Singapore Essentials · 01 of 04
Singapore Entry Requirements: SG Arrival Card and Customs
Most visitors clear Singapore immigration without trouble. The rules that catch people out are at customs: vapes are banned, and cigarettes must be declared and taxed from the first packet.
By Jeremy Jeevan, STB-licensed tourist guide · Checked September 2026 against ICA, Singapore Customs, the Singapore Police Force and gov.sg
At a glance
1
Before you fly
A passport valid for at least six months, a visa only if your nationality needs one, and the SG Arrival Card submitted in the three days before you land (ICA).
2
At immigration
The officer decides entry and gives you a visit pass. Check how many days you have been granted before you leave the desk (ICA).
3
At customs
No vapes and no chewing gum. Cigarettes are taxed from the first packet. Over your allowance? Declare at the Red Channel, or pay in advance on the Customs@SG app (Singapore Customs).
What Immigration Asks For
Have these ready at the desk (ICA):
- Passport valid for at least six months
- Submitted SG Arrival Card
- Visa, only if your passport needs one (check on ICA)
- Return or onward ticket
- Enough money for your stay
- Yellow fever certificate, if you are arriving from a listed country (Singapore government)
Without that certificate, travellers from the listed countries face six days of quarantine (Singapore government).
How long can you stay?
It depends on your passport, and the officer decides on arrival. Your electronic visit pass is emailed to you and shows your number of days (ICA). Many passports get up to 30 days, as Brazilian visitors do. Need longer? Apply online through ICA’s extension e-Service once your pass has 14 days or less left. It takes up to five working days (ICA).
The SG Arrival Card
Every traveller submits the SG Arrival Card before arriving, with two exceptions: people transiting or transferring without clearing immigration, and Singapore residents entering through the Woodlands and Tuas land checkpoints (ICA).
The window is three days, and arrival day counts as one of them (ICA).
ICA’s own example
Arriving on 30 June? You can submit from 28 June.
It is free on the ICA website or the MyICA app. ICA does not endorse the commercial sites that charge a fee to submit it for you (ICA), and some of them rank above the official page in search results. Use the ICA link and nothing else.
If your health changes after you submit, use the Update SGAC option rather than filing again (ICA). Changing flights without leaving the airport? You do not need one. Leaving Changi for a few hours on a layover means clearing immigration, so you do.
What Not to Bring Into Singapore
Most of the banned list is what you would expect. These three are the ones visitors are least likely to know about.
Banned
Vapes and e-cigarettes
Vaping is illegal in Singapore, and the checkpoints look for vapes specifically. Over four days in July 2026, ICA recorded 56 cases, about 77 per cent of them short-term visitors (ICA). The Tobacco and Vaporisers Control Act took effect on 1 May 2026 (gov.sg), and visitors who re-offend are barred from re-entering (ICA).
Declare
Cigarettes
Allowed, but there is no duty-free allowance and no GST relief on tobacco (Singapore Customs). Declare every packet and pay duty and GST. Walking through the Green Channel with undeclared cigarettes can get you fined. Chewing tobacco and imitation tobacco products are banned outright (Singapore Customs).
Banned
Chewing gum
Prohibited, except approved oral dental and medicated gum (Singapore Customs). The published rules give no personal-use allowance, so do not pack any.
Worth knowing: pay before you land
Carrying cigarettes or more than your allowance? Declare and pay the duty and GST in advance on the Customs@SG app or web portal. The app gives you an e-receipt, and you can then walk out through the Green Channel. Show the receipt if you are stopped (Singapore Customs).
Also prohibited
- Controlled drugs and psychotropic substances
- Endangered wildlife and their by-products
- Firecrackers
- Obscene articles and publications
- Cigarette lighters shaped like pistols or revolvers
- Pirated copies of copyright publications and media
- Seditious and treasonable material
That is a summary, not the full list (Singapore Customs). Check the ICA prohibited, controlled and dutiable goods page the week you fly.
Duty-Free and Tax-Free Allowances
Alcohol
You get duty-free liquor only if you are 18 or over, have spent at least 48 hours outside Singapore before arriving, are not arriving from Malaysia, and the liquor is for your own use (Singapore Customs). Choose one option:
| Option | Spirits | Wine | Beer |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1 litre | 1 litre | None |
| B | 1 litre | None | 1 litre |
| C | None | 1 litre | 1 litre |
| D | None | 2 litres | None |
| E | None | None | 2 litres |
If you cleared immigration in Malaysia before arriving, you count as arriving from Malaysia and get no duty-free liquor (Singapore Customs). That includes coming across the Causeway from Johor.
Shopping and gifts
New goods, souvenirs, gifts and food for your own use get GST relief up to a set value. Above it, you pay GST on the difference (Singapore Customs).
| Time spent outside Singapore | Value of goods free of GST |
|---|---|
| 48 hours or more | Up to S$500 |
| Less than 48 hours | Up to S$100 |
The relief does not cover alcohol or tobacco (Singapore Customs). Full rules are on the Singapore Customs allowances page.
Carrying Cash
There is no limit on how much cash you can bring into Singapore. But if you carry more than S$20,000, or the same in foreign currency, you must declare it (Singapore Police Force).
Declare online within 72 hours before you arrive or leave, through the MyICA app or the ICA website. Arriving travellers can also do it under Other Declarations after submitting the SG Arrival Card (ICA). Not declaring can mean a fine of up to S$50,000, up to three years in jail, or both (Singapore Police Force).
Leaving Singapore
Check-in deadlines are set by your airline, so work back from theirs. Changi publishes its own security and baggage restrictions, which apply on top of the airline’s. The cash rule above applies on the way out too.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on your passport. Check your nationality on the ICA entry requirements page before you book.
The officer decides on arrival, and your electronic visit pass shows the number of days. Many passports get up to 30 days. You can apply online to extend once your pass has 14 days or less left.
Within three days before arrival, counting arrival day. Arriving on 30 June means you can submit from 28 June.
Yes. Use the ICA website or the MyICA app. Sites that charge a fee are not endorsed by ICA.
Not if you stay airside and never clear immigration. If you leave the airport, you need one.
At least six months.
No. Vaping is illegal, and visitors who re-offend are barred from re-entering.
No, except approved oral dental and medicated gum.
None. Declare every packet and pay duty and GST at the Red Channel, or in advance on the Customs@SG app.
There is no limit, but amounts over S$20,000 must be declared online within 72 hours before you arrive.