SINGAPORE — 20,693 Singapore Citizenship applications were
approved last year, and of them, 81 per cent of the applicants
granted with citizenship had stayed in Singapore for more than five
years.
Fifty-two per cent of successful applicants had stayed in
Singapore for more than 10 years.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Ms Grace Fu, provided
these numbers in Parliament today.
Ms Fu also revealed that between 2008 and 2012, an average of
4,100 new Permanent Residents and a similar number of new Singapore
Citizens each year were foreign spouses sponsored by
Singaporeans.
Of these, 82 per cent of Permanent Residents and 92 per cent of
new Singapore Citizens were females.
Members of Parliament questioned whether the government has a
discerning criteria in citizenship approval, to which Ms Fu replied
criteria is not based on a single but a whole set of criteria used
to evaluate citizenship applications.
She said this set of criteria is reviewed from time to time, in
ensuring the set meets the country’s immigration needs.
Member of Parliament for Tampines GRC, Baey Yam Keng, Mr pointed
out that slightly more than half of applicants were not successful
in applying for permanent residency or citizenship for their
foreign spouses. Mr Baey asked what does the government has in plan
for these Singaporeans and their spouses.
Ms Fu replied: “If they show that actually the Singaporean
citizen’s spouse has the ability to support the family, marriage is
stable, family is intact, over time, their chances of getting a PR,
and thereafter an Singapore Citizenship, is better than those
without family and without children.
“In the interim, we have the Long Term Social Visit Pass, Long
Term Visit Pass Plus, which allows them to seek employment, and
also be entitled to some of the medical expenses just as a PR would
so it is a good way to tie over the period, work on their income,
work on their marriage, keep the family intact, and then they would
be in a very good position.
“This is really to satisfy the issue raised by member Lily Neo,
that they are not a strain on society, and that they come in
settling down, spending some time understanding our local culture,
understanding our language as well.” CHANNEL NEWSASIA
