up to the moment you board, and it will, but you are cutting it fine, and ICA's own guidance warns that failing to submit may lead to denied entry.

You can file on the ICA website through the SGAC e-Service, or in the MyICA mobile app, which is available on the App Store and Google Play. The app can save your profile, so the second trip is faster than the first. After you submit, an acknowledgement email arrives at the address you gave. Keep it, because it is your confirmation.

One more point from ICA's pages: the arrival card is not a visa. If your passport requires a visa for Singapore, that is a separate process. Travellers other than Singapore passport holders also need a passport valid for at least six months, and every traveller, whatever their age, needs an individually issued travel document.

Is the SG Arrival Card free, and which sites should you avoid?

Free. ICA states plainly that the submission costs nothing and that it does not support or endorse commercial services that charge a fee to submit on your behalf. Those services are not affiliated with ICA. The page links to an advisory about fake or misleading websites.

The simplest defence is to start from ica.gov.sg, or from the MyICA app, rather than from a search result. A real submission asks for personal and trip details and a health declaration. It never asks you to pay.

If you are uneasy, remember that a paid agent gets no priority and adds no accuracy. The only thing they add is a fee, and sometimes another party holding your passport details. Fill it in yourself in five minutes with your passport, flight number and hotel address beside you.

Who is exempt from the SG Arrival Card?

ICA lists two main exemptions, and the details matter.

• Transit and transfer passengers who do not seek immigration clearance. If you stay airside at Changi and never clear immigration, you do not submit.
• Residents entering by land. Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders (including Student's Pass, Dependant's Pass, Long-Term Visit Pass and Work Pass holders) who enter via the Woodlands or Tuas checkpoints are exempt.

Residents arriving by air or sea are different. ICA's page says they submit a health declaration even where they are not required to file the full arrival card. If you live in Singapore and fly home, check the current requirement on ICA's site before you land.

For visitors on a stopover who decide to leave the airport, the rule turns on the moment you clear immigration. A layover where you step out to see the city is an arrival, so submit the card. Our Changi layover guide explains the options for a long connection.

What information does the card ask for?

The form collects your personal details, your travel document, your flight, where you will stay and a health declaration. Group submission exists for people travelling together on one trip, and ICA notes that it cannot be used to cover multiple trips. If your health status changes after you submit, use the "Update SGAC" feature on the e-Service.

Be accurate. ICA's page notes that false declarations can lead to prosecution under the Infectious Diseases Act. That sounds dramatic for a form, but the rule is there to protect a busy border, and honesty costs nothing.

Have the details ready:

1. Passport number and expiry.
2. Flight number and arrival date.
3. The name and address of your hotel or host.
4. Your recent travel history, which the health declaration may ask about.

A good habit is to submit from your phone at the departure gate on the day before, when you know your flight is real. Screenshot the acknowledgement and keep it with your boarding pass.

What happens at Changi after you land?

You walk from the aircraft to immigration. Changi Airport's own site says that all foreign visitors can now use automated lanes for immigration clearance. At the checkpoint, biometrics are required: ICA's page says fingerprints, face and iris, and that refusing may lead to denied entry. Short-term visitors should be ready to show sufficient funds and proof of onward travel, and must not overstay their visit pass.

After immigration you collect bags and clear customs. Declare dutiable, controlled or prohibited goods at the Red Channel. Singapore also asks you to declare physical currency or bearer negotiable instruments above S$20,000, or the foreign-currency equivalent. If you have been in a yellow fever risk country within six days before arrival, or spent more than 12 hours in airport transit there, you must show a valid vaccination certificate.

Then you walk into the public arrivals area. For a pre-booked pickup, the chauffeur is tracking your flight, and international arrivals get 60 minutes of free waiting after landing, which is built for a queue at the checkpoint. If you would rather be met inside the Changi arrivals hall, ask for a name board when booking; it can show an alias instead of your name.

Check your fixed fare

From Changi to your hotel: how your options compare

Changi is about 20 km (12 mi) from the central business district, and the drive is roughly 20 minutes without traffic (OpenStreetMap road-routing data, free-flow), longer in the weekday evening peak and on race weekends. The table sets out the modes without quoting fares that change; for any public price, check the operator.

The MRT is quick and inexpensive for one person going to a station-adjacent hotel. A private car is the better choice with three or more people, a child seat, golf clubs or a late-night arrival. See our Changi to Singapore hotels page for the route and drop-off detail and our Singapore Changi airport transfers page for terminal-level pickup.

Step by step: submitting on your phone

Open the MyICA app or the ICA website and choose the arrival card service. Enter your passport details exactly as printed, including the document number, and check each digit before you move on, because a mismatch with the passport you show at the checkpoint is a nuisance to fix at the counter. Add your flight number and arrival date, then your accommodation in Singapore, which can be a hotel, a friend's address or a serviced apartment.

Complete the health declaration honestly, review the summary and submit. The acknowledgement email should arrive within moments; if it does not, check the spelling of the address and your spam folder. Save the email and take a screenshot of the confirmation, because airport Wi-Fi is not something to depend on.

If you are travelling with family, use group submission only when you are all on one trip together. For a second trip later in the year, you file a new card, which is where the saved profile in the app earns its keep.

Mistakes that cause delays at the checkpoint

The first is submitting for the wrong date, often because a red-eye flight crosses midnight and the landing date is a day after departure. Use the date you will actually land in Singapore, not the date you leave.

The second is a typo in the passport number or a hotel address left blank. The third is trusting a paid website that looks official, only to find that it filed nothing or filed late. The fourth is forgetting that a layover where you step outside counts as an arrival.

Another common one is assuming that a resident returning by air is exempt. As described above, ICA lists the land-checkpoint exemption for residents, so a resident flying into Changi should check the current requirement rather than guess. The cost of getting it wrong is a delay at the counter while an officer sorts it out.

Finally, do not ignore the biometric step. ICA states that fingerprints, face and iris are required at the checkpoint, so allow time for it and follow the officer's directions. Our guide to how private airport transfers work explains what a driver does while you work through all of this, and the airport transfer hub shows every airport we serve.

Singapore Grand Prix weekend and other peak arrivals

Race weekends bring arrivals from Europe, Australia and the Gulf in waves, and the road into the city fills in the evenings. The Singapore Grand Prix is usually held in the autumn; our Singapore Grand Prix page explains how transfers work around the circuit.

On peak days the card takes the same few minutes it always does. What changes is the length of the checkpoint queue and the number of cars at the kerb. Submit early in the three-day window, keep the acknowledgement handy and tell your driver the terminal.

If your trip continues to Thailand or Malaysia

Many Singapore itineraries continue to Bangkok, Phuket or Johor Bahru. Thailand runs its own Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC), which is separate from Singapore's. The Royal Thai Embassy's TDAC page says it is mandatory for all non-Thai visitors, free of charge, and available three days before travel, with the official site at tdac.immigration.go.th. Rules can change, so check that site before you fly (as of October 2026).

For Malaysia by land, our note on the Singapore to Johor Bahru RTS Link covers the rail crossing. The point of the comparison is that each country has a different form, a different window and a different official website, so never assume the Singapore card covers the next stop. Our Asia-Pacific hub lists the airports and cities we cover in the region.

A last checklist before you fly

Submit the card within the window and save the acknowledgement. Check your passport validity: six months for non-Singapore passports. Carry proof of onward travel and your first night's address. Know your terminal and flight number for the driver, and keep your phone charged.

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