Of the 12 infected foreign spouses who have been repatriated, four had children with Singaporeans, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said.

"We will also review the 12 who have left and if we can reach them, we will tell them, who among them can come back," said Tan Boon Huat, the MHA's deputy secretary.

According to Singapore's prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, the city state's Infectious Diseases Act was meant to keep out foreigners -- workers and tourists -- infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

"It is not meant to throw out people who are already permanent residents or visited on a tourist pass and married somebody here or have been here for some time," he said.

"MHA would like to say that appeals on cases concerning HIV-infected foreign spouses of Singaporeans are being reviewed sympathetically bearing in mind the family," the ministry said in a statement Saturday.

The change in policy stance came after Goh said at a social community event Saturday that "the law cannot just apply without thinking of the consequences to the family."

An amendment to the Immigration Act in 1998 states that non-citizens infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are classified as prohibited immigrants and are not allowed to renew their social visit passes.

Social visit passes allow non-citizens of Singapore to stay in the city state for varying lengths of time, ranging from two weeks to a year.

Aside from the 12 couples, the MHA said it has received three appeals of which one has thus far been permitted to stay.

The foreign spouses are likely to be allowed to stay, the MHA said.