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does somebody have a link to a good travel guide to Singapore?

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Hi guys. Do some of you almost refused to enter in Singapore? I was almost refused 5 months ago, because I have too many stamps in the passport and no work permit nowhere. I'm going back to Singapore in 2 days and little anxious, because going back a second time in Singapore is more suspicious than the first time... I'm going to open a bank account.

Any tips?

Almost refused again... She even asked me to show how much money I had with me :joy: they asked this to no-one else

She told me I must leave sg in 15 days but the stamp is a regular stamp 90 days. I don't really feel welcome lol. I prepared a good story and I answer without any doubt to her questions. I'm a solo traveler traveling in Asia and visiting Singapore, after I go to visit KL, I will go there by bus that's why I don't have flight back ticket. She asked me where will I take the bus 0_o I answered to the bus station lol. She asked me what I'm going to do after KL I answered "probably going back to home". She asked me 2 times why I'm going here. Where I work, what is my work. If I know people in sg. If I live in h�tel or other. Why I travel alone. Etc... I think she wants to see if I answer fast or not, and if I have doubts she ask more and more questions to see if Im lying. My passport is only 18 months old and is half used by stamps. Stamps from Asia only.

I really would like to know if they want to avoid people who plan to create business, or at the opposite side, people who don't have money. If it's the first one I dress up bad, if the second I will dress up very well...

@sylvain156 what?s your nationality? Did you have any stamp on your passport saying you were refused before? or did they have it on record?

I'm French. No I have never been refused...

I think they have a rule where you need to stay out 5 days from the departure date before re-entering, which is why you?ve been questioned.

I stayed out 5 months lol

Last time was 5 months ago and they also questioned me so hard

crazy, doesn?t sound normal, you must be flagged in the database somehow, or might just be you look homeless if you dress bad lol

Haha it's not in the database it was clearly when she wanted to put her stamp and she realized I have already a lot of stamp.. First time I was well dressed and second time semi bad dressed to try lol. But next time I will bring cash money I think it's the best argument..

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Has anyone down the Working Holiday Visa hack for Singapore to get an NRIC card? Easy enough process? Open a bank account? The card is only valid for 6 months? Thanks.

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Any gold storage recommendations for Singapore for someone starting out?

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Anybody here interested in a BVI holding created 12 years ago with a HSBC Singapore Account?

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Hi, just wondering, who's actually in SG at the moment? Wanted to get what life is like with the regulations on CV19 etc.

Hi @michael - I was in SG from Sept - Dec. Flew back to NZ, but will be in SG again by the end of Jan.

Everyday life was pretty normal, just that you had to wear a mask when out in public. You can take it off when eating/drinking.

Bars/restaurants were closing at 10.30pm most nights.

You need to quarantine, right? Was speaking yesterday with a friend in SG and he told me it?s S$2k for the 14-day quarantine in a randomly assigned Hotel

No, I didn't need to quarantine because I flew in from New Zealand. Singapore has a unilateral travel arrangement with travellers who have spent the previous 14 days in New Zealand. No quarantine, just a covid test on arrival. You need to self-isolate until you get the results. I got mine within 12 hours (arrived Saturday evening, had the results before breakfast on the Sunday)

That?s great! I am currently in Germany and I believe I must quarantine on arrival.

Yeah, it was really good!

I flew back to NZ a few weeks ago and had to spend 14 days in managed isolation.. annoying, but not the end of the world..

I think if you can quarantine at home is still ok. Really don?t looking forward to being in a random hotel for $2k for 14 days

Yeah, although there are some nice hotels that they are using....

btw. is anyone into taxation in Singapore? I would like to know if any income/dividends/shareholder payouts are excluded from taxation in Singapore. I have a resident permit in SG, but I am currently not in the country. All my entities are abroad and the UBO is not a pass through entity. I am affraid, that if I return to SG the income in the UOB corp. will be taxed under SG law

Yes, my friend told me that if you are lucky they put you in the Waldorf ahahhaha. Not a bad deal for $2k

Who's in SG at present? I'm flying back in next weekend.

I was planning to fly in in 2 months. Please keep me updated on how you immigration + quarantaine went. Curious to see how it is in real life.

Hey @felix - no quarantine necessary for me. I'm flying in from New Zealand under the Air Travel Pass scheme. Just have to have a test at Changi and then self-isolate at my hotel for 12 hours, until I get the result.

Same process as when I flew in in September.

Ah ok. Thanks for the update.

For how long are you staying?

Probably the full three months. Hopefully the travel bubble with Hong Kong will be open then, so I can just bounce between them.

A travel bubble with Hong Kong would be amazing. Missing both cities a lot. It?s the perfect combination of roughness in HK and organization in SG :slightly_smiling_face:

Agreed!

So I'm very much hoping SG do a travel bubble with Taiwan.

Then Australia do a travel bubble with SG

Then my strategy will be Europe to Taiwan (via a Gold Card) > SG > Aus

Lots of moving parts but last I was told the quarantine system into Taiwan for "residents" (gold card visa holders) was at home = good/chill.

@jase Singapore does have a unilateral air travel pass with Taiwan.

So you can fly into SG from Taiwan and not need to quarantine, just a test on arrival and then self-isolate until you get the results (normally within 12 hours).

However when you go back to Taiwan, you need to quarantine..

Same setup as SG has with NZ and AU (although I think they're still blocking travellers from VIC)

I didn't realise it was live yet, awesome @brent.

Hoping AU sets something up with SG shortly where you can fly SG>AU and not need a quarantine.

Yeah, I'm hoping NZ does the same as well.

Then I can also bounce easily between all 3.

@felix - so I arrived last night and things have changed a bit, for the better. You now go through immigration like you normally would, collect your bags (unless you're a carry-on only type of person like me lol) and then follow the signs to get your covid test. All-in-all I was off the plane, through immigration and my covid test in about 15 minutes total. Landed around 8pm local time and had my results at about 5am this morning.

The only downside is that everywhere in public you need to mask up (although when in a bar/restaurant you don't need to wear while eating/drinking -- I can't figure out the logic there lol). I'm big into individual rights/responsibilities etc, but I see mask wearing as simply the price to pay for entry (into SG)...

Great! Thank you for sharing your experience. Really gives me hope. Just extended my EntrePass and planning to come back to SG in 2-3 months

Love the efficiency of SG. 15 min in total is incredible

Nice mate. Tell me, with the Entrepass, did you have to hire locals? (not that it's an issue, but I've heard of mixed experiences - some did, some don't)..

First year renewal you don?t need to. In the second uear you need to have expenses and hire locals

Who's in Singapore now? I'm flying back tomorrow from Taipei (I now have my Taiwanese ARC, so can come and go easily......but Singapore is where I feel the most productive).

Still jetting around I see!

Congrats on your arc.

Was thinking of maybe making it over in June...

But being bases in Thailand with these 14 day quarantines....

I am in Singapore. Do you have an area where you will stay?

Hey @felix - yeah, I'll be staying around Cantonment. Just taken a 1-year lease with the Hive, for an office too.

@brent hive is a nice place =D

Just had a close friend go through the process of setting up a new SG company, bank account, applying for an EP and getting it approved.......entire process took 12 working days. His EP is good for 2 years. I'm quite impressed.

He went via http://Osome.sg

nice, how much did it cost?

and did he have some special credentials/big business? or just normal 1 guy online biz?

About $6000 SGD all-up, I believe. He has an established business (14 years) with staff in the USA. So I suspect that *helped* but I'm sure it wasn't the only criteria (more just to prove that he was legit I guess)...

Is he moving that business @brent? Or more just using that as "proof of experience"?

Just as proof of experience @jase

And that was 12 days under the current restrictions in SG.

I suspect the fact that he said he'd be paying himself ~$12,500 SGD a month didn't hurt either...

Nice, good info @brent . I know another FS member applied himself and gained residence permit.

Seems with covid now may not be a bad time.

Yeah! What was their particular situation? Self-employed? or had a large(er) business outside of SG?

Small team with $1M+ annual revenue.

All outside of SG but I assume they are moving at least part of it.

Osome is awesome! Working with them for some time. I get 8% discount if anyone is interested.

Nice one. Also got the 8% offer :slightly_smiling_face: However, they did say that not having a degree and being just over 40 might be a negative, even if I'm paying myself 15-20K a month...will let you know how it goes..

Thank you!

@felix - how are things in SG at present?

I see they are opening up the Air Travel Pass with Taiwan again in the next couple of days.

Singapore is great. From today you can dine in again with 5 people if you are vaccinated and 70% of people are vaccinated (which means that hopefully travel resumes soon, threshold is probably 75%).

In general Singapore has done some concessions to people who are vaccinated so that they have more freedoms. We already have a BBQ with friends planned, etc.

Are you still in HK? How?s the situation there?

Nice one.

Yeah, still in Hong Kong. Have to leave next week. Will probably go to Taiwan, do my 3 week quarantine :laughing: and then head back to SG...

Hong Kong is good, very good. I was at a club on the 25th floor of a building in central last weekend. Absolutely jam packed with people. Crazy.

Bouncers were asking "so, you're all vaccinated right?" - and of course people were saying "yes, yes, of course :wink: "

No one was checking "vaccine passes" or anything like that. I get a feeling here that people really don't give AF..... but I'm personally quite happy that I was able to get vaccinated here...

Hahaha! I love Iron Fairies, my absolute favorite in HK. Would be unthinkable in SG. They are very accruate here with checking and everyone needs to show the Trace together app upon emtering amywhere. Today we are on 72% fully vaccinated looking forward to the magic 75%

That definitely helps.

haha :wink:

love it.

Sounds like people just want to get on with it?

Lol. Pretty much.

Indeed.

For sure.

Any tips on how to get Singapore SIM card outside of Singapore? And one that allows receiving SMS outside SG?

A friend in SG?

Apart from that I don't really know.

Never tried myself but how about that? https://travelsim.com/country/singapore/

TravelSim will have an Estonian +372? number. @ledrewy do you have Singpass set up? MyRepublic for example offers signing up 100% online with that and has eSIM support.

Thanks, @stolzlos I?ve placed an order and waiting for the sim card

@mail777 I?m afraid I don?t have Singpass

Tried it a while back and it was impossible to get an SG number that receives SMS outside of SG

Reason is that many people use SG telephone numbers for scams in the country and the govt. is restricting this heavily. I believe no eSim/online sim provider has the option to let you receive SMS

Why do you need the SG number?

@felix To receive SMS outside of SG

I came across at some point a company that was essentially Stripe Atlas for setting up and maintaining a singapore pte ltd as a foreigner - does anybody know what that might have been?

the name has completely escaped me and I?m not finding it digging through my bookmarks

It wasn't Osome was it? (http://osome.com/sg)

There is a Pikohana, Osome and Sleek.

fantastic :ok_hand: I think sleek was the one I had been thinking about but will check out all 3

Did an incorporation with Sleek. Not recommended

Our company is working with Osome. Can share an 8% discount here if anyone wants to go ahead with them.

When I did the research awhile ago Osome looked like the way to go. Never ended up needing to pull the trigger though

FWIW, I used Osome in Hong Kong. Super easy, fast, efficient and good value for money.

Ok, wow, this is actually great to know. I was leaning toward sleek because osome?s bookkeeping fees seem to be based on gross revenues and would cost me quite a bit more in net, but if Sleek is a pain to deal with I definitely don?t have time for that :pray:

And tbh maybe Osome would be negotiable on those points

(like my bookkeeping is actually pretty _uncomplicated)_

If it?s uncomplicated, why not getting an external book keeper?

It seemed to be a requirement to keep nominee director with them but again?probably negotiable

I kind of keep that in mind always now? just want to keep things easy and keep good relationships

Yes, you need to have a nominee director with them, but if you are resident in SG you can become the director. It?s a local requirement.

Has anyone tried Aspire with a SG company?

Haven?t tried them, but they are recommended by many of my contacts in SG. The cool thing is that they have a debit card which gives you some % cashback on online ad spent, etc. what is normally excluded.

Yes, friends have, pretty straightforward apparently.

We use OCBC bank in SG, and their debit cards also do cash back.

@stolzlos I requested for a SG sim card but what I received from Travelsim is one from Cameroon +37.

I meant, starting with +372 from Estonia