Singapore Expats

Background:
I am a 27-year-old Singapore citizen working in the public sector for 1.5 years. Drawing around 5k /mth income.
I married a Hong Kong girl this September in 2019 (ROM in SG, we were successful in the application of PMLA in July)
She draws a similar income as me in Hong Kong, both of us hold a bachelor degree.
Her degree is from Hong Kong while mine is from Singapore.
As she is drawing a better income in HK, we do not plan to fully relocate to Singapore until she can get her PR.

May I ask what should be the advised waiting time after our ROM, 1 year or 1.5 years before my first application?

I intend to be her sponsor instead of her getting a local company to sponsor her in Singapore.
As my situation is quite rare I would like to seek some advice!

thepoppingone wrote: ↑

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 12:06 am

Background:
I am a 27-year-old Singapore citizen working in the public sector for 1.5 years. Drawing around 5k /mth income.
I married a Hong Kong girl this September in 2019 (ROM in SG, we were successful in the application of PMLA in July)
She draws a similar income as me in Hong Kong, both of us hold a bachelor degree.
Her degree is from Hong Kong while mine is from Singapore.
As she is drawing a better income in HK, we do not plan to fully relocate to Singapore until she can get her PR.

May I ask what should be the advised waiting time after our ROM, 1 year or 1.5 years before my first application?

I intend to be her sponsor instead of her getting a local company to sponsor her in Singapore.
As my situation is quite rare I would like to seek some advice!

Are you working in SG?
Wait for atleast 2 years after ROM or till you have a kid, whichever is earliest and then apply for her PR. But, please note that this will work only if you are working in SG continuosly.


There are many such cases discussed in the forum, and your situation is NOT rare.

Also, note that there is a very slight chance that she might not get her PR, unless she moves and lives in SG.

2 years post ROM

Hi all, thanks for the replies, perhaps I did not dig deep enough into the forum to find a similar situation.

I am working in SG in a Stat board for around 1.5 years

Thanks for letting know the risks involved, we are thinking of which ways to go through also to work in SG, I guess I can still wait it out for now till she is ready to move over!

The problem is in the definition. Unless you have a full blown career going here, 1.5 years means you are just getting settled in. All cases where someone has managed to get PR without being here was either in a case of the Singaporean anchor spouse is overseas working for the Singapore Company (e.g., CP & taxes being paid) and get married there. The devil is in the details. PR means Permanent Resident which means, generally speaking, that the person must be already resident in Singapore before they can become "Permanent" Residents. As she isn't, it isn't likely that she will get PR while still in HK. They did away with 'Landed PR' around a dozen years ago. So, what is going to happen is the odds are that once you bring her to Singapore she is still going to have to get and LTVP or LTVP+ which will allow her to work (or she can find a position in her own right, e.g., Employment Pass (you know, the hated FTs! Then after two years here she will be able to apply for PR and probably be successful. If you don't follow protocol here you know what happens (you are, after all, a born & bred Singaporean, right?).

Thanks for the detailed reply.

I have to serve a bond to the govt for a while (minimally 3 years, could be extended if I study further)
Appreciate your info on the 'Landed PR', I also just went to Meet-the-MP session and the officer told me the same to go through the LTVP process first and prove her capability to work, and wait for 2 to 3 years after employment before applying PR.

On your last question, indeed protocol has to be followed, you are right about the details, I guess the biggest problem for me is how should I calculate the time to apply for PR (2 years from ROM or 2 years from residing in SG after ROM), as you mentioned, she should be a 'resident' here first, so as with the answers I have gotten so far, it should be safe if she applies for the PR after 2 or 3 years of employment in SG.

Thank you again for your kind viewpoint!

thepoppingone wrote: ↑

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 12:08 am

it should be safe if she applies for the PR after 2 or 3 years of employment in SG.

Yes.