Your last two weeks in Singapore, after the shipment has gone

The container is on its way and you’re living out of suitcases. What’s left is a flat to hand back, accounts to close, perhaps a car and a pet, and your work pass. Several need a date booked, so start with those; the leaving Singapore checklist has the full countdown.

What should be in your suitcases, not the shipment

Check that these stayed with you:

• passports, and the Short-Term Visit Pass (STVP) email once it’s issued: the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) says you show both to the immigration officer when you leave
• your tenancy agreement, the inventory list and photos of the flat
• your pet’s export licence, health certificate and vaccination records
• laptop, chargers, and the phone your bank sends one-time passwords to.

Keep any air shipment still to go for what you’ll need in the first weeks at the other end; what movers won’t ship covers items that need another plan.

Where to stay if the lease ends before your flight

Book a hotel or a serviced apartment rather than a short let in a condo or Housing & Development Board (HDB) flat. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) doesn’t allow residential property to be used for stays of less than three consecutive months. It points short-stay guests to hotels, which have no minimum stay, and serviced apartments, which have a seven-day minimum.

Anything that missed the container but isn’t for the bin, such as a bicycle for a friend or boxes for storage, can go as one small job. HomeToMoved (run by the same team as Relocado) matches you with vetted movers for moving one or two items.

Clear what’s left before the handover

Whatever didn’t sell, didn’t suit a charity and wasn’t worth shipping still has to go before the inspection. The template tenancy agreement for private homes from the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA), for example, expects everything you brought in to be removed and lets the landlord remove or dispose of anything left behind. Book the collection a day or two before the handover, so there’s time to clean afterwards.

Junk to Clear, the team behind Relocado, has cleared homes in Singapore since 2009 and takes anything from a single item to the contents of a whole flat; see its residential disposal service. Ship, sell, store or dispose helps if you’re still deciding.

The handover inspection and your deposit

Handover conditions and the deposit are set by your tenancy agreement, not by law, so reread yours before the inspection. CEA’s template expects the flat to be thoroughly cleaned and in substantially the same condition as at the start (fair wear and tear excepted), with air-conditioning servicing receipts handed over, telecoms equipment returned, and all keys, access cards and inventory items accounted for. CEA notes that terms are negotiable, so yours may differ.

Walk round with the landlord or agent, check each room against the inventory list, take dated photos and ask for any deductions in writing; under CEA’s template, the landlord can’t later claim for damage not identified at this joint inspection. If you’re leaving early under a diplomatic clause, the diplomatic clause guide explains what to check. For the handover itself, OurKampung, a sister guide from the same team, has a step-by-step tenancy handover checklist. If a deduction is disputed later, the Small Claims Tribunals hear claims on residential tenancy agreements of up to two years, filed within two years of the event.

Close your SP Group account

Check your tenancy agreement first. CEA’s template says the tenant shouldn’t terminate the utilities, because power and water are needed to test appliances and taps at the joint inspection, and the landlord applies to close them afterwards. If yours says the same, agree with the landlord who closes the account and when.

If it’s yours to close, use the SP app, the Close Utilities Account portal or an SP Customer Service Centre. If you buy electricity from a retailer, SP Group’s residential guide says to close that account with the retailer directly.

• Notice. The supply terms shown in the portal let either side end the agreement with four working days’ written notice, and you can pick a closing date up to 30 days ahead, subject to availability. Apply once the handover date is fixed, choosing a date after the inspection.
• Final reading. Upload clear photos showing each meter’s serial number and reading, and no appointment is needed if SP accepts them. Otherwise, someone has to be present for the appointment.
• Next occupant. If they open an account first, yours closes automatically and you’re billed until the day before theirs starts.
• Deposit. It’s set against your final bill, and any credit is refunded by the method you choose, which can’t be changed after you submit. SP says to allow up to 30 business days, so choose an account you’ll keep open.

Ending the gas supply also carries a termination fee from City Energy.

Internet and mobile

Broadband and mobile plans are contracts, so what leaving early costs depends on yours. Check the end date and the early-termination terms, and ask how to return equipment such as the router. If your bank sends one-time passwords to your Singapore number, keep it running until the last refund has arrived.

Selling or deregistering the car

Selling it. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) requires ownership to be transferred to the new owner within 7 days, and the car shouldn’t be under financing. Remaining road tax and any rebates pass to the buyer. LTA advises transferring only once you’ve been paid, with the buyer accepting the transfer before you hand over the car.

Deregistering it. A deregistered car must be scrapped at an LTA-appointed scrapyard, exported, or stored in an Export Processing Zone (EPZ) pending export, and you must submit proof of disposal within one month. The car can’t be under financing, and scrapyards and EPZs work by appointment only. Once it’s disposed of, you may be due two rebates:

• Preferential Additional Registration Fee (PARF) rebate: a percentage of the Additional Registration Fee you paid, if the car is no more than 10 years old, has never been laid up and meets LTA’s other conditions. It falls as the car ages, and the rates and any cap depend on when its Certificate of Entitlement (COE) was obtained.
• COE rebate: a share of the quota premium you paid for the COE, pro-rated to the time left on it, and capped at 80% of that premium if you export within two years of registration.

Rebates must be used within 12 months of deregistration. If you encash them online with Singpass, LTA pays into your GIRO (General Interbank Recurring Order) refund bank account or, without one, by PayNow within 14 working days. If you’re not eligible for Singpass, book an LTA counter appointment, preferably a week ahead.

Keep a bank account open for money still owed to you

Your employer must withhold all money due to you from the date it knows you’re leaving until the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) issues its clearance directive, so the last salary payment can arrive after you’ve gone. IRAS typically processes an e-filed IR21 within 7 working days and a paper one within 21 days, and IR21 tax clearance explains the process.

For tax refunds, IRAS asks foreigners who are leaving to keep an active SGD account with a PayNow-participating bank, linked to their Foreign Identification Number (FIN). If the bank doesn’t support PayNow-FIN, use GIRO or request a telegraphic transfer. IRAS no longer issues cheques, and a refund that fails because the account has been closed becomes unclaimed money you have to claim back.

Close your last account only when all of this has arrived:

Redirect your mail

SingPost’s Mail Redirection Service forwards mail to an overseas residential address as well as a local one. Redirecting overseas costs S$49.05 for the first month, S$59.95 for the second and S$70.85 for each month after that, inclusive of Goods and Services Tax.

Apply at a post office with the application form and your original identity card or passport. Under SingPost’s terms, the service can start two working days after SingPost receives the application and payment, runs for up to six months at a time, and covers only mail posted through SingPost, not courier deliveries. Mail must carry exactly the names on the form, so list everyone in the household (up to six).

If your pet is flying with you

Every pet leaving Singapore needs an export licence from the Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS), part of the National Parks Board (NParks). The licence is valid for 90 days from issue, so apply on the GoBusiness Licensing Portal within 90 days of leaving. AVS quotes two working days for the S$50 normal service and one for the S$100 express service.

The destination sets the rest. If it requires a veterinary health certificate, a licensed private vet examines your pet and completes it. Where a government vet must endorse it, AVS endorses the destination’s own template in at least two working days, with no express option; if there’s no template, AVS can convert your vet’s certificate into a QR-verifiable one, valid for seven days from issue. If a pre-export inspection is required, book it at least five days before departure, and cancel your dog’s licence once it has left.

Because some countries require vaccinations and laboratory tests before entry, pet moves need to start months ahead. If yours hasn’t, check the destination authority’s requirements today and contact a pet relocation specialist from Relocado’s directory. AVS also publishes a list of recognised pet agents.

Your work pass in the final days

Your employer cancels your pass within a week after your last day of notice and can submit the request up to 14 days ahead. It can also request an STVP so you can stay legally until you fly: up to 90 days for Employment Pass (EP) holders and up to 30 days for S Pass holders. You can’t work once the pass is cancelled.

Cancelling the main pass also cancels the passes issued to your family, including Dependant’s Passes, so check with your employer that everyone still in Singapore has a valid stay until the flight. MOM warns that overstaying brings a fine. The HR departure checklist covers the employer’s side, and IR21 tax clearance covers yours.

Relocado is run by the team behind Junk to Clear, HomeToMoved and HomeToClean. Where this guide links to one of them, it’s because the step calls for that service, and we say so in the sentence. Enquiries sent through the form go to the same team. How Relocado works