Singapore Expats

Hi all,

Not sure if this forum is still active, but long story short, I will be ROMing with my partner in 2 weeks and our PMLA was rejected.

Just wondering if there was anyone that had PMLA rejected but LTVP approved, and if so, how long did it take? Asking since the official explanation says within 6 months. Has anyone got it approved in 3, 4, or 5 months even?

Thanks!

You didn’t state if you’re working, age/race of yourself + spouse-to-be, whether your spouse got any black mark with ICA, what country he/she comes from. If he/she on work permit, did you apply permission from MOM to marry?

I knew of one such case from an acquaintance at work about 8 years ago.

She’s SC and just started working after graduation. Applied PMLA one day before ROM, rejected. Applied LTVP one day after ROM, got approved. She was matchmade and her foreigner husband never worked in SG before.

That is the one and only time I’ve seen PMLA rejected but LTVP approved. I’ve never seen anyone else with such a situation since then.

Browsed through your old posts and saw this, assuming it’s still with the same partner:

winger7 wrote: ↑

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 8:54 pm

Hi there,

Stumbled upon this thread and was wondering if OP had any updates and whether it worked out for him, I certainly hope so!

I'm in a similar situation, feel devastated but actually also shocked that our PMLA assessment was rejected as I (foreigner) made upwards of $20K/ month in salary, but have not worked for 1 year now. I am a Canadian national or Chinese descent. Yes my partner (SC) does not make much but all I can think of is the fact that we only met for 2 years.

Not much in our control now except to hope that the LTVP assessment may change if I start working (be it abroad).

Thanks!

Your SC spouse-to-be needs to have been continuously working for the past 6 months to be your sponsor. Sponsor means being able financially sponsor themselves and their spouse. ICA doesn’t care about your salary. How much does your partner earn?

MOCHS wrote: ↑

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 9:30 pm

You didn’t state if you’re working, age/race of yourself + spouse-to-be, whether your spouse got any black mark with ICA, what country he/she comes from. If he/she on work permit, did you apply permission from MOM to marry?

I knew of one such case from an acquaintance at work about 8 years ago.

She’s SC and just started working after graduation. Applied PMLA one day before ROM, rejected. Applied LTVP one day after ROM, got approved. She was matchmade and her foreigner husband never worked in SG before.

That is the one and only time I’ve seen PMLA rejected but LTVP approved. I’ve never seen anyone else with such a situation since then.

I'm not working at the moment, unfortunately due to retrenchments globally and have actually been out of work for 1.5 years now which is very stressful. I am ex FAANG though and have been in the big tech industry for 9 years prior.

Yes all clear for ROM to get married since I had an EP before, age wise 38M foreigner with Canadian nationality and 32F local Singaporean, both Chinese ethnicity. I suspect reason for PMLA rejection was because she runs her own business though and business owners pay themselves, so I suppose that was not seen a a high or sustainable salary.

But thanks for sharing!

MOCHS wrote: ↑

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 12:49 pm

Browsed through your old posts and saw this, assuming it’s still with the same partner:

winger7 wrote: ↑

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 8:54 pm

Hi there,

Stumbled upon this thread and was wondering if OP had any updates and whether it worked out for him, I certainly hope so!

I'm in a similar situation, feel devastated but actually also shocked that our PMLA assessment was rejected as I (foreigner) made upwards of $20K/ month in salary, but have not worked for 1 year now. I am a Canadian national or Chinese descent. Yes my partner (SC) does not make much but all I can think of is the fact that we only met for 2 years.

Not much in our control now except to hope that the LTVP assessment may change if I start working (be it abroad).

Thanks!

Your SC spouse-to-be needs to have been continuously working for the past 6 months to be your sponsor. Sponsor means being able financially sponsor themselves and their spouse. ICA doesn’t care about your salary. How much does your partner earn?

Yes still the same partner Also yes, I do suspect that was the main reason why PMLA was rejected, she's a business owner and had the business for 3 years and business owners pay themselves, so I suppose it was hard for ICA to see how much she was making in that sense? But certainly nothing to worry about in terms of being financially sustainable, I guess it's up to ICA in the end.

That being said, was there anything that came across where LTVPs were approved quicker than expected? I might be a bit optimistic right now but to be honest with both our profiles, I would be very surprised if we did not have that approved though you never know.

If self-employed, doesn't ICA request for some extra documents to be submitted to prove that the business is legal/doing well? Did she provide? Did she declare taxes to IRAS?

MOCHS wrote: ↑

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 5:17 pm

If self-employed, doesn't ICA request for some extra documents to be submitted to prove that the business is legal/doing well? Did she provide? Did she declare taxes to IRAS?

I'm not sure about either of those questions but maybe that was why. Either way PMLA was rejected already so I guess LTVP is our next bet. Thank you

Huh? You didn’t check the PMLA at all? Doesn’t the PMLA gets routed to you to check after the SC applies?

I clearly remembered when applying PMLA and LTVP, ICA will request for additional documents if SC declares they are self-employed.

Don’t play around by omitting these documents…

MOCHS wrote: ↑

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 10:16 pm

Huh? You didn’t check the PMLA at all? Doesn’t the PMLA gets routed to you to check after the SC applies?

I clearly remembered when applying PMLA and LTVP, ICA will request for additional documents if SC declares they are self-employed.

Don’t play around by omitting these documents…

Hmm no we filled in the PMLA application together and that was it, never heard anything about additional or verification documents etc and followed all instructions accordingly.

Only thing we heard after the application was the rejection which to be honest was a shock given both our profiles racially, professionally and nationality wise. I suppose ICA looks at income of SC and whether it can sustain a certain period of time I guess.

Bare minimum is her business is filed with ACRA, all income reported to IRAS for income tax, voluntary CPF contribution. You gotta give ICA something to work with.

If they can’t find any income or CPF contribution, then yes, it’s a huge red flag that warrants rejection.

Self employed people in Singapore must file tax returns on their earnings. If you earn money solely in your own name, Gloria Tan, for example, then you are not required to register with the ACRA and you can use your personal bank account but you must still report your income and pay taxes on it.

If the business is carried on in any other name than that of the individual, "Gloria's Flowers", for example, then the business must be registered with the ACRA so that bank accounts can be opened under the business name.

Either way, self employed individuals must report their income to IRAS. Failure to do so is a violation of the law, although I'm quite sure that quite a few cash businesses choose not to report. The only reason that the ICA wouldn't find reported income for a self employed business owner is because the business owner failed to report the income.

winger7 wrote: ↑

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 6:49 pm

Hi all,

Not sure if this forum is still active, but long story short, I will be ROMing with my partner in 2 weeks and our PMLA was rejected.

Just wondering if there was anyone that had PMLA rejected but LTVP approved, and if so, how long did it take? Asking since the official explanation says within 6 months. Has anyone got it approved in 3, 4, or 5 months even?

Thanks!

Hi winger7, may i please ask, in the end, did you apply for for the PMLA a second time? or did you went straight to applying for the LTVP? I am asking as my PMLA application has been pending for 7 weeks now.