Freelancing in Singapore for less than 30 days, is a work visa needed?

Question

I'm going to freelance in Singapore for 20 days.

I'll work on site (software development) at the company on a freelance contract day to day, 1 day notice period, but cannot exceed 20 days (project deadline). The software has been built in Germany for a year but they would like the engineers to be there to do demos and maybe last minute changes.

I'm German and can visit Singapore for 30 days without a visa.

The contract is not directly between me and the Singaporean company, but between me and a US company (who offers services to the Singaporean company).

Can I go to Singapore without a work visa? Isn't this just the same as having some sales/business meetings?

Answer 1

Legally speaking, yes, you probably need a visa, since you are working in Singapore and getting paid for it.

In practice, since you're eligible for a 30-day visitor pass on arrival and this is a one-off, you'll be fine. In the unlikely event of being asked, you're visiting for "business meetings" and doing "sales demos" for a customer.

Source: Used to work for an IT company in Singapore that brought in people all the time for short pre-sales/integration/troubleshooting gigs very much like yours.