Singapore Expats

Dear All,

We are assessing which roadmap in applying SC would grant us a higher chance. Appreciate if we can get your advice or experience sharing. Below our background,

Wife: Chinese from HK, 39yo, marketing profession in MNC, 12K/m

Husband: Indian, 44yo, highly educated with high calibre (500K p.a.) when he was employed and when PR was granted. VC / tech, now self-employed with entity in both HK and SG but most revenues are with HK entity - good personal tax track record with IRAS though. current avg. income 15K/m

Daughter: 6yo local school P1, born in SG, dual citizenship of Indian and HK (just got the HK one, will renounce the Indian one)

No fixed asset in Singapore.

We had been in Singapore since 2016 and became PR in 2022 with my husband as lead applicant.

It seems the revenue stream and coperate tax filing of my husband would be a weakness and may drag down the application of the whole family. My daughter's dual citizenship could reflect badly too. what do you think which way would grant ALL of us a higher chance --

1. I apply first, then sponsor their application -- by then my husband could have 1-2 years to establish a record of all revenue bill to Singapore entity, and enough time for my daughter to complete her renounciation. However, I remeber seeing the application form even if them don't apply SC I still need to submit the same set of info and document of my spouse and child, incl. his business profile, corperate tax record, audited PNL / balance sheet etc

2. We apply as a family now.

Appreciate your advice!

R

First of all, if application is granted, daughter will have to renounce both non-SG citizenships. Dual Citizenship is only allowed for minor child born to Singaporean mother with foreign father and that is only up to the age of majority (e.g., 21 years of age) if both parents are foreigners, regardless of where child was born child must renounce foreign citizenship(s) upon gaining SG citizenship.

I think you will get in (eventually).

Anytime an SC application excludes a family member — it is often viewed as “I am not committed to Singapore and want to keep my options open” — and this usually reduces the odds of success drastically.

The husband’s business in HK and the recent move to make your child a HK citizen only reinforces that. However, I agree that eventually you will likely get SC if you persist… you just have to understand how they look at things.

Attaching a reasonable explanation — provided it is 100% credible and believable — can help. But, if it sounds phony, it could make it worse. Your actions are always going to be the most important indicator, not words.

Thank you everyone for your kind advice!

@malcontent we have followed your advice and submitted explanation.

Will come back to update the status if any.

Finger crossed!