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Man fined $2,000 over false declaration in wife's visa application, a first under new ICA law
A Singaporean has become the first to be charged under a new law after he made false declarations when applying for his wife's visa.
PHOTO: AsiaOne file/Ong Chin Wee, Danial Zahrin
PUBLISHED ONJuly 23, 2026 5:54 PMBYKhoo Yi-Hang
https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=https://www.asiaone.com
A man in Singapore was fined $2,000 on July 10 after he made false declarations when applying for his wife's visa.
Tan Kim Lam, 65, was arrested along with his wife, Lin Qiaoming, by Immigrations and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers on May 8 following an investigation into the offence.
He is the first person to be prosecuted under section 57(1)(ka) of the Immigration Act 1959, which came into effect on Dec 31, 2024.
Tan first met Lin, now 49, in 2002 through mutual friends in Singapore. Lin was a social visitor at the time.
Lin, a Chinese national, then left Singapore illegally to avoid detection as she had failed to regularise her stay after her social visit pass had expired, ICA said.
After returning to China, Tan and Lin still kept in touch.
Lin purportedly entered Singapore multiple times between 2009 and 2015 under an assumed identity to avoid being identified for her previous offences.
Despite lacking proficiency in English, Tan acted as her sponsor for her visa applications under the assumed identity.
He sought assistance from form writers, who helped Tan to complete and submit relevant documents.
Entering Singapore, she married another Singaporean, before divorcing in April 2015 and returning to China once more.
She kept up correspondence with Tan, and the duo entered into a relationship thereafter.
In 2017, Lin applied for a passport using her real identity to visit Tan and succeeded in entering Singapore multiple times until 2023 with the latter sponsoring her visa applications.
On April 28, 2023, they got married in China.
Past catches up
In June last year, Tan sponsored Lin's long-term visit pass (LTVP), again utilising a form writer to fill and submit the required documents to ICA.In his application, he purportedly declared that Lin did not have any other identification with different particulars, which ICA determined to be false as Lin had a passport with the assumed identity she allegedly used to enter Singapore between 2009 and 2015.
Tan failed to take steps to verify whether Lin had other identity documents before signing the application, ICA stated. Lin subsequently received an LTVP on Sept 12, 2025.
"Had ICA known that Lin in fact had a passport bearing an assumed identity, ICA would not have issued the LTVP to her," the authority stated.
According to ICA, Tan was unaware that Lin had used an assumed identity in her previous visa applications.
But he can be liable if false or misleading information is provided in his visa application, even if he claims to be unaware, the authority said.
Those convicted of the offence can be fined up to $4,000.
ICA advised: "Applicants and local sponsors are reminded that they are responsible for ensuring that the information provided in their applications are true and accurate."
