On 22 February 2018, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers conducted an inland operation around Singapore. A total of seven men and six women were arrested for immigration-related offences.

2.         Among those arrested, nine of them, aged between 25 and 49, had overstayed in Singapore. The remaining four persons, a Singaporean and three foreigners are being investigated for employing or harbouring an immigration offender (IO). They are between 36 and 57 years old. Investigations are still ongoing.

        

3.         The ICA takes a serious view of attempts to overstay, enter or depart Singapore illegally. Under the Immigration Act (Cap 133), the penalties for overstaying or illegal entry are a jail term of up to six months plus a minimum of three strokes of the cane, while the penalties for illegal departure is a fine of up to $2,000, a jail term of up to six months, or both.

4.         Homeowners are advised to exercise due diligence in checking the status of their prospective foreign tenants to ensure that their status in Singapore is legal. Those who wish to rent their premises to foreigners are required to conduct the three mandatory checks:

(a) Check his/her original immigration/work pass; 
(b) Cross check the particulars on his/her pass against the particulars on his/her original passport; and 
(c) Verify the validity of his/her pass by checking with the issuing authority.

5.         If the homeowner is found guilty of recklessly (i.e. carrying out only one of the three due diligence checks) or knowingly harbouring overstayers and/or illegal immigrants, he may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term not less than six months and not more than two years and a fine not exceeding S$6,000. If a homeowner is found guilty of negligently (i.e. carrying out only two of the three due diligence checks) harbouring overstayers and/or illegal immigrants, he may be sentenced to a fine not exceeding S$6,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

IMMIGRATION & CHECKPOINTS AUTHORITY
26 February 2018