Singapore Expats

Hi All,

My ultimate goal is to become a SG PR and I have recently been offered the chance to move with my current company to Singapore. I am looking to apply for PR after 2 years working with the company.

Nationality/ Ethnicity: Chinese (HK / US Dual-Citizen)
Age/ Gender: 25 year old male
Education: Bachelor of Arts in History from top 10 US University
Employment: I will be offered an EP (base salary 9k SGD a month) at a top European bank (Equities Sales)

What are my chances of approval if I apply with 2 years work experience in SG?

Should I only apply my EP / PR using HK citizenship or do I need to declare both? However, the gov is aware I have a US citizenship because I have purchased a condo using US citizen for tax reasons and have applied with a study pass as I was an exchange student to NUS. Will having US citizenship hurt me? Is there anything I can do to improve my future PR application?

Thank you for your advice.

You may want to search old post. I think one guy with multiple Citizenship got his PR recently. He had declared all the citizenship

Our moderator, Strong Eagle, had gotten PR here and he holds three different passports. He used his US passport for his PR application. Not a problem.

I can't see Equity Sales as being something that will have ICA excited about giving you PR but I may be wrong. You're also just on the line salary wise IMO.

PNGMK wrote: ↑

Mon, 04 Jan 2021 8:46 am

I can't see Equity Sales as being something that will have ICA excited about giving you PR but I may be wrong. You're also just on the line salary wise IMO.

It would be interesting to see what the TFR for 2020 is.

If it is even lower than the previous low, expect quotas to be rejigged further, ie more quotas for anyone who’s Chinese.

Apparently there is a boom in babies the last Quarter. I don't have the stats but maybe BBCDoc knows something. I reckon the lock down has provided the chance for couples to actually have to spend some time together behind closed curtains. Where the lag is going to happen is around mid year on as all those already married will have produced if they were going to and those still dating are trying to figure out how to date, what with the lockdown during P1 & P2.

OP - if the TFR rises then typically PR approval numbers drop as immigration is not needed to much. Also if TFR falls it usually falls in the Chinese sector causes an increase in Chinese PR approvals.

mshang852 wrote:My ultimate goal is to become a SG PR...

Bzzzzt. Wrong goal... at least in the eyes of the gahmen.

Historical details: I hold Canadian citizenship by birth, UK citizenship by right of descent, and US citizenship by naturalization. I've lived in the USA since I was 15, and I am an American in life and work.

I filed for, and received, an Entrepass in 2004, back when they were easy to get... you needed a business plan but no proof of money. Note that an Entrepass is an employment pass... it is identical in nature to any other EP issued, only it is issued to my company.

Because I travel using my US passport, my EP was stamped in my US passport.During the time of my EP, I enquired and discovered that I could also have an additional passport (UK in this case) stamped with an EP entry permit. This would permit me to travel out of Singapore and to the UK on my UK passport.

You should apply for EP with whichever passport you will use most frequently. It's the one that goes into the automated system. For me, that was my USA passport.

In 2007, before the expiration of my EP, I filed for PR, using only the standard documents requested. My first application was rejected. I appealed, providing a bunch of details about my company, including its revenues and the Singaporeans it employed. My 5 year PR was approved shortly thereafter.

When I applied for PR, the process was manual, and there was no question as to whether I had multiple travel documents. I do note however, that when I enquired about having multiple passports stamped with a re-entry permit, I was told this was not possible. I could choose any passport I wanted but there could only be one with the stamp.

I can't tell you which passport you should apply with, but I judge that holding US citizenship is a hindrance and your chances of getting PR are small. Why? Let me ask you... would you give up your US citizenship for Singapore PR? Would you give it up for Singapore citizenship?

See, the whole idea behind PR is that it is a stepping stone to citizenship. While you might be willing to give up HK citizenship, the gahmen figures (and rightly so) that giving up US citizenship is not something a lot of people want to do. And even though I had PR, and had renewed for an additional 5 years, I gave it up and went home in 2013.

Summary: You won't be seen as a long term candidate, even if you are Chinese.

As SMS and PNGMK have pointed out in other threads with a similar topic, you have another problem that is as bad, if not worse, for any hopes of your PR. You are a banker, pulling down a six figure base yearly salary, and you're getting transferred in. But, for how long? If you're going to rise in your bank, you're going to get transferred out again. So, you're not a long term candidate.

There was an Indian fellow a while back, making around $300K per annum, in Singapore for several years, with a family that included cannon fodder, and in spite of all that, had been rejected for PR numerous times. We could only conclude that he was rejected because he was a senior banking officer who had transferred in.

Why do you care about PR? Are you really planning on staying in Singapore long term?

Im the one who was mentioned that got my PR approved recently (end Dec) with 3 citizenships. (HK, Ireland, and UK)

And hey. I'm from Hong Kong too!

I've been here in SG for 5 years and I honestly do not think it matters whether you are applying with American or HK passport. I always had my EP tied to my Irish passport since I came here, but when I submitted my PR application I think it was made pretty clear that you have to submit all your citizenships (including the dormant ones) which I think in your case you could potentially hold BNO like I do?

So at the end my application was filed as an Irish one but the other 2 passports were also attached.

I think ICA has this requirement to prevent any future naturalisation (citizenship) application to not having to give up not 1, but all passports, and ultimately having SC and another passport as a loophole.

I think just apply. If it is for you, its for you. Just apply. You will never know the outcome unless you try. Besides all living beings are destined to die. Its just a matter of who will die first. Just do it.