SIN Arrival. How long to get through customs & immigration

[Bibendum]

Hello SQ Folk,

Figured i post here as you guys may have a better understanding of my questions being loyal SQ FF..

We (wife, 2 kids under two & i) are due to take our first family holiday in two weeks time to SEA. We have a 3 day stop over in Singapore before heading onto our next destination.

Flight is SQ 226 PER - SIN landing 19:35..

I expect both children will not have napped on the flight and will be as cranky as all hell, So....

Has anyone any idea on how busy customs and immigration are at this time.. Can we expect long a long wait...?

Do family's with young children get any sort of priority..? Flying Y so no J express passes


Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Hvr]

I've always found SIN Immigration to be very efficient so expect you'll be fine.

Not sure why families deserve priority but there seems to be an expectation that they get it for some reason.

 

[Bibendum]

Not sure why families deserve priority but there seems to be an expectation that they get it for some reason.[/QUOTE]

Not even for infants.. We have a 5 month old and one a little older.. Given the amount of stuff we have to lug around I think there should be some exceptions made..

 

[dajop]

Can we expect long a long wait...?

Depends on your definition of a long long wait. At SIN, 15 mins would be long. Normally, you'd expect to be through in 5-10 mins.

If the flight lands in T3 should be quick, perhaps slightly longer in T2. You won't land in T1 which is where some of the longer waits (up to 20-40mins) can happen (rarely).

 

[Bibendum]

That's another question, Looking at the flight history it's seems the arrival terminal changes at the drop of a hat...?

We have someone from the Crown Plaza meeting as at baggage claim, or just after, and i can"t give them a arrival terminal as it seems to change day to day...

Why do you say it wont arrive at T1....?

 

[vitagen]

I did this flight early feb with my then 7 month old and it was fine, no lines in t3 or any

 

[JohnK]

Not sure why families deserve priority but there seems to be an expectation that they get it for some reason.

When we left BKK mid-November with my then 2 month old daughter immigration held us up wanting to see birth certificate because my daughters surname is different to her mothers surname. This is Thai thing from what I can see and on last trip told we would need to produce birth certificate until she is an adult.

This took around 25-30 minutes and my daughter started screaming. Hungry but she is also just a baby and needs attention.

In BKK we get to go through premium lane. It took around 15 minutes to get through premium lane last week. It takes around 60 minutes to get through normal security/immigration. You wouldn't want to have a baby screaming.

Personally I agree with special priviliges for babies in prams. Keeps everyone happy.

 

[dajop]

That's another question, Looking at the flight history it's seems the arrival terminal changes at the drop of a hat...?

We have someone from the Crown Plaza meeting as at baggage claim, or just after, and i can"t give them a arrival terminal as it seems to change day to day...

Why do you say it wont arrive at T1....?

Singapore Airlines always uses immigration and baggage claim in T2 and T3. They don't operate out of T1 (note - one qualifier, I have seen aircraft arrive at a T1 gate adjacent to T2, on very very rare occasions, but staff direct passengers to the T2 to complete immigration and do baggage claim).

Is it personal meet or staff that will be meeting you from the Crowne Plaza? If staff, if you give them the flight number they will find the right terminal. If personal meet, tell them the flight number and tell them to check the monitors in the terminal or the Changi app/website to find out which terminal you are arriving at.

 

[mel-world]

Arrived in T3 this afternoon. At Gate A13. Took longer to walk to Immigration than delay getting thru. Got to luggage pick up in about 5 mins after arriving at immigration ever though they now take your thumb prints. Luggage was already coming out. Plane to taxi about 14 mins, albeit at 1600 which is not especially busy.

 

[ajw373]

That's another question, Looking at the flight history it's seems the arrival terminal changes at the drop of a hat...?

We have someone from the Crown Plaza meeting as at baggage claim, or just after, and i can"t give them a arrival terminal as it seems to change day to day...

Why do you say it wont arrive at T1....?

If the hotel is meeting you they will know to check which terminal the flight arrives in.

The way SQ operates is a bit odd in that inbound flights can land at either of the two terminals they operate from. It's all based on the next flight for that a/c.

And they don't operate from T1 hence why they don't arrive there. But like the poster above I too have landed at one of the gates that is technically in T1 and they put up a barrier and signs to go to T2 arrivals.

 

[RoMambai]

I was told SG home ministry types that Changi has a policy of all travellers getting through in 20 minutes or else it's a black mark against management which gets tallied. I've always been out in minutes, including with il bambini.

 

[cmon0005]

Not sure why families deserve priority but there seems to be an expectation that they get it for some reason.

People that make this kind of comment are usually the first to complain, or huff n puff when my baby is screaming in the immigration queue for an hour+, which was the case when leaving from Colombo back in November. 2x OW emeralds, travelling in UL J with an infant and no priority for us at CMB.. I'm sorry I don't mean to sound harsh but priority for families benefits everyone in a way, .

 

[RooFlyer]

I've come across very long queues at immigration after arriving at Changi from Oz a number of times in the past few years - I think into T2. First time was 25 mins to get through; very ordinary. Second time, fortunately, they had agents at the top of the down escalators, directing people to the other immigration area, the other end of the terminal. The first area when I looked down was a zoo, but with a bit of fast walking, I was through the other area in about 5 mins. Third time no agent directing people, and I looked down and saw a crowd, so kept walking. I don't think it was much better at the other end.

 

[JohnK]

There have been times when the queues have been quite long. Can take 10-15 minutes to get through.

 

[OZDUCK]

Arriving on QF from Perth I was in the immigration queue for over 45 minutes once. We appeared to have just landed after a mainland Chinese airline. Virtually every passenger in front of us was getting a thorough vetting by the Immigration Officer and a large proportion of them were being shuffled off to a secondary screening area for an even more rigorous check. Obviously a big crackdown on possible "overstayers" was happening.

But, that was certainly an exception to the normal processing times.

 

[dasheighty]

SQ224 (ex PER) arrival at T2 earlier this year had about 45 minutes wait. Not a huge number in arrivals, just seemed to be slow processing. Not many families with kids amongst the arrivals.
QF71 (ex PER) arrival last Thursday into T1 took around 40 minutes. The response time from the fingerprint scanners seemed to be slowing the lines down. Not a huge number in the hall, halfway to the escalators at worst. There were a few families with small children amongst the arrivals, not sure if this caused any added delay.
YMMV, but the "good old days" of a quick exit from Changi seem to be disappearing.

 

[Simo]

I have done SIN customs and very organised and efficient... Very little delays every time I have been thru

 

[Comoman]

I was on SQ226 tonight and no queue at all at immigration. Very quiet. Landed at T2.

 

[Bibendum]

Many thanks to all that replied.. It has clammed my wife's nerves which is a weight off my shoulders.

Onwards and upwards