visayes

What is the  Singapore Arrival Card (SGAC)?

A free online declaration you submit within 3 days before arriving in Singapore — the day of arrival counts as one of the three. It is not a visa, and the health declaration is part of the same submission.

Written by the visayes team · Checked against the official portal on 21 May 2026

What is it?

Singapore’s digital replacement for the paper arrival card, issued by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA), with the health declaration built in.

  • Passport, trip, and accommodation details, filed online before you land
  • The health declaration rides along in the same submission — a false one is an offense under the Infectious Diseases Act

Who needs one?

Required

  • Every foreign visitor, every trip
  • Residents arriving by air or sea

Not required

  • Transit or transfer without clearing immigration
  • Residents entering via land checkpoints

Read that second line carefully: the land-checkpoint exemption covers citizens, permanent residents (PRs), and Long-Term Pass holders (Student's, Dependant's, Long-Term Visit, Work Pass) — the same people still submit when they fly or sail in.

When to file

3 days

The three days include your arrival day. ICA’s own example: arriving 30 June, you can submit from 28 June.

There is nothing to wait for: submitting is the last step. ICA emails an acknowledgment carrying your DE number — the reference the counter can look you up by — and you can also save it as a PDF from the e-Service.

How to file

  1. Open eservices.ica.gov.sg/sgarrivalcard
  2. Enter passport, trip, and accommodation details
  3. Answer the electronic health declaration
  4. Submit — keep the acknowledgment email
  5. Show the email or its PDF at immigration

Traveling together on one trip? “Group Submission” covers the whole party in one flow. ICA does not publish a headcount limit, so we don’t quote one.

Rather not type it all out? visayes fills in the official form under your supervision — you review it, submit it yourself, and pay only after the official government site confirms it has your submission.

Fix a mistake

Anything other than health
Submit a fresh SGAC — the newest one is the one that counts
Your health status changed
Use “Update SGAC” on the e-Service instead

Never pay a third party to “fix” it.

Spot the official site

eservices.ica.gov.sg/sgarrivalcard

ICA is the only issuer, and it says so plainly: it does not support or endorse commercial services that submit the SG Arrival Card for a fee.

Only .gov.sg domains are Singapore government sites.

FAQ

Is it free?
Yes — ICA charges nothing for it.
Is it a visa?
No. Whether you need a visa depends on your passport.
Just transiting?
If you never clear immigration, you don’t submit one.
Family trip?
One Group Submission covers people traveling together on one trip.
Got a detail wrong?
Submit a new card. The latest submission wins.

Does your passport need the SGAC?