The Student's Pass after an AEIS offer: documents, sponsor and timing

An AEIS offer is not the end of the paperwork. A child who does not hold a pass that already allows study needs a Student's Pass from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA). This post follows ICA's page step by step.

Who needs one

ICA says you need to apply for a Student's Pass if you are a foreigner who has been offered a placement to pursue full-time studies at a Government, Government-aided or independent school in Singapore. You do not need one if you hold a valid Dependant's Pass, Long-Term Visit Pass or Immigration Exemption Order. MOE's outcome page says the same for AEIS applicants and adds that, for children with one of those passes, admission can be confirmed immediately upon reporting to the offered school.

What to have ready

ICA lists the documents and information to prepare before applying:

• the Registration Acknowledgement Letter from the school
• the travel document biodata page and the birth certificate, if applicable
• personal information, including countries previously lived in, educational background, employment history and financial support
• details of parents, spouse or siblings, if applicable
• a residential address and contact details in Singapore, and an email address
• a recent passport-sized digital colour photograph taken within the last three months

ICA also says foreign-born applicants aged 12 years 0 day or below must submit vaccination information to the Communicable Diseases Agency.

The steps

1. Obtain the Registration Acknowledgement Letter from the school.
2. Log in to ICA's e-Service and complete Form 16A (student's details) and Form V103 (student's parents), using the reference number on the letter.
3. The local sponsor logs in and completes forms V39s and V39Q, the undertaking by the local sponsor.
4. Pay the processing fee of S$45, which is non-refundable. ICA accepts Visa or MasterCard, American Express, Internet Direct Debit and PayNow.

The local sponsor

The sponsor must be a Singapore citizen or permanent resident aged 21 or older. Companies and organisations cannot act as sponsors. If the student has a citizen or permanent resident parent or step-parent, that parent must act as the sponsor.

Processing time

ICA says processing takes within one week, excluding the date of submission, or within two weeks if a visa is required. Some applications may take longer. The student does not need to be in Singapore while the application is processed, and ICA recommends applying before arriving, because a stay cannot be extended while processing is under way.

Where the two pages pull apart

ICA says to submit the application at least two months and not more than three months before the course begins. MOE says that a child who needs a Student's Pass should apply as soon as possible after receiving the Registration Acknowledgement Letter, so that the child can start school as early as possible. For a January start, an offer released in December leaves less than two months. Neither page says how ICA treats this case, so it is worth asking the school or ICA before the date arrives.

What we could not confirm

• How ICA handles the two-month rule for AEIS entrants. The pages we read do not say.
• Whether the S$45 fee, the forms and the processing time have changed since ICA last updated its page on 13 March 2026.
• Anything specific to one school. ICA's page covers the Student's Pass, and we did not read any school's own admission conditions.