SINGAPORE: The number of foreign visitors who were refused entry into Singapore rose significantly in 2025 from a year ago, following strengthened border security measures, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Monday (Feb 23).
About 45,700 foreign visitors were refused entry into Singapore in 2025, up 38.3 per cent from about 33,100 in 2024, ICA said in its 2025 annual report.
These foreigners were assessed to pose immigration risks, such as potentially overstaying or working illegally, or security risks, such as potentially committing crimes.
In 2025, ICA strengthened border security through enhanced targeting by its Integrated Targeting Centre (ITC), including leveraging advance information and data analytics to identify high-risk travellers, vehicles and cargo for enhanced checks upon arrival at the checkpoints.
Passport-free clearance at major checkpoints also freed up immigration officers from manual counter duties, allowing their redeployment to higher-value functions such as profiling and investigative interviewing.
Due to such processes, more foreigners were picked up for enhanced screening in 2025 and subsequently refused entry, ICA said.
ICA noted a case in December where two male Indian nationals who arrived at Changi Airport were found to possess forged Ministry of Manpower approval letters after they were flagged for further checks.
In another case, a 30-year-old Thai man arriving at Tuas Checkpoint in October was flagged by ITC for additional screening.
It was found that he had previously entered Singapore under a different name and was convicted under said name for providing sexual services for monetary gain. He was then deported from Singapore in 2016.
As the man was found to have multiple identities, he was refused entry and barred from entering the country.
The number of multiple identity cases detected on arrival at Singapore’s checkpoints remained roughly the same, ICA said on Monday, with 223 cases detected in 2025, a 4.3 per cent drop from the 233 in 2024.
“ICA’s automated lanes at the checkpoints are equipped with multi-modal biometrics screening systems, which can detect travellers who attempt to impersonate others or use false identities,” said the authority.
“They include persons-of-interest who have previously committed crimes in Singapore and are attempting to re-enter Singapore under a different identity.”
Foreigners with multiple identities are barred from re-entering Singapore.
Last year also saw a decrease in the number of forged or tampered travel documents detected on arrival, with a 39.3 per cent drop from the 61 cases in 2024 to 37 in 2025.
In addition to strengthening checkpoint security, ICA also conducts inland enforcement operations, including with other law enforcement agencies, to arrest immigration offenders.
The total number of immigration offenders arrested in 2025 has remained about the same as in 2024, rising from 536 to 538, said ICA.
There was an 11.4 per cent decrease in the number of illegal immigrants arrested and a 1.9 per cent increase in the number of overstayers arrested.
The number of harbourers and employers of immigration offenders arrested also fell by 28.8 per cent to 277 in 2025, down from 389 in 2024.
Of the 141 harbourers, most either had existing relationships with the offenders or had allowed the offender to stay in their premises for financial gain, ICA said.
The majority of the harbourers also did not check the immigration status of the offenders, or checked it only at the start of the tenancy, but did not ensure that their tenants’ immigration status remained valid throughout the tenancy.
Most of the 136 employers of immigration offenders arrested in 2025 claimed they were in the process of renewing the work pass of the immigration offenders, or had only performed checks to ensure that their employee had a valid work pass at the point of employment, but did not track their employee’s work pass status subsequently.
They also claimed to have overlooked applying for work pass extension or renewal for the immigration offender, or had not checked if their employee had any valid work pass.
“ICA will continue to take tough action against harbourers and employers of immigration offenders,” said the authority.
“It is a serious offence to harbour or employ immigration offenders. Members of the public must not provide immigration offenders shelter and means of subsistence, so that we do not have illegal immigrant problems in Singapore.”
Homeowners who wish to rent out their property were advised to exercise due diligence by checking the immigration status of their prospective foreign tenants to ensure that their stay in Singapore is legal.
Separately, the number of people arrested for marriage-of-convenience-related offences fell 63.4 per cent to 15 in 2025, down from 41 in 2024, ICA said.
It added that it will take firm action against errant couples and middlemen.
Monday’s report comes after ICA, from Jan 30 this year, started issuing no-boarding directives to airline operators at Changi and Seletar airports to prevent flagged travellers from boarding flights bound for Singapore.
Those who do not meet Singapore’s entry requirements, such as possessing a valid visa or a travel document with at least six months’ validity, would also be forbidden from boarding.
In some cases, the airlines may be required to perform additional checks, such as the verification of visas or SG Arrival Card submissions, before allowing the passenger or crew member to board the flight.
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About 45,700 foreign visitors were refused entry into Singapore in 2025, up 38.3 per cent from about 33,100 in 2024, ICA said in its 2025 annual report.
These foreigners were assessed to pose immigration risks, such as potentially overstaying or working illegally, or security risks, such as potentially committing crimes.
In 2025, ICA strengthened border security through enhanced targeting by its Integrated Targeting Centre (ITC), including leveraging advance information and data analytics to identify high-risk travellers, vehicles and cargo for enhanced checks upon arrival at the checkpoints.
Passport-free clearance at major checkpoints also freed up immigration officers from manual counter duties, allowing their redeployment to higher-value functions such as profiling and investigative interviewing.
Due to such processes, more foreigners were picked up for enhanced screening in 2025 and subsequently refused entry, ICA said.
ICA noted a case in December where two male Indian nationals who arrived at Changi Airport were found to possess forged Ministry of Manpower approval letters after they were flagged for further checks.
In another case, a 30-year-old Thai man arriving at Tuas Checkpoint in October was flagged by ITC for additional screening.
It was found that he had previously entered Singapore under a different name and was convicted under said name for providing sexual services for monetary gain. He was then deported from Singapore in 2016.
As the man was found to have multiple identities, he was refused entry and barred from entering the country.
The number of multiple identity cases detected on arrival at Singapore’s checkpoints remained roughly the same, ICA said on Monday, with 223 cases detected in 2025, a 4.3 per cent drop from the 233 in 2024.
“ICA’s automated lanes at the checkpoints are equipped with multi-modal biometrics screening systems, which can detect travellers who attempt to impersonate others or use false identities,” said the authority.
“They include persons-of-interest who have previously committed crimes in Singapore and are attempting to re-enter Singapore under a different identity.”
Foreigners with multiple identities are barred from re-entering Singapore.
Last year also saw a decrease in the number of forged or tampered travel documents detected on arrival, with a 39.3 per cent drop from the 61 cases in 2024 to 37 in 2025.
Related:
NUMBER OF IMMIGRATION OFFENDERS ARRESTED STABLE
In addition to strengthening checkpoint security, ICA also conducts inland enforcement operations, including with other law enforcement agencies, to arrest immigration offenders.
The total number of immigration offenders arrested in 2025 has remained about the same as in 2024, rising from 536 to 538, said ICA.
There was an 11.4 per cent decrease in the number of illegal immigrants arrested and a 1.9 per cent increase in the number of overstayers arrested.
The number of harbourers and employers of immigration offenders arrested also fell by 28.8 per cent to 277 in 2025, down from 389 in 2024.
Of the 141 harbourers, most either had existing relationships with the offenders or had allowed the offender to stay in their premises for financial gain, ICA said.
The majority of the harbourers also did not check the immigration status of the offenders, or checked it only at the start of the tenancy, but did not ensure that their tenants’ immigration status remained valid throughout the tenancy.
Most of the 136 employers of immigration offenders arrested in 2025 claimed they were in the process of renewing the work pass of the immigration offenders, or had only performed checks to ensure that their employee had a valid work pass at the point of employment, but did not track their employee’s work pass status subsequently.
They also claimed to have overlooked applying for work pass extension or renewal for the immigration offender, or had not checked if their employee had any valid work pass.
“ICA will continue to take tough action against harbourers and employers of immigration offenders,” said the authority.
“It is a serious offence to harbour or employ immigration offenders. Members of the public must not provide immigration offenders shelter and means of subsistence, so that we do not have illegal immigrant problems in Singapore.”
Homeowners who wish to rent out their property were advised to exercise due diligence by checking the immigration status of their prospective foreign tenants to ensure that their stay in Singapore is legal.
Separately, the number of people arrested for marriage-of-convenience-related offences fell 63.4 per cent to 15 in 2025, down from 41 in 2024, ICA said.
It added that it will take firm action against errant couples and middlemen.
FLAGGED TRAVELLERS DENIED BOARDING
Monday’s report comes after ICA, from Jan 30 this year, started issuing no-boarding directives to airline operators at Changi and Seletar airports to prevent flagged travellers from boarding flights bound for Singapore.
Those who do not meet Singapore’s entry requirements, such as possessing a valid visa or a travel document with at least six months’ validity, would also be forbidden from boarding.
In some cases, the airlines may be required to perform additional checks, such as the verification of visas or SG Arrival Card submissions, before allowing the passenger or crew member to board the flight.
Continue reading...