Singapore Permanent Residency

[wanderer9020]

Incidentally I was asking about bringing my Thai gf to SG and was told the simplest thing is for her to apply online for an Employment Pass Eligibility Certificate. This is just an agreement in principle to give her a work permit as soon as she finds a job. Once she has this certificate she can spend up to a year in the country while she looks for work. Very, very helpful government.

I dont think so, not unless, she will work in a Thai restaurant, Thai supermarket or Thai company , or not unless she has a degree with uses English as teaching medium, then she cant compete here.I meet only Thai in construction industry (those are male construction workers), and in Thai supermarkets . If u can marry her, after u were granted PR, just submit her documents and marriage liscence, and pronto, she will be granted PR immediately based on ur status.In this way, she can work anywhere without having to qualify as a foreign talent.

I heard one manager telling a foreigner, "you are here as an expert, not a trainee"..............

[ade100]

Incidentally I was asking about bringing my Thai gf to SG and was told the simplest thing is for her to apply online for an Employment Pass Eligibility Certificate. This is just an agreement in principle to give her a work permit as soon as she finds a job. Once she has this certificate she can spend up to a year in the country while she looks for work. Very, very helpful government.

I dont think so, not unless, she will work in a Thai restaurant, Thai supermarket or Thai company , or not unless she has a degree with uses English as teaching medium, then she cant compete here.I meet only Thai in construction industry (those are male construction workers), and in Thai supermarkets . If u can marry her, after u were granted PR, just submit her documents and marriage liscence, and pronto, she will be granted PR immediately based on ur status.In this way, she can work anywhere without having to qualify as a foreign talent.

I heard one manager telling a foreigner, "you are here as an expert, not a trainee"..............

She has a Masters Degree from an Australian University and ten years of management experience.

But thanks for the advice on going the marriage/PR route.

Edited February 20, 2008 by ade100

[Captain Chaos]

Quick update:

I handed all my documents over today to my company who will make the application tomorrow at ICA (Immigration and Checkpoints Authority).

To the point raised by CaptainChaos, there is nothing on the application form that asks for bank account, savings or investment information. They don’t even ask if I own property in SG. However they are very interested in salaries current and previous.

Apparently approval should take 2 – 3 months but could be less.

Incidentally I was asking about bringing my Thai gf to SG and was told the simplest thing is for her to apply online for an Employment Pass Eligibility Certificate. This is just an agreement in principle to give her a work permit as soon as she finds a job. Once she has this certificate she can spend up to a year in the country while she looks for work. Very, very helpful government.

Thanks for the useful update - I shall watch with interest how you get on - if it is really this straightforward I will probably fire in my own application in the summer...

Oh - and good luck!

CC

[ade100]

One thing I should add is that I am very pleased it was my agent and not me that went to the ICA yesterday.

The immigration officials are, rather thorough, possibly even a little pedantic. They wanted my entire work history written into the box on the form, about the size of a postcard, with all dates in the correct format, no gaps, no days unaccounted for, salaries for all jobs since I left school, addresses for all places of work even if they no longer exist. And they would not accept a CV or other printed material.

They threw up their arms in horror at one period of my life when I had the audacity to be both working and studying. I had to choose one or the other. Couldn’t possibly be doing both.

So my agent had a fun day: She queued up for three hours at the ICA, had the officials list all the “errors” on the form, went back to her office, emailed me for more information, re-wrote the application form, queued up again for another three hours and then returned all my documents to me.

I’m sure at some point I’d have got all huffy and stormed out. It was worth every Singapore Dollar to let her deal with it.

And now I just have to wait and see. I’ll keep you posted.

[Captain Chaos]

One thing I should add is that I am very pleased it was my agent and not me that went to the ICA yesterday.

The immigration officials are, rather thorough, possibly even a little pedantic. They wanted my entire work history written into the box on the form, about the size of a postcard, with all dates in the correct format, no gaps, no days unaccounted for, salaries for all jobs since I left school, addresses for all places of work even if they no longer exist. And they would not accept a CV or other printed material.

They threw up their arms in horror at one period of my life when I had the audacity to be both working and studying. I had to choose one or the other. Couldn’t possibly be doing both.

So my agent had a fun day: She queued up for three hours at the ICA, had the officials list all the “errors” on the form, went back to her office, emailed me for more information, re-wrote the application form, queued up again for another three hours and then returned all my documents to me.

I’m sure at some point I’d have got all huffy and stormed out. It was worth every Singapore Dollar to let her deal with it.

And now I just have to wait and see. I’ll keep you posted.

Could you PM me name/contact details for said agent please? Sounds like I should contact her!

CC

[adjan jb]

Very, very helpful government.

Reading this thread makes me want to leave Thailand where the immigration police refused to give me a ONE DAY extension the day my work contract expired, even though I had dutifully paid income taxes for years. Very, very ungrateful government.

I envy you.

[HF098]

Hi

I am wondering :

1) if it is possible to apply for Singapore PR with only one (1) year notice of assessment; the requirement says three years' but it seems that EP holders who have been in Singapore for less than a year have lodged their application and have been granted PR status

2) to what extent does the Immigration & Checkpoint authority conduct the relevant checks for an applicant, i.e. education, family background, work experience, credit history?

Thanks

[ade100]

Hi

I am wondering :

1) if it is possible to apply for Singapore PR with only one (1) year notice of assessment; the requirement says three years' but it seems that EP holders who have been in Singapore for less than a year have lodged their application and have been granted PR status

2) to what extent does the Immigration & Checkpoint authority conduct the relevant checks for an applicant, i.e. education, family background, work experience, credit history?

Thanks

I can answer some of these questions :-)

I didn't see anything on the ICA site that states you have to have been in SG for 3 years. They do however state, in the documents requested, "Income Tax Notices of Assessment for the last 3 years". My agent and I both interpreted this to mean tax notices from whatever country.

Concerning checks: I had to produce the originals of my degree certificates so I doubt they will check with the universities. They asked for my parents' names but not contact details so they won't check (unless they hire a private detective). No bank details were requested. Work experience: perhaps. They did ask for the addresses of all the places I have worked. I have seen on some SG forums people debating whether or not they do police checks on the coutries you have lived before SG. Nothing can be confirmed.

That's all I know

[ade100]

Quick Update:

Finally, after 5 months of waiting, my PR was approved. I now have to fill out some more forms, take an HIV test and that’s me set up for the next ten years. No more work permits required. Thankfully PRs are exempted from National Service, but should I have male kids, they may well get called up.

One interesting thing that happened along the way was the ICA (Immigration Department) contacted me asking for the CVs of all my family members. As both parents are retired and brother self employed, it took me a while to coble together the information. No one I spoke to had heard of this happening before.

[curiouspasserby]

It will take 5 months to process?! What the heck man.

Does anybody know if I have to be employed in SG after getting my PR? I am thinking of quiting my SG job and leaving right after getting my PR.

[ade100]

It will take 5 months to process?! What the heck man.

Does anybody know if I have to be employed in SG after getting my PR? I am thinking of quiting my SG job and leaving right after getting my PR.

My understand is no you don't have to be employed directly after getting your PR. However when you come to renew your re-entry permit 5 or 10 years later you probably would have to be employed in SG and maybe have three years or so of employment.

But I think if you have some good reason for not being employed like being retired or looking after kids it would probably be ok but would be discretionary.

[Marksamui]

I am also in Singapore on an EP and am considering the move to PR.

As far as I can see (so far) the major pro is that it allows you to apply to buy 'landed property' (ie. a house). The other stuff like being able to change jobs more easily you have already spotted.

A major disadvantage is that I believe that the children of Sing PR's are liable for national service ... need someone to verify that as fact rather than hearsay ... and I'm sure there are ways around it (leaving the country for a start, although don't know whether that impacts their ability to legally return)

Another potential disadvantage is that if you hold PR for a long time (say 10 years or so) you will be invited to take up Singapore citizenship ... this can put you in a potentially awkward situation. Happened to a friend of mine who took legal advice which was not to decline it but simply to ignore it if he didn't want to accept - that way no 'face' was lost and the status quo maintained. Doesn't sound like end of the world stuff but something to be aware given that the Sing govt has a stated aim of increasing the population via encouraging higher immigration.

If your main focus is on the job flexibility, how about applying for the new Personal Employment Pass (PEP)? That means you can change employers easily and if you should lose your job you have an extended period to find a new one, but it doesn't come with any of the potential baggage attached to PR. The PEP is described as a "one time, 5 year pass", so my intepretation is that at the end of it the Sing govt would probably invite you to apply for PR anyway, which would make sense to me.

CC

Interesting what you say about the citizenship invite. It's slightly worrying because of course Singapore don't accept dual nationality. I would have to give up my EU passport and then have trouble getting back into my own country.

The National service issue - I think the best way round that is to only have daughters :-)

I looked at the PEP but you have to be in Singapore on an EP for 2 years. For me its only one year so far.

I have a PEP and even after 1 year you can apply. If you have a P1 then you are eligible after 1 year, if you have a P2 then after 2 years, but in my experience apply anyway.

I had a P2 for 1 year that was declined on the renewal, because the company I worked for was a rep office, changed status to a branch office and did not transfer over my pass. So my sponser in theory did not exist as a rep office which was the company the sent the renewal document too. Of course a decline looks terrible even as a admin error which was not my fault, but even with a decline on my EP and only 1 year as a P2 holder I applied online for a PEP and got 5 years PEP. Only took a couple of days to get approved. All dependant passes are for 5 years also and you can change jobs. The PEP is valid as long as you are not unemployed for more than a 6 month period.

The con of a PEP is that you can only ever have it once, so after my 5 yrs I need to go back to a EP or take up PR. I will probably do PR. Unless the law changes that is as the PEP is so new I don't think the first holders of them are expiring yet.