Singapore holds a reputation of being one of the best countries in the world for the standard of living. The city-state flaunts a high living standard, a globally renowned education system with state-of-the-art medical facilities. Its global reputation has attracted hundreds of thousands of ex-pats over the years. The total number of Singapore permanent residents in the Republic is more than half a million.
Do you intend to build a home in the city-state and want to settle down for a long haul? To become a Singapore Permanent Resident, you must first fit the eligibility criteria and submit a PR application to the ICA (Immigrants and Checkpoint Authority).
This article will help you check your eligibility for the application and provide five tips to increase your submission’s chances of approval.
Eligibility Criteria to apply for Singapore PR
It is imperative to check if you fit the eligibility criteria before you submit a Singapore PR application. Anyone who comes under the below-mentioned category can apply for a Singapore PR status.
5 Tips to strengthen your PR Application in Singapore
Being a Singapore PR is an attractive status that automatically grants you a number of benefits. However, the application process involved is quite tedious as lots of paperwork is required. You must also ensure that necessary documents are complete and support your application in one way or another to make a good impression on the ICA.
As Singapore is an attractive destination for foreigners to settle down, there are thousands of foreigners submitting their applications at any given time. Therefore, always make sure that your application is complete with all the relevant documents before submission. You must include everything that could give you an edge over other applicants.
This article offers five practical tips that you can use to make your application stand out.
Take out enough time to finish your application
If you are serious about making Lion City your home, you must understand that the PR application process is an essential step. Missing out on any important information or making a mistake can easily result in rejection of the application. Time is of the essence here. ICA announces the results after six months which means you can submit a new application only half a year later.
To save your time, we highly suggest taking out enough time to finish your application and review everything carefully before submission. It will eliminate all the potential risks of rejection, such as wrong information or a minor mistake.
Follow these steps:
Prepare a To-Do List
Create a To-Do list to organize all the tasks you must do to complete your application within your set time. Prioritize them and set deadlines for each task so you will finish them before your submission date. For better focus, you can create reminders on your phone so you stay on track and finish each task before its deadline. Completing your application takes a long time, and you would not want to be in that spot where the date of submission is two days away, and you are nowhere near done.
Submit additional documents without delay
All Singapore Permanent Residency applications are submitted in the e-PR portal on the official website of the ICA. Therefore, you are supposed to submit your application form and upload all the documents (supporting documents and ones that the ICA requires) into the portal.
We recommend that you prepared all the essential documents and scanned them to your desktop. It is highly advisable to upload all documents and submit them with your application form simultaneously. This will avoid any trouble of missing out or forgetting to submit a document later. However, there are still instances when you cannot submit one or two documents simultaneously with your application. Therefore, ICA allows you to submit any remaining documents within seven days from when your application procedure starts.
Submit Your Application under the Correct Scheme
ICA offers PR status under different schemes. There are criteria for every scheme. Therefore, you must learn about the various criteria of these schemes to ensure you apply under the correct scheme depending on your present circumstances. You will also have to know if your current situation satisfies the criteria or not.
ICA offers three schemes right now.
The eligibility criteria for three schemes are as follow:
Global Investor Programme
Contact Singapore administers the Global Investor Programme scheme. Contact Singapore is a division of the EDB (Economic Development Board). Foreign investors looking to invest in the city-state or want to relocate and start a business in the country must choose one of the two options to apply under the GIP scheme.
The applicant’s unmarried children below 21 and spouse are also entitled to this scheme. The applicant must meet the following criteria to become eligible for the GIP scheme.
Professionals/Technical Personnel & Skilled Worker
PTS (Professionals/Technical Personnel & Skilled Worker) scheme is exclusively for the foreign professionals who are working in Singapore and want to obtain the status of a Singapore Permanent Resident. PTS scheme is the most straightforward and most used scheme to become a PR in Singapore. This scheme applies to the spouse and children (below 21 and unmarried) of the applicant.
The following criteria must be fulfilled to become eligible for PR status via the PTS scheme:
Foreign Artistic Talent
For Arts or Foreign Artistic Talent scheme is a joint initiative by the ICA and the National Arts Council. ForArts scheme provides PR status to the artists who are willing to commit themselves to contribute and advance Singapore’s cultural and arts landscape (e.g., Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Design, Literary Arts, or/and Media). To become eligible for the ForArt scheme, the applicant must meet the following criteria:
Preparing Required Documents
You need many other important documents along with your PR application form when you apply for the Permanent Residency in Singapore using the e-PR portal. Also, you must submit details of your spouse and children if you choose to submit their PR application. There are specific documents that are mandatory for you to submit to the ICA:
The list mentioned above is not complete. Hence, we advise you to refer to ICA’s website for an entire document list relevant to every type of PR application.
Here are a few important documents you need to apply for Singapore PR status alongside the ones mentioned above.
Employer’s Information: Annex A
Applicants applying via the PTS scheme must provide their employer’s information in the form of Annex A. Your employer must fill this section (Annex A) and provide the following information:
Let’s take an example here. You work for a company in the manufacturing industry. In this scenario, the employer must clarify the type of product or products that get manufactured by the company. It is essential to understand that just filling up Annex A does not mean your employer is sponsoring your PR application.
Document Translation for Non-English Documents
ICA requires you to translate all documents that are in a foreign language to English before submission. However, scans of both the translated versions and the original documents will be required while submitting your application with the e-PR portal. One important point to note is that ICA only accepts translations performed by a certified source or an official approved by the ICA. ICA welcomes translations from:
Add Supporting Documents to Supplement Your Form
Thousands of applicants apply to gain the Singapore PR status each year. With such a large number of applicants, it could be hard to find a special factor that will make you worthier than the others. Moreover, all applicants are required to submit the same type of documents, which makes everyone almost standing in the same position.
This pops a question: how can you make yourself stand out from a large sea of applicants and get the PR status in Lion City?
The solution is that you can supplement your application with the help of supporting documents. These documents will add an extra “you” factor to the application making it unique. In addition, the supporting documents can highlight your past achievements to demonstrate how you can be a valuable asset to the Republic and going to contribute to its economy.
Here are a few examples of supporting documents that can supplement your application form:
Cover Letter
Generally, ICA does not ask for it. However, submitting a cover letter with your PR application is highly recommended to explain why ICA must grant you the PR status. This is a huge chance for you to present yourself and explain how you can benefit the city-state and contribute to its economy.
There are some additional things you can add to get more edge:
Letter of Recommendation from Employer
Your employer can issue a Letter of Recommendation to support your application if you are a foreigner applying under the PTS scheme. This letter can highlight your character traits as an employee, such as leadership skills, responsibility, and a good attitude, positively impacting your immigration officer.
Previous Jobs’ PERs (Performance Evaluation Reports)
A Performance Evaluation Report serves a somewhat similar purpose as the Letter of Recommendation providing a glimpse of your character as a Singapore employee. It demonstrates your value to the company as well as in the economic progress of the country. As a result, ICA is more likely to favor an applicant with a positive work ethic and a stable employment history. It will increase the chances of your PR application getting approved.
Hire the Services of an Immigration Specialist
It is possible to follow all the steps mentioned above and submit your application by yourself. However, not everyone can take out enough time to do all these tasks successfully, given their busy schedules. There are also chances of making mistakes or leaving out something essential.
In this scenario, it is recommended to engage an immigration specialist (like our PR Application Team) to assist you with your application. This will reduce your chances of errors and takes many tasks off your hands. With minimized errors and professionally drafted documents, your application chances will approve.
Some tasks that our PR Application Team can assist you with:
Conclusion
Many people may find it hard to apply for a Singapore PR on their own. The application steps could be overwhelming for many, while some may not have enough time to finish their application in time. Hence, an immigration specialist, like our PR Application Team, can help you with your application by increasing your chances of approval and perform most of the essential tasks on your behalf.