For more than 28 years, a woman from China quietly resided in Singapore even when her visa had long expired.
However, the law finally caught up with her and she was eventually jailed for six months and fined S$2,000 (approx. RM6,500) for overstaying her welcome.
Woman from China overstays in S’pore for over 28 years
According to Lianhe Zaobao, the woman named Yu was given a student’s pass in April 1995 and renewed it regularly.
When the student’s pass expired on September 1996, she continued to reside in Singapore.
A year later, Yu was arrested for drug use and saw her passport being confiscated on October 1996. However, she was given a special pass by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Oct. 17, 1996, while waiting for the investigation’s results.
As per the special pass’ requirements, Yu was obliged to report regularly to the immigration department. But she didn’t do so and absconded when her special pass expired on November 1996.
On January 1997, Yu’s daughter, who was eight years old at the time, applied for a student’s pass and was given one to study in Singapore. She was eventually granted permanent resident (PR) status in May 2008.
As for Yu, she stayed in the country illegally so that she could take care of her daughter.
The charge sheets showed that Yu had stayed in Singapore for a total of 28 years, one month and 11 days (10,268 days) from Nov 20, 1996 to Dec 30, 2024 after her special pass expired in 1996, making her the longest ever overstayer in Singapore’s history.
Pleaded guilty
Yu later turned herself in to the ICA on Dec 30, 2024 as she wanted to return to China and pleaded guilty to overstaying on Monday (Sept 1).
While Yu’s lawyer said she had expressed regret for her actions and pleaded for leniency, the judge disagreed, saying that Yu had purposely overstayed her visa.
Yu was eventually sentenced to jail for six months and fined S$2,000.
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