Singapore Arrival Card (SGAC): The Complete Guide (2026)

What is the Singapore Arrival Card?

The Singapore Arrival Card (SGAC) is the online form you must file before entering Singapore. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) uses it to know who is arriving, on which flight or vehicle, staying where, and whether there is a health concern worth checking.

It is the electronic replacement for the paper disembarkation/embarkation card, the white card that cabin crew used to hand out before landing. ICA discontinued the paper card on 27 March 2020. There is no paper option anymore, and there is no desk form to fill at the checkpoint.

The only official submission channels are the SGAC e-Service on ica.gov.sg and the free MyICA mobile app for iOS and Android. Submission is free of charge. We are an independent filing service: for $19 we submit the SGAC for you and email your acknowledgment within 24 hours. ICA does not support or endorse paid filing services, including ours. We say that plainly because it is true, and because you deserve to know the free option exists.

Who needs the SG Arrival Card?

All travelers entering Singapore must submit the SGAC before they arrive. That includes foreign visitors on every passport, holders of In-Principle Approval (IPA) letters arriving to start a new pass, and Singapore citizens, permanent residents, and long-term pass holders returning by air or sea.

ICA lists exactly two exceptions. You do not need to submit if you are:

The second exception surprises people, so read it twice. A Singapore citizen flying home from a holiday in Japan does submit the SGAC, because the exemption applies only at the two land checkpoints. The same citizen driving in from Johor Bahru does not. The full breakdown, with a traveler-type table, is in do I need a Singapore arrival card.

Long-term pass holders, for this rule, include holders of the Student's Pass, Dependant's Pass, Long-Term Visit Pass, and Work Pass. Children are not exempt: every traveler needs their own submission, and a parent can include the whole family using Group Submission.

Exempt from the SGAC

• Transiting or transferring through Singapore without seeking immigration clearance, meaning you stay airside and never enter the country, or
• A resident, meaning a Singapore citizen, permanent resident, or long-term pass holder, traveling through the Woodlands or Tuas land checkpoints.

The 3-day window: when to submit the SGAC

Submit within 3 days before your arrival in Singapore, counting the day of arrival itself. ICA's own example: if you arrive on 30 June, you can submit from 28 June onwards. The window is counted from your arrival date in Singapore, not from your departure date from home.

Here are worked dates for trips near now:

The e-Service only accepts submissions inside that window, so you cannot file a week early. There is no advantage to waiting either: submitting one or two days before you fly is the sweet spot, because your flight and hotel details are final and the acknowledgment email is already in your inbox when you reach check-in.

One submission covers one arrival. If you leave Singapore and come back, you submit a new card for the new arrival, inside a fresh 3-day window.

What the SGAC form asks for

Nothing needs to be applied for or bought in advance. You need the raw information the form requests, and a working email address for the acknowledgment. The details are laid out block by block in our SGAC requirements guide.

In short, the form asks for:

The five blocks of the SGAC form

• Personal particulars: full name as printed in your passport, passport number, nationality, and date of birth.
• Contact details, including the email address where your acknowledgment will be sent.
• Trip details: your arrival date, your mode of travel, and the flight number if you arrive by air, or your conveyance details at a land checkpoint, plus your last port of embarkation.
• Your address in Singapore: hotel name and address for tourists, or the place you are staying.
• The electronic health declaration, which is part of the same submission, not a separate form.

The electronic health declaration, explained

Every SGAC submission includes a health declaration. ICA states the purpose directly: disease control, specifically to guard against importing diseases of concern. This is why even returning Singapore citizens must file by air or sea.

In its current version, the health section asks whether you have had symptoms such as fever, rash, cough, or a sore throat in the last seven days, and about recent travel history, including whether you have visited countries in the Americas in the six days before arrival. The exact questions follow the health situation and can change, so answer whatever the form presents on the day you file.

Answer honestly. ICA warns that false declarations may be prosecuted under the Infectious Diseases Act. If your health status changes after you submit, use the “Update SGAC” feature on the e-Service to correct it. That is faster and safer than hoping nobody notices.

Arriving at Changi Airport (SIN)

Changi now runs automated immigration lanes for arriving travelers, including first-time foreign visitors, with no prior enrolment needed. The lanes use biometrics and serve travelers aged six and above. Younger children go to the staffed counters with an adult.

The card itself is checked electronically. You present your travel document at the counter or lane, and the system matches it against the SGAC record filed against your passport. You do not need to show a printed copy; the acknowledgment email on your phone is enough backup if an officer asks. Our Changi arrival card guide walks through the arrivals hall step by step.

What slows people down at Changi is not having submitted at all. ICA's stated reason for the 3-day window is to avoid unnecessary delays during immigration clearance. A traveler with no SGAC on file can expect extra questioning and a longer wait while it is sorted out.

Crossing by land: Woodlands and Tuas

Singapore has two land checkpoints from Malaysia: Woodlands and Tuas. Foreign visitors entering by land, by car, bus, coach, or motorcycle, must submit the SGAC within the same 3-day window. On the form you give your conveyance details instead of a flight number.

Residents get a practical carve-out here. Singapore citizens, permanent residents, and long-term pass holders traveling through Woodlands or Tuas are exempt. This covers the thousands of Work Pass holders who commute daily from Johor Bahru: no daily card, no queue of submissions.

A foreign visitor making a day trip from Johor Bahru into Singapore is not exempt. Every arrival needs its own submission, so a weekend trip plus a midweek trip means two cards.

SGAC vs visa: what is the difference?

ICA says it in one line on the official page: the SG Arrival Card is not a visa. The visa asks whether you may enter and stay. The card asks who is arriving and where they are staying. Answering the second question never answers the first.

Whether you need a Singapore visa depends on your nationality. Whether you need the SGAC does not: it applies to almost everyone, including visitors from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada who enter visa-free for up to 30 days or more.

Lookalike sites: the fee scam to avoid

Because the SGAC is a short government form that millions of people must file, a shadow market has grown around it. ICA has issued public advisories about fake and misleading websites that copy the official look, collect your passport details, and charge a processing fee for a submission that is free on the official e-Service.

The pattern is consistent. ICA once flagged a fake SGAC site that phished travelers' personal particulars and asked for US$30. Singapore media have reported overseas-hosted portals charging as much as S$100 for help with the free form. Some of these sites rank high in search results precisely because travelers search in a hurry.

Two protections work. First, official Singapore government addresses end in .gov.sg, and for this form that means ica.gov.sg. Second, remember that no payment is ever required for the card itself.

Where does that leave a paid service like ours? In an honest place. We charge $19 for filing work: you send your trip details once, we complete and verify the official form, submit it inside the correct window, and email your acknowledgment within 24 hours, with a full refund if we fail to deliver. We never charge for the card, we never claim to be official, and we never hide that ICA does not endorse services like ours. What that $19 covers is on our fees and processing time page.

File it yourself, or have us file it

The honest comparison, in one table:

If you have your passport, flight, and hotel details ready, filing yourself on the official e-Service takes minutes and costs nothing, and we mean that sincerely. We exist for the people who would rather not: the group leader filing for a family, the traveler fighting a portal at midnight before an early flight, the person who wants a human to check every digit before it reaches ICA. The step-by-step walkthrough is in how to apply for the SGAC.

Your Singapore Arrival Card checklist for 2026

Singapore's entry paperwork is one short form, filed at the right time. Submit the SGAC within 3 days including your arrival day, one per traveler, after your flights and hotel are final. Use Group Submission for a family traveling together. Correct changes through the Update SGAC feature. Show up at Changi or the land checkpoint with your travel document and your acknowledgment email.

Start my application if you want it filed for you: $19, confirmation within 24 hours, full refund if we fail to deliver. Or submit it yourself, free, at ica.gov.sg or on the MyICA app. Either way, do it before you arrive, not at the counter.

Frequently asked questions