SG Arrival Card Guide (2026): For First-Time Travelers

How We Researched and Verified This SG Arrival Card Guide

The facts in this guide come directly from ICA, the government body that administers the SG Arrival Card. Eligibility rules, exemptions, submission windows, and official channels were cross-checked against ICA’s own published pages, including its SGAC page, its general entry requirements page, and its public advisories on scam websites. Where a claim couldn’t be confirmed on an official ICA page, it’s flagged as such rather than stated as settled policy.

This guide was last reviewed in July 2026. SGAC requirements have shifted before — most recently with ICA’s No-Boarding Directive policy, which took effect on 30 January 2026 and added pre-departure checks tied to SGAC and visa status. Immigration rules can change without much notice, so checking ICA’s official channels directly before travel is always worth the extra minute.

Before the full guide, here’s a quick-reference table covering the essentials.

SG Arrival Card Quick Facts

This table answers the most-searched SGAC questions at a glance, verified against ICA’s official pages.

Each row gets its own deeper explanation below, starting with what the SG Arrival Card actually is.

What Is the SG Arrival Card?

The SG Arrival Card, also called the Singapore landing card, is a mandatory electronic arrival declaration for travellers entering Singapore. Singapore’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) requires most people to submit it within 3 days before arrival, including the day they land. Foreign visitors, citizens, permanent residents, and Long-Term Pass holders all generally fall under this rule, though transit passengers and residents crossing by land checkpoint get specific exemptions. Submission through ICA’s official channels is completely free, and despite how often the two get confused, SGAC is not a visa — anyone who needs a Singapore visa still has to get one separately.

What Is the SG Arrival Card Used For?

The SG Arrival Card collects personal, passport, travel, and accommodation details so ICA can prepare for immigration clearance before travellers reach the checkpoint. It also functions as a health screening, specifically watching for diseases of concern such as Yellow Fever and Ebola, to protect people already in Singapore. False declarations on the health portion are not a minor issue — they can lead to prosecution under the Infectious Diseases Act.

Two categories of information make up the form:

• Arrival information — passport details, travel itinerary, accommodation address, and flight or transport details
• Health declaration — travel history and current health status, filed alongside the arrival details

Your health status has to reflect how you feel right now, not how you felt when you first submitted. Update your declaration using the “Update SGAC” feature if anything changes before you actually travel.

Is the SG Arrival Card a Visa?

Who Needs to Submit the SG Arrival Card?

Almost all travellers entering Singapore must submit the SG Arrival Card. The exact requirement depends on traveller status, entry method, and whether the traveller clears immigration at all. Foreign visitors face the broadest requirement, while residents and pass holders get exemptions tied specifically to land checkpoints.

Foreign Visitors and Tourists

Foreign visitors and tourists must submit the SG Arrival Card regardless of entry method. This applies to arrivals by air, sea, or land — foreign visitors get no land-checkpoint exemption, unlike residents. Every foreign visitor selects the “Foreign Visitor” category at the SGAC e-Service. That path requires full arrival information plus the electronic health declaration.

Singapore Citizens, Permanent Residents, Long-Term Pass Holders, and IPA Holders

Requirements vary across these four groups, even though they’re often lumped together.

• Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs) — Required when entering by air or sea, but only the health declaration portion, since biographical details auto-populate from the ICA database. Exempt entirely when entering by land via Woodlands or Tuas.
• Long-Term Pass holders — Same rule as citizens and PRs. This category includes Student’s Pass, Dependant’s Pass, Long-Term Visit Pass, and Work Pass holders.
• IPA (In-Principle Approval) holders — Treated as a foreign visitor for SGAC purposes, even though an IPA letter signals an approved long-term pass is pending. Full arrival information is required through all entry methods, with no land-checkpoint exemption.

Who Is Exempt From the SG Arrival Card?

Three exemption categories exist, and each comes with conditions — none is a blanket exemption.

1. Transit passengers who don’t clear immigration. Travellers connecting through Singapore without seeking immigration clearance are exempt. This exemption doesn’t cover travellers who must clear immigration to collect baggage, check in separately for a connecting flight, or leave the airport during a layover.
2. Residents and pass holders entering via land checkpoints. Citizens, PRs, and Long-Term Pass holders are exempt only when entering through Woodlands or Tuas. The same travellers still need SGAC when arriving by air or sea.
3. Foreign sea crew and pleasure craft owners. This group doesn’t use the standard SGAC system at all. Arrival, departure, and stay details are filed through ICA’s separate digitalPORT@SG platform instead.

Foreign visitors and IPA holders qualify for none of these exemptions.

When Should You Submit the SG Arrival Card?

Submit the SG Arrival Card within 3 days before arrival, including the day of arrival. This single window applies to every eligible traveller — tourists and residents follow the same rule. Only the starting point changes, depending on when your flight, ferry, or land crossing actually happens.

How the 3-Day Submission Window Works

The 3-day window counts backward from your arrival date, with the arrival day itself counted as one of the three. ICA’s own example makes it concrete: a traveller arriving 30 June can submit from 28 June onwards.

Applying that formula to three practical dates:

Any day inside that window works — there’s no requirement to submit on one specific day within it. The online portal generally only allows date selection within this window. Attempting to submit earlier typically won’t let you proceed at all, rather than producing an invalid record.

Can You Submit the SG Arrival Card on the Day of Arrival?

What If You Submit Too Early or Your Arrival Date Changes?

Submitting more than 3 days before arrival falls outside ICA’s window, and the portal generally won’t accept a date that far out. Treat an early attempt as unsubmitted rather than assumed to be on file. A flight delay, rebooked itinerary, or rescheduled sailing can also push your actual arrival past what your SGAC states. Detailed correction steps are covered later in this guide, but don’t treat an early or outdated submission as valid without updating it.

What Do You Need to Complete the SG Arrival Card?

Completing the SG Arrival Card requires 8 categories of information, all entered as text — no document uploads are needed. Gathering these details beforehand keeps the submission fast and accurate.

• Passport details — full name, passport number, nationality, and expiry date, matching the passport’s machine-readable zone exactly
• Personal information — date of birth, gender, and other biographical details requested on the form
• Arrival and departure dates — your planned entry date into Singapore and, where requested, your onward departure date
• Flight or transport details — flight number, vessel name, or land transport details, depending on your entry method
• Singapore accommodation — the name and address of your hotel or residential stay
• Email address — required to receive your acknowledgement email and, for foreign visitors, the e-Pass after arrival
• Travel history — recent travel details, where requested as part of the health declaration
• Electronic health declaration — current health status, submitted as part of the same form

No uploads or printed documents are required. It’s a fully electronic declaration. At the checkpoint, you present your physical passport, not a printed copy of the form. If you haven’t finalized your travel dates yet, see our guide on the best time to visit Singapore before locking in your itinerary.

One detail worth checking before you start: your passport must be valid for at least 6 months beyond your entry date, except for Singapore passport holders. This isn’t an SGAC field, but ICA checks it as part of the broader entry requirements. An expiring passport can cause problems even with a perfectly completed SGAC.

Two more points worth knowing before you open the form. Travellers who have previously entered Singapore under a different passport name, for example after a legal name change, may be asked to disclose this so the record links correctly to prior entries. Older guides sometimes reference vaccination certificates, pre-departure PCR tests, or mandatory travel insurance as SGAC requirements — these were pandemic-era measures reported as lifted around February 2023 by Singapore’s overseas missions, and they are not part of the current SGAC health declaration.

How to Submit the SG Arrival Card Online

Submitting the SG Arrival Card takes 7 steps, from opening the official service to saving your confirmation. Complete every step through official ICA channels only — the SGAC e-Service or the MyICA Mobile app. Unofficial third-party sites charge fees for something that’s actually free.

SG Arrival Card e-Service vs MyICA Mobile App

Both official SGAC channels connect to the same ICA database and cost nothing to use. The web e-Service and the MyICA Mobile app differ in convenience, not in function.

The MyICA Mobile app suits travellers who visit Singapore repeatedly or plan to cross a land checkpoint by vehicle. Its passport scanner, saved profile, and QR code generation cut down on manual entry each trip. The web e-Service works well for a single, one-off submission from any browser, with no app download required.

What Happens After You Submit the SGAC?

After successful submission, ICA sends an acknowledgement email to the address you provided, confirming your SGAC is on file. This is the first sign your submission succeeded, and it holds a record of your submitted details for reference during your trip. The post-submission journey follows 3 stages: confirmation, arrival, and immigration clearance.

At the checkpoint, you present your physical passport, not a printed SGAC. The officer scans your passport and pulls up your submitted record from ICA’s system. Successful submission puts your data in the system, but it does not by itself decide whether you’re granted entry — that decision is made by ICA officers at the checkpoint.

Do You Need to Print the SG Arrival Card?

What Are the D/E Number and e-Pass?

The D/E number and e-Pass are two separate things, both tied to your SGAC submission but serving different purposes.

• D/E number (Disembarkation/Embarkation number) — a unique reference number issued with your SGAC submission, appearing in your acknowledgement email, your SGAC PDF, or in the MyICA app under “Submitted Declarations.” It links your passport to your digital entry record.
• e-Pass (electronic Visit Pass) — a digital pass emailed after you clear arrival immigration, replacing the old ink stamp. It states your maximum stay and last allowed day in Singapore. Only foreign visitors receive an e-Pass — PRs and Long-Term Pass holders do not.

Neither the D/E number nor the e-Pass is the SG Arrival Card itself. Both are generated as a result of it, at different points in your entry process.

How to Retrieve or Download Your SG Arrival Card

What travellers actually retrieve or download is the acknowledgement confirmation or the e-Pass, both generated from your original SGAC submission — there’s no separate “lookup” tool beyond these. ICA confirms these through 3 channels: the acknowledgement email, the SGAC PDF download on the web e-Service, and the MyICA app’s “Submitted Declarations” view.

What If You Did Not Receive a Confirmation Email?

Check 3 things before assuming your submission failed. First, check the email address you entered, since a typo is the most common reason confirmations go missing. Second, check your spam or junk folder, where automated government emails sometimes land. Third, check the MyICA app if that’s how you submitted, since your record appears there regardless of whether the email arrived.

If you submitted through the web e-Service, the PDF download offered at the end of submission doesn’t depend on email delivery. That option appears only on the confirmation screen, so it’s worth downloading at the time of submission rather than assuming you can return to it later.

How to Find Your D/E Number

Your D/E number appears in 3 places tied to your original submission: your SGAC acknowledgement email, your SGAC PDF download if you used the web e-Service, and the MyICA app under SG Arrival Card → “Submitted Declarations.” If you’ve already cleared immigration, it also appears in your e-Pass email.

Keeping this number on hand is useful. ICA’s own e-Pass Enquiry Portal lets you look up your e-Pass details using either your D/E number or your passport details, and having the number ready makes that lookup faster. If none of these retrieval paths work, ICA’s feedback form is the official channel for further help.

Common SG Arrival Card Mistakes to Avoid

Avoiding these 11 common mistakes keeps your SG Arrival Card valid and your entry into Singapore free of unnecessary delays. However, you can correct your mistakes by following this easy guide.

• Using unofficial websites. Only submit through eservices.ica.gov.sg or the MyICA Mobile app — both official, both free.
• Paying unnecessary fees. SGAC submission is always free. Any site charging a processing fee is not affiliated with ICA.
• Entering incorrect passport information. Passport number, expiry date, and nationality must match your passport exactly.
• Misspelling your name. Your name must match the machine-readable zone of your passport, not just the printed name.
• Entering the wrong arrival date. This is a common error on overnight or red-eye flights, where travellers sometimes enter their departure date instead of their actual Singapore landing date.
• Entering a vague accommodation address. Placeholder text like “hotel” or “TBD” isn’t a valid substitute for your actual address.
• Submitting more than 3 days before arrival. ICA’s window starts 3 days before arrival, and earlier attempts generally won’t go through.
• Using an inaccessible email address. Your acknowledgement and, for foreign visitors, your e-Pass are both sent by email.
• Confusing SGAC with a visa. SGAC is an arrival and health declaration; a visa is a separate requirement for nationals of visa-required countries.
• Assuming submission guarantees entry. Final entry decisions are made by ICA officers at the checkpoint, not by SGAC submission alone.
• Assuming one SGAC covers future trips. Each submission is tied to a specific arrival date and itinerary.

Latest SGAC Requirements for 2026

• Submission window: Within 3 days before arrival, including the day of arrival
• Cost: Free, through official ICA channels only
• Submission methods: ICA’s SGAC e-Service (eservices.ica.gov.sg/sgarrivalcard) or the MyICA Mobile app
• Who needs it: Nearly all travellers, including foreign visitors, IPA holders, citizens, permanent residents, and Long-Term Pass holders
• Main exemptions: Transit passengers not clearing immigration; citizens, PRs, and Long-Term Pass holders entering via Woodlands or Tuas; foreign sea crew and pleasure craft owners, who use digitalPORT@SG instead
• Visa distinction: SGAC is not a visa — visa-required travellers still need a separate visa
• Entry guarantee: Submission does not guarantee entry
• 2026 update: From 30 January 2026, ICA may issue No-Boarding Directives requiring airlines to verify visa and SGAC status before allowing boarding

Last reviewed: July 2026. Immigration rules can change, so travellers should confirm current rules directly through ICA’s official channels (ica.gov.sg) before finalizing travel plans.

Frequently Asked Questions