In forceAmended2020 Revised Edition

Contents

Immigration Act 1959 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 2 · Entry Into and Departure from Singapore

9. Power to prohibit or limit entry into Singapore

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Amended

Last amended by an amending law of 2023. 2 amendments in all.

(1)

The Minister may, by order —

(a)

where the Minister thinks it expedient to do so in the interests of public security or public health, or by reason of any economic, industrial, social, educational or other conditions in Singapore —

(i)

prohibit, either for a stated period or permanently, the arrival in, or entry or re‑entry into, Singapore of any person or class of persons;

(ii)

limit the number of persons of any class who may arrive in, or enter or re‑enter, Singapore within any period specified in the order; or

(iii)

limit the period during which any person or class of persons entering or re‑entering Singapore may remain therein; or

(b)

prohibit the entry into Singapore of passengers brought to Singapore by any transportation company which refuses or neglects to comply with the provisions of this Act.

(1A)

No order made under subsection (1)(a), except an order made in the interests of public security or public health, applies to any person who is outside Singapore at the time when the order is made and who is in possession of a valid re‑entry permit or pass lawfully issued to him or her.

(2)

An order made under subsection (1) does not apply to a citizen of Singapore.

(3)

Every order made under subsection (1)(a) which relates to a class of persons, except an order made in the interests of public security or public health, must be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication in the Gazette and if a resolution is passed within the next 3 months after the order is so presented disapproving the order or any part thereof, the order or such part thereof (as the case may be) ceases to have effect but without affecting the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(4)

Every order made under subsection (1), unless otherwise expressed therein, comes into force on the date of the making of the order, and must be published in the Gazette.

(5)

Any person who arrives in, enters, re-enters or remains in Singapore in contravention of any order made under subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a presumptive minimum term of not less than 2 years and not more than 4 years and shall also be liable to a fine not exceeding $6,000.

(6)

Where a person, who has been previously convicted of any offence which is punishable with imprisonment for a term of not less than 3 years, commits an offence under subsection (5) by the use of a passport or other travel document which bears a name different from that stated in the order made against him or her under subsection (1), he or she shall on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term of not less than 2 years and not more than 5 years and shall also be liable to a fine not exceeding $10,000 and to caning.

(7)

If a person convicted of an offence under subsection (6) cannot be caned because section 325(1)(a) or (b) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 applies, the court may, in addition to any other punishment to which the person is sentenced for that offence, impose a fine not exceeding $6,000 in lieu of the caning which the court could, but for that provision, have ordered for that offence.

Terms defined in s 2

arrive
Defined · s 2
“arrive” means —(a)in relation to an aircraft, the aircraft coming to a stop after landing;(b)in relation to a vessel or ship, the securing of the vessel or ship for any purposes, including for the embarkation or disembarkation of its passengers or the loading or unloading of its cargo or stores or both; or(c)in relation to a train, the train coming to a stop at a train checkpoint;
Open s 2
document
Defined · s 2
“document” includes —(a)any endorsement;(b)any paper or other material where there is writing;(c)any paper or other material on which there are marks, figures, symbols or perforations that are —(i)capable of being given a meaning by persons qualified to interpret them; or(ii)capable of being responded to by a computer, a machine or an electronic device;(d)any article or material from which information is capable of being reproduced with or without the aid of any other article or device; or(e)any electronic record;
Open s 2
entry
Defined · s 2
“entry” means —(a)in the case of a person arriving by sea, disembarking in Singapore from the vessel in which he or she arrives;(b)in the case of a person arriving by air at an authorised airport, leaving the precincts of such airport;(c)in the case of a person entering by land and proceeding to an immigration control post under section 26 or an authorised train checkpoint under section 25A, leaving the precincts of such post or checkpoint for any purpose other than that of departing from Singapore by an approved route;(ca)in the case of a child born in Singapore on or after 15 January 2005 who is not a citizen of Singapore, his or her birth in Singapore; and(d)in any other case, any entry into Singapore by land, sea or air,but shall not include in any case an entry made for the purpose of complying with this Act or an entry, expressly or impliedly, sanctioned by an immigration officer for the purpose of any enquiry or detention under the provisions of this Act;
Open s 2
pass
Defined · s 2
“pass” means a pass issued under the regulations entitling the holder thereof to remain, or enter and remain, temporarily in Singapore;
Open s 2
re-entry permit
Defined · s 2
“re-entry permit” means a permit to re-enter Singapore issued under section 11;
Open s 2
transportation company
Defined · s 2
“transportation company” means any government, municipality, body corporate, or organisation, firm or person carrying or providing for the transit of passengers, whether by vessel, aircraft, railway, highway or otherwise, and includes any 2 or more such transporting companies co‑operating in the business of carrying passengers;
Open s 2