SINGAPORE EDUCATION VISA – YOUR CAREER IN SINGAPORE

Also referred to as the ‘Student Pass’, a Singapore Student Visa is an essential document that foreign students need to obtain to pursue full-time study programs in Singapore, especially for courses lasting for more than 30 days. The Singapore government has designed a specific scheme named the SOLAR system, i.e. Student’s Pass Online Application and Registration system which is the official registration department that monitors the student visa applications.

1. Students are advised to submit an application for a Singapore Student Visa at least a month before the beginning of the academic year or semester during which they will be pursuing a program.
2. For students below 19 years of age -The student passes are processed directly by the Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority for students who wish to study in a private institution.
3. Students aged 20 or above, are required to give an interview in case they plan to study Vocational, Fine Arts degrees or Language or Commerce programs.
4. Students in possession of a Singapore Study Pass are allowed to work part-time jobs in the city. Further, you will be asked to submit your Singapore Student Visa a week after the course completion.
5. For those students looking for employment opportunities in Singapore after the end of their course, they are required to apply for the ‘visit’ pass that allows international students to extend their stay for a year in order to explore work prospects in the country.

Application Process

Once you have gathered the above-mentioned documents, the application process for the student pass might differ as per the university or the institute where you have gained admission. You can explore the official website of Immigrations and Checkpoints Authority of Singapore to know more about the process specified for your chosen university. Below mentioned are the key steps that your application will go through once you have successfully registered for a Singapore Study Visa:

1. After you have submitted the student pass application, it will take a minimum of 15 days or a maximum of 4 weeks for visa processing.
2. The visa interview might not be a part of the process (depending on the university where you have got admission) and in this case, the candidate will be informed beforehand.
3. The final processed visa will be sent to the candidate through courier or it can be collected directly from the Embassy.
4. The Singapore Student visa is then submitted to the ICA two months before the beginning of the academic session.