Business in Singapore: how to buy or open a company here for a Russian

Transit entry into Singapore

Conditions for transit visiting Singapore:

travel via Singapore to a third country and have air tickets from Singapore to that country
(including visa)
passport with you
have sufficient funds
to stay in Singapore
travel
from Singapore to a third country
within 96 hours

Final approval to enter Singapore is at the discretion of border officials at entry points.

To Singapore without a visa

Do Russians need a visa to Singapore? In 2021, a visa to visit Singapore is still required. Except in cases of transit. In this case, several rules must be observed.

Transit must be to a third country. For example, Russia - Singapore - Thailand. Or Thailand - Singapore - Malaysia.
A visa is not required in case of transit; you do not need it if you arrive in Singapore and leave it by plane. This is in theory, in practice you can arrive here by bus, ferry or plane. But you can only leave the country by plane.
To enter Singapore without a visa, you must print out your e-tickets in advance and show them to the border guards.
The transit period should not exceed 96 hours.

Example 1. My friends flew to Thailand, from there they flew to Singapore, where they planned to stay for two nights. From Singapore they had a flight to Kuala Lumpur. Conclusion: they do not need a visa to Singapore.

Example 2. My friends and I flew to Thailand, took tickets from Krabi airport to Singapore and three days later back to Thailand, but already to Phuket. Conclusion: we had to apply for a visa, since the country of arrival in Singapore and departure from it were the same. Transit rules do not apply in this case.

List of documents for obtaining an electronic visa to Singapore through a travel agency

If a tourist trip is carried out with accommodation only in Singapore for any period, a pre-issued visa is required for citizens of the following countries: Russia

, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

An approximate list of documents required to obtain a Singapore visa (different tour operators may require a different set of documents):

international passport
valid for 6 months after the end of the trip, one blank page is required
application form for a visa to Singapore, including for each child. (Sample of filling out the form)
2 color photographs
: 3.5x4.5 cm, matte, on a white background, without corners, ovals, stamps, black glasses, without a smile, headdress, in dark clothes, less than 3 months old, head size 3.2-3, 6 cm

Additional requirements

for minors:

copy of
the child's birth certificate
When a child leaves with one of the parents,
it is necessary to provide a copy of the notarized permission to leave from the second parent
When leaving a child accompanied by third parties,
you must provide a copy of the notarized permission to leave from both parents

for young women
under 32 years of age
, unaccompanied:

program
;
certificate from place of employment
indicating salary and position;
application for leave
from work;
certificate from the bank
about the account status (if it doesn’t work).

There is no stamp in your passport indicating that you have received a visa to the Republic of Singapore.

Confirmation of receipt of a visa is an electronic copy of a letter from the Department of Migration and Control of the Republic of Singapore with an identification number.

List of documents for entry

The Singapore Migration Service has established the following list of documents for obtaining a visa:

a foreign passport valid for more than 6 months at the time of entry, with a blank page;
color photograph on a light plain background;
The applicant's application form is also prepared for children.

To obtain an entry permit, you do not need any hotel reservations, insurance policies, or work certificates. It is assumed that a visa to Singapore will not be applied for by anyone who cannot buy a plane ticket. However, this does not mean that you can enter the country without a penny to your name. As mentioned above, passengers without return tickets may be denied entry at passport control.

Applying for a Singapore visa yourself

You can apply for an e-visa to Singapore yourself

, for this you need to contact the authorized agency: Asian Visa Application Centre, Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways, Pony Express etc. (full list). To obtain a visa you must provide scanned documents:

A foreign passport
valid for 6 months after the end of the trip; one blank page is required. The page with the tourist's data must be scanned in color with good quality (without highlights) with a resolution of at least 96 dpi in JPEG format. The size of the uploaded scanned image must be greater than 960 pixels in width and greater than 1310 pixels in height.
application form for a visa to Singapore, including for each child. It is issued electronically on the website of the Asian Visa Center. (Sample of filling out the form)
color photograph
400*514 pixels, matte, on a white background, without corners, ovals, stamps, black glasses, in dark clothes, less than 3 months old. Photo is attached to the application form
invitation or hotel reservation
round trip ticket
or reservation
medical insurance

Visa confirmation is sent by email

(e-mail) specified when filling out the form.
It indicates the applicant’s details, the validity period of the visa, and the number of days allowed to stay in the country. Each confirmation is assigned a unique number, and all visa data is additionally encrypted in a barcode. The visa sticker is not affixed to the applicant's passport. The visa confirmation must be printed
on a separate A-4 sheet of paper and then presented at check-in for your flight and when going through passport control in Singapore.

Do Russians need a visa to Singapore in 2021?

Friendly and close cooperative relations have been established between the Russian and Singaporean states. Both countries are members of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation). However, this did not affect the weakening of the visa regime.

To visit the Republic of Singapore, Russian citizens need a visa regardless of the purpose of the trip.

An exception is made for holders of official and diplomatic passports - a visa is not required if you stay in the country for less than 30 days. To stay in Singapore longer than this period, you must contact the Singapore Embassy in Moscow and pre-issue an entry permit.

Also, transit travelers do not need to worry about obtaining an entry permit - they are allowed to stay in the country without a visa.

Singapore

Migration card

Upon arrival in Singapore, before crossing the border, a migration card is filled out. To speed up the process of passing through the border control point, such cards are usually issued on the plane, where our flight attendants can help fill them out. It should be filled out with a blue or black pen, in block Latin letters. The card must be filled out for each person entering, including each child with their own passport. Sample of filling out a migration card when entering Singapore. There is no need to download a blank card from the Internet, print it out and fill it out at home; just take a sample of the form with you.

How much does it take and how much does a visa to Singapore cost?

The processing time for a Singapore visa is no more than 4 days, the cost is from $40.
Thanks to the elimination of bureaucratic paper packages of documents, the waiting period for a permit is usually no more than 4 days, excluding weekends and holidays (you should pay attention to this when booking air tickets and a hotel). The data verification period is extended in several cases:

if the traveler has already been to the country (they check for any offenses);
when a woman under 32 years of age travels unaccompanied (the likelihood of refusal increases significantly).

Low earnings and a criminal record in your home country may also be the reason for the long processing time for your application. The rules for entry into Singapore are quite strict for some segments of the population and largely depend on the goals of the tourism business - making a profit.

The price of a Singapore visa can be quite different depending on the chosen application option - independently via the Internet or through an intermediary. In the latter case, you will also have to pay for the service, but you do not need to delve into the technical parameters of scanning documents.

On average, the cost of a visa for both adults and children is 40 US dollars, and for urgent processing (within 2 days) double the price is charged. But the second method is relevant for those who took up the issue of obtaining a permit on the eve of weekends or holidays, when the standard registration process does not work.

General information about business immigration to Singapore

The state supports both the relocation of specialists to the country and the rapid opening of their own company. In Singapore, a migrant will not have to register a business in the name of a local resident or create fictitious companies - registering a small business with a visa and ready-made documents takes about a day.

What is business immigration?

Migrants to Singapore most often travel to the country at the invitation of local corporations. For low-skilled labor, people rarely travel from CIS countries - the niche is almost completely occupied by Asians from neighboring countries. People with a stable income or remote work often move due to the standard of living and excellent climate.

Migration legislation actually prohibits moving to the country for a long time without a specific purpose - the migrant must get a job, open a business or invest in the country’s economy. That is why the percentage of educated emigrants in the Russian diaspora in Singapore is very high.

What is a business visa and what type of visa can you get in Singapore?

A business visa is an entry permit for entrepreneurs and employees planning to live and work in the country.

Divided into two types:

EntrePass (for businessmen);
Employment Pass (employees by invitation).

Issued for a period of one to two years with the possibility of extension; in the second case, if you change employer, the visa will have to be reissued.

A business visa takes more than six months to issue; after receiving it, the migrant is practically equal to local residents when creating a company.

To obtain an Entre Pass, in addition to the standard package of documents, you will need:

What type of business is more profitable to open in Singapore?

Three areas are noticeably developed in the country:

Information Technology;
Tourism;
Services sector.

Small IT companies consisting of several specialists often become representatives of small businesses: remote work allows you to earn money without being tied to the country’s labor market. Medium-sized businesses mostly move entirely from other countries - legislation

Singapore allows you not to pay taxes on funds received outside the territory of the state, which makes a registered company a direct analogue of an offshore company.

With large businesses, everything is somewhat more complicated - the more innovative and large-scale the business, the longer it will take officials to consider the issue. Registration may require state participation: this will not only allow Singapore to receive income if the project is successful, but will also create a safety net for participants in the event of failure.

According to reviews from compatriots who moved, the two main reasons for migration were safety and ease of doing business. Bureaucratic processes are as streamlined as possible; there are practically no delays in the preparation of documents. Personal relationships and connections are very important: Asian culture leaves its mark.