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     FrontPage Edition: Tue 17 July 2007

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Minister answers questions on Singapore permanent residents

Source: www.mha.gov.sg

Written Answer to Parliamentary Question on Nationality Breakdown of Singapore Permanent Residents, 16 July 2007
Mr Siew Kum Hong:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs in 2006, how many Malaysian, Indonesian, People¨s Republic of China and Indian nationals were granted permanent residency in Singapore.
Mr Wong Kan Seng:
In 2006, about 57,000 persons were granted permanent residency status in Singapore. These new permanent residents (PRs) came predominantly from Asian and South-East Asian countries.
We also get immigrants from diverse places such as the Americas, Oceania and Europe (please see table below).

Table: PR granted by region in 2006
Nationality
Granted PR in 2006
Percentage
South East Asian Countries
27,543
48.1%
Other Asian Countries
26,125
45.6%
Others
3,642
6.3%
Total
57,310
100.0%
Written Answer to Parliamentary Question on Permanent Residents Granted Singapore Citizenship, 16 July 2007
Mr Siew Kum Hong:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs in 2006
(a) how many of the foreign nationals who became Singapore citizens were then Malaysian, Indonesian, People¨s Republic of China or Indian nationals; and
(b) of these persons, how many were then Singapore permanent residents.
Mr Wong Kan Seng:
In 2006, about 13,000 persons were granted Singapore Citizenship (SC). These new SCs came predominantly from Asian and South-East Asian countries (please see table below).

Table: SC granted by region in 2006
Nationality
Granted SC
PR when granted SC
Percentage of new citizens who were then PRs
　
South East Asian Countries
5,372
3,812
71.0%
Other Asian Countries
6,622
5,567
84.1%
Others
1,215
255
21.0%
Total
13,209
9,634
72.9%
Out of these new citizens, about 73% were PRs when they were granted citizenship. The rest of the new citizens were minors who do not need to obtain PR status first in order to be eligible for citizenship under the Constitution.
Written Answer to Parliamentary Question on the number of foreign spouses who are married to Singaporeans but were not granted Singapore Permanent Residency, 16 July 2007
Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng:
To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs in the last 5 years, how many foreign spouses married to Singaporeans were not granted permission to reside here permanently.
Mr Wong Kan Seng:
Over the last 5 years, on average, about 8,700 Singaporeans applied for permanent residence (PR) status for their foreign spouses each year. The average approval rate has been 60%.
Our policies on long term immigration facilities take into account the preservation of family unity.
However, marriage to a Singaporean does not automatically guarantee that the foreign spouse would be granted PR status.
Citizens and Permanent Residents sponsoring their foreign spouses or children for PR status will have to show that they are able to support them financially.
Also, to prevent foreigners from using marriage to Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents as a means to obtain PR status quickly, PR status will not be granted immediately upon marriage.
When the foreign spouse is not eligible for PR status, we would still consider granting him or her a Long Term Social Visit Pass (LTSVP) so that he or she can remain in Singapore.
Over the last 5 years, the average approval rate of LTSVP applications by foreign spouses has been about 85%.
Generally, ICA will try to provide applicants with the reasons for rejection, to help them understand what they can do to improve their eligibility when they re-apply.
In short, ICA's guidelines governing the grant of long-term immigration facilities to foreign spouses are sufficiently compassionate to allow deserving spouses to stay in Singapore.

Source: www.mha.gov.sg News Release 16 Jul 2007

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