Priya Nair
Every traveler entering Singapore must submit the SG Arrival Card with its electronic health declaration before arrival, free of charge, through the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA). The window is short and strict: you can only submit within three days before you arrive, counting the arrival day itself as one of the three days. File on the official SGAC e-Service or in the MyICA Mobile app, and remember that the card is not a visa. It records your arrival and your health declaration. It does not grant permission to enter, and it does not replace any visa your nationality may need.
Quick Facts: The SG Arrival Card at a Glance
- What it is: The SG Arrival Card (SGAC) with Electronic Health Declaration, run by Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).
- Who files: All travelers entering Singapore, including Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders, who submit the health declaration. Foreign visitors submit arrival information plus the health declaration.
- When to file: Within three days before arrival, including the day of arrival. Arriving on 30 June means the earliest submission date is 28 June.
- Where to file: The ICA SGAC e-Service at eservices.ica.gov.sg/sgarrivalcard, or the free MyICA Mobile app.
- Cost: Free. ICA does not endorse any commercial service that charges to submit the card.
- What it is not: Not a visa, not an entry approval, and not a guarantee of admission.
- Last checked: November 11, 2026, against ICA guidance.
What Is the SG Arrival Card, Exactly?
The SG Arrival Card is the electronic version of the paper disembarkation card Singapore used to hand out on planes and at ferry terminals. ICA retired the paper form and moved the whole process online, combining two things into one submission: your arrival information (passport details, travel dates, flight or transport details, and your address in Singapore) and an electronic health declaration covering your current health and recent travel. There is no separate health form. The declaration sits inside the same submission, which is why the full official name is the SG Arrival Card with Electronic Health Declaration.
Regional travelers will find the pattern familiar. Thailand runs a comparable pre-arrival declaration, covered in our guide to the Thailand Digital Arrival Card, and the logic is identical across the region: the form is free, the filing window is a few days, and the government portal is the only correct place to file. What differs is the detail, and Singapore’s detail is the three-day window and the built-in health declaration.
How Does the Three-Day Window Work?
The rule counts the arrival day as day one of the window, which makes the window shorter than many travelers first assume. ICA gives the cleanest example: if you arrive in Singapore on 30 June, you can submit from 28 June onwards. Submitting on 27 June is not possible, because that date falls outside the three days. The system simply will not accept an arrival date that is too far ahead, so there is no advantage in trying to file early and no way to do it.
Time it from the arrival date, not the departure date
Singapore admits you on local arrival time, so an overnight flight that departs on one date and lands after midnight arrives on the landing date. Build the filing around that landing date. Most visitors find a comfortable rhythm in filing one or two days before landing, once flight numbers and the first hotel are fixed, and then saving a screenshot of the completed submission so it is available offline in the immigration hall. Filing on the day of travel also works, as long as the arrival date is inside the window.
What if the flight changes?
If an airline reschedules the flight to a different date, the submitted card describes a trip that no longer matches reality. The practical fix is a fresh submission with the correct arrival date inside the new three-day window. Accuracy is the whole point of the system: name spelling, passport number and arrival date on the card should match the passport and the boarding pass exactly.
Who Has to File, and Who Is Excused?
ICA’s starting position is simple: all travelers must submit the SGAC with electronic health declaration before arriving in Singapore. The exceptions are narrow. Travelers who are transiting or transferring through Singapore without clearing immigration do not submit, because they never formally enter the country. Residents entering through the Woodlands and Tuas land checkpoints are also treated differently under ICA’s published exceptions. Everyone else files, including children, with one submission per person.
Inside that broad rule sits an important distinction. Singapore citizens, permanent residents and long-term pass holders (including Student’s Pass, Dependant’s Pass, Long-Term Visit Pass and Work Pass holders) submit the health declaration only. Foreign visitors, and In-Principle Approval letter holders, submit both the arrival information and the health declaration. If you are a foreign visitor, expect the full form: passport data, contact details, trip details and the address where you will stay in Singapore.
The Health Declaration, Explained
The health declaration exists, in ICA’s words, to guard against the importation of diseases of concern and to protect the health of Singapore residents. In practice it asks about your current state of health and symptoms, and about recent travel to regions associated with diseases Singapore monitors, such as yellow fever and Ebola. Answer it truthfully and completely. Singapore treats false declarations seriously, and the declaration is a legal statement, not a marketing checkbox. Travelers who have visited a yellow fever risk country may also face separate vaccination documentation requirements on arrival, which is another reason the travel history questions matter.
How to Submit the SGAC, Step by Step
Step 1: Go to the official channel only
Use the SGAC e-Service at eservices.ica.gov.sg/sgarrivalcard or download the MyICA Mobile app from the official app stores. Check the address before typing passport details. Search results for the arrival card are crowded with commercial services that charge a processing fee for a submission the government provides free, and ICA states plainly that submitting the SGAC is free and that it does not support or endorse any commercial entity charging for it. If a checkout page appears, you are in the wrong place.
Step 2: Choose the right submission type
The e-Service separates the health-declaration-only route for citizens, residents and pass holders from the full arrival information plus health declaration route for foreign visitors and IPA letter holders. Pick the route that matches your status. Submitting as part of a group is possible for traveling companions on the same trip, but each person’s details still go in individually.
Step 3: Enter details exactly as printed
Copy name, passport number, date of birth and passport expiry character by character from the passport. Add contact details, arrival and departure dates, mode of travel, flight or vessel details where asked, and the Singapore address, which for most visitors is the first hotel. A transposed digit in a passport number is the most common avoidable error on arrival cards worldwide, and Singapore’s automated clearance lanes reward accuracy.
Step 4: Submit and keep the record
After submitting, keep the confirmation accessible offline. A screenshot on the phone covers the common failure mode of an immigration hall with weak data service. Travelers planning a short stop can then get on with the enjoyable part of the trip, and our 2 days in Singapore itinerary shows how much of the city fits into a brief visit once the paperwork is done.
SGAC and Visas: Two Separate Questions
The most persistent misunderstanding is that a submitted SGAC means permission to enter. It does not. The SGAC is not a visa, as ICA states directly. Nationals of countries that need a Singapore visa must hold that visa in addition to filing the card, and visa-exempt nationals still need to satisfy the normal entry conditions on arrival, including passport validity and the ability to show onward travel when asked. The immigration officer, and increasingly the automated lanes that read the passport against the submitted record, decide admission on the day. Think of the card as the paperwork that lets the border process you quickly, and the visa question as a separate door that has to be open before you travel.
Common SGAC Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
The first mistake is paying a third-party site. The submission is free, full stop. The second is timing: trying to file a week ahead, which the window makes impossible, or filing against the departure date of an overnight flight instead of the arrival date. The third is assuming transit status: a traveler who leaves the airport, even for one night in a city hotel, has entered Singapore and needed the card, while a traveler who stays airside in transit did not. The fourth is filing once for a whole family and assuming it covers everyone. Each traveler files individually. The fifth is carelessness with the health declaration after a recent trip through a monitored region. Declare the travel, and let the system do its job.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the SG Arrival Card a visa?
No. ICA states that the SGAC is not a visa. It is an arrival declaration with a health component. Visa requirements depend on nationality and are handled separately.
When can the SGAC be submitted?
Within three days before arrival, including the day of arrival. If you arrive on 30 June, the window opens on 28 June. Earlier submission is not possible.
How much does the SG Arrival Card cost?
Nothing. Submission through the ICA e-Service or the MyICA Mobile app is free, and ICA does not endorse commercial services that charge a fee to submit it.
Do transit passengers need the SGAC?
Travelers transiting or transferring through Singapore without clearing immigration are excepted. If a stopover involves passing immigration and entering Singapore, the card is required.
Do children need their own SGAC?
Yes. The requirement applies per traveler, so each child needs an individual submission with their own passport details, which a parent or guardian can complete on their behalf.
What happens if arrival happens without an SGAC?
Expect friction at the border. The submission is a pre-arrival requirement, so complete it inside the three-day window, with accurate passport and arrival date details, rather than trying to sort it out in the immigration hall.
