Laws Regarding Travelling to Singapore for Business Owners

With several thousand foreign owned companies being registered in Singapore each year, the number of business travelers to Singapore has been growing with each passing year. Several foreign entrepreneurs choose to register a company in Singapore and then either manage the business from overseas or apply for the entrepreneur pass and relocate to the country to manage the business.

For those entrepreneurs who prefer to operate their Singapore based firm from overseas, may travel to Singapore on a standard visa to conduct any business activity for their company. Entrepreneurs from certain countries such as the United States may not even require a visa for short stay of less than 30 days during which they can attend to matters related to their business and act as a leisure traveler as well.

Business owners who travel to Singapore often for business matters may also apply for multiple entry visas and be eligible for special immigration counters at the Singapore international airport. However, for those entrepreneurs who wish to relocate to Singapore or need to stay for a longer period of time to manage the activities of the business are recommended to apply for the Singapore entrepreneur pass scheme. Those foreign entrepreneurs who are eligible for the entrepreneur pass in Singapore can relocate to the country along with their spouse and unmarried children under the age of eighteen provided they apply for a dependent pass for each member of the family.

Entrepreneur passes are usually issued for a period of one or two years during which the foreign entrepreneur may travel to and fro from Singapore as many times as they wish without having to apply for additional visas. However, the entrepreneur pass must be renewed at least four weeks from its scheduled expiry date in order for the foreign entrepreneur and his or her dependents to continue living in Singapore. Renewal of the pass is based on the entrepreneur fulfilling all criteria as set by the concerned authorities or the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore.

It is possible for a foreign entrepreneur to apply for the employment pass scheme in Singapore as well. Under this scheme, if the business owner has a Singapore based company operational for more than six months then they can apply for the work visa as an employee under their own company. Once the employment pass has been obtained, the overseas entrepreneur may travel to and fro from Singapore as long as the employment pass remains valid.


Bryan Wong is a business analyst in the Asia-Pacific region and in his free time writes business articles. In this article, Bryan talks about Singapore entrepass filing agent and Singapore company setup services.