Singapore Expats

Saint wrote:I thought I read/heard that you can renounce SG Citizenship before becoming 11yo?? Between 11yo and 21yo males aren't able to remounce?

I'm probably barking up the wrong tree so best wait for SMSMS

This is the interesting bit where most of the problems arise. I will start with a broad statement that is mostly true:

The only way a male Singaporean citizen can legally avoid NS is if he
1) has another citizenship before the age of 11
2) informs Mindef of his intention to renounce Singaporean citizenship and applies for the necessary exit permits from the age of 13 and obtains deferment at 18
3) does not use or benefit from Singaporean citizenship after 11
4) finally renounces Singaporean citizenship at 21

1) This is a very important point that is often missed. The child must be a citizen of another country before 11, whether by being born there, or having a parent from that country, or by naturalization before 11. Permanent residence/ green card etc. is not citizenship.

mrslaw wrote:Hi,

I can't really find any concrete information on the above on the internet. Thus I decided to post my query here!

My husband is a New Zealander and I'm Singaporean. We got married in Singapore & will be moving to NZ this year. I have already obtained my NZ resident visa.

The complication here is that we are expecting a baby early August. My husband has already got a new job back in NZ & is expecting to start work in September. We have emailed NZ High Commission and they said the processing of citizenship by descent takes approximately 6 weeks & urgent service for the passport process takes 3 days. So we are expecting a total of 7 weeks or so. However, we can't wait that long.

Yes you are right , after Feb 2005 all NZ PRs are not entitled to NZ Citizenship if the child is born in NZ by a NZ PR resident. I guess your NZ PR is definite under section 18 a . When will it go indefinite ?
Your husband needs to apply LTSVP for child as the father is a NZ citizen if NZ citizenship fails.
Have you e-mail to Department of Internal Affairs ?
http://www.dia.govt.nz/Services-Citizen ... enDocument

My question is this - is it possible for our baby to register as a citizen of Singapore and obtain a Singapore passport (any one has any idea how long this takes, the ICA website only states the cost, not the turnaround time), and meanwhile, we register our baby as a citizen of New Zealander as well? Is dual citizenship in this instance possible?

Your child is a male ? If you want to give birth in SG. The turn around is One Day if you wish to pay thru the nose or three days if you wish to pay with your hand or 7 days for normal application. I think it is $250, $150 and $80 respectively. I cannot give you exact cost as it has been awhile but the price range is there.
If you are giving birth here, the child is a SG citizen. Yes he can acquire dual citizen of another country.
Think hard on which route you are going to do.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Mrs Law

mrslaw wrote: Fortunately, the baby's gonna be a GIRL, phew!!!

I have only obtained my NZ resident visa last week. There are 2 types according to the info given to me by NZ Immigration - resident visa & permanent resident visa. I have to renew my resident visa in 2 years time. There are certain criteria to meet before I can obtain the permanent resident visa.

The NZ PR is almost similar to SG. Your resident permit is indefinite but your RRP (Returning Resident Visa) which is similar to REP in SG has a 2 years validity. You need to make it indefinite once it reaches 2 years due date. Go and see your section 18a clause. It is written on the labels pasted in your SG PP. You should have two label. One is RP and the other RRV. What does it state on the section 18 a clause ?


So I don't think there would be any problem obtaining NZ citizenship for our baby, it really is just the turnaround time of 6-8 weeks that we are concern about. Cuz we have to leave 4 weeks after baby is born!

If you think you can expect like SG Gahmen efficiency, you are in for a real rude shock. In OZ and NZ , most of us are on the third gear. We hardly move to 4th gear !!. Citizenship application is much faster doing it from NZ. You do not need to go down to Welly. Everything via snail mail. Just make sure you get a JP at the local CAB for the BC and other docs

I have discussed with my husband today and we'll email NZ's Department of Internal Affairs to check if there are any implications by doing the following:

After baby girl is born in August in Singapore (I'm already into 34 weeks of pregnancy now so I can't see myself flying off to NZ to give birth!) and since baby will automatically be a Singapore citizen, we'll apply for Singapore passport for baby cuz the turnaound time seem to be much faster! Then we'll fly off to NZ in September as planned and subsequently apply for NZ citizenship & passport for baby in NZ. Our concern is that since I've already got the NZ resident visa, I can get a one-way ticket to NZ. But if baby has a Singapore passport, we are wondering if I need to get a round trip ticket instead. I guess we'll just have to wait for their reply...

Do not need that as baby will get 90 days Social Visit Pass in NZ hence a single one way ticket for both of you will suffice.
BTW it is bloody winter here. I am at CHCH with CERA . You do not want to fly in with baby as the flu bug is everywhere. Where will you be living?

Mad Scientist wrote:If you think you can expect like SG Gahmen efficiency, you are in for a real rude shock. In OZ and NZ , most of us are on the third gear. We hardly move to 4th gear !!

ksbat wrote:I would like to refute that remark by the pediatrician. I flew with my baby when she was 10 days old. I also flew another time (with another baby) at 3 weeks. Not once (in Aust) was I told that it may be uncomfortable for her.

Mad Scientist wrote:^^^^+1
@taxico, if your wife's PR which maybe has RRV due date, she needs to have it indefinte or else the PRship will be revoke. To do that, make a trip to NZ and stay for a few days and go to the Immgration Services.