HE WAITED anxiously at the Budget Terminal in Changi Airport for Miss Nguyen Thi Ha Lam, 19, his prospective bride to arrive from Vietnam.

He was eager to welcome her to Singapore, her first visit, and had even got tickets so they could both watch the Formula One race from 25 to 27 Sep. But as the minutes ticked on, Mr Anthony Chai, 50, grew increasingly desperate.

First, his Vietnamese fiancee’s flight from Ho Chi Minh City was delayed by an hour – from 5pm to 6pm.

Then came worse news.

Immigration officers would not let Miss Lam past the passport counters.

Mr Chai, a Singaporean businessman, told The New Paper his predicament that day, on 19 Sep, over the phone from Guangzhou, where he is based.

He said in Mandarin: “By 9pm, when she didn’t show up, I knew there were problems.”

His fears were confirmed when the matchmaker, Mr Mark Lin of Vietnam Brides International, called him with the bad news.

At 10am the next day , Miss Lam was deported.

Mr Chai is not alone in his predicament.

Entry denied

Matchmakers specialising in Vietnamese brides told The New Paper that since last year, immigration authorities have allegedly deported several potential brides.

Mr Lin said that another of his potential brides, Miss Tran Minh Thuy, 30, was also deported.

Mr Francis Toh, who runs First Overseas International Matchmaker, claimed several of his girls have also been denied entry into Singapore.

He said: “Since last year, for every 10 girls, at least two will be deported. I don’t know if my girls are telling the truth, but they said they were deported without any reason.

“It could be that with their limited English and Mandarin, the girls couldn’t understand the immigration officers’ questions.”

The agencies claimed that previously, they had not experienced any of the girls being deported.

When The New Paper contacted the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), they would not comment on individual cases, except to say that anyone who does not meet Singapore’s entry criteria will be deported.

Criteria for entry

The entry criteria, according to the ICA website, includes having passports that have at least six months’ validity, a valid visa where applicable and sufficient money for their stay in Singapore.

But the matchmakers insisted that the potential brides who had been denied entry had met the criteria. Mr Toh said it was highly unlikely for the girls to have expiring passports.

He explained: “For girls who are newly selected in Ho Chi Minh City, they’ll make new passports that are valid for five years.

“We ensure they get visas to Singapore, and as for money, we take care of their needs while they’re here.”

Mr Toh said the girls claimed they were repatriated after immigration officers were dissatisfied with their answers about their accommodation in Singapore.

He said: “When the girls came, they stated on their disembarkation cards that they were here for holidays. The immigration officers asked where they were staying and they said they’d be staying in my flat.”

The girls usually stay in the matchmakers’ flats and their social visit passes last for two weeks to a month.

Mr Toh said: “The officers asked why they weren’t staying in a hotel and the girls were turned back when they couldn’t give a satisfactory answer.”

Matchmaker, Mr Loi Eng Tuang of South Phoenix Marriage Centre said he has not had this problem. He said: “I arrange for a girl to come here only when a customer wants her. This way, it’s less expensive.”

Mr Lin said that such incidents are frustrating as matchmakers lose money and potential business. He said: “Each girl’s airfare is about $300 and every girl is a potential bride so we’re talking about opportunity costs of $8,000 per person, because that’s what I charge for a marriage.” In Mr Chai’s case, he arranged for his fiancee to meet him in Guangzhou instead. She arrived on 26 Sep and made it through Chinese immigration.

Mr Chai said he will not give up on marrying Miss Lam in Singapore – he has already arranged for his solemnisation on 9 Nov.

He said: “I intend to fly to Singapore with Miss Lam in the first week of November. Perhaps with my presence, the immigration authorities will believe she’s really here to get married and let her through.”

There is no guarantee that Miss Lam will clear immigration barrier next month because visitors must declare in their disembarkation cards if they have been denied entry into Singapore previously.

That could mean another deportation.

This article was first published in The New Paper.