SINGAPORE EXPATS FORUM
Singapore Expat Forum and Message Board for Expats in Singapore & Expatriates Relocating to Singapore

Wd40 wrote:

taxico wrote:i think you have no clue how troublesome it is for an american to get one's non-american spouse a visa despite the seeming notion it's a cakewalk (not)...

Let me put it this way, what do you get as a foreigner when you marry a local US citizen? What do you get as a foreigner when you marry a local Singaporean? There is a world of difference between the two.

I dont have to explain the difference between opportunities to make money as a low skilled person in the US vs Singapore. Singapore if you are low skilled at best you can become a prostitute to make money.

The number of illegal prostitutes in Singapore is large, they just come on a SVP and do that. Why would they need to do sham marriages to do that? So your logic of strict controls and hence less sham marriages is incorrect.

my experience and anecdotal accounts from other americans tell me it's a pain to bring their spouses into the US, especially if they're based outside the US... but let us not open that can of worms for now because it pains me to even think about it.

but i will say that sham marriages are more easily detected today than what we saw in the movie Green Card (early 90s).

i cannot fathom any reason why sham marriages are required to work illegally in BOTH cited countries, or even just to work as prostitutes. note that the US has a rather alarming rate of internal (even across state borders) and international human trafficking, usually for the purposes of prostitution/sex slavery.

you are also assuming that opportunities available in the US and Singapore are viewed with the same expectations. an illegal mexican with a network of support in texas will have different expectations to that of a lone illegal bangladeshi (sic?) in singapore, but i believe both view their journey as that of "better than staying home."

you are correct, perhaps, that the likelihood of a better paying low-skilled job for an illegal alien is better in the US than in singapore. BUT there is no way of knowing this for sure as there is nothing similar about the developed west and singapore.

further, you assume that the platinum standard of all illegals (regardless of region) is to work in the "attractive" developed west, in a country like the US, simply because the pay(off) might be higher.

you have not taken into consideration other factors of illegal immigration. eg, it is unlikely an illegal immigrant will die entering/working in/evading capture in singapore.

your assumption, thus, is no more logical than mine without data to prove otherwise. i DID however respectfully note that everyone is entitled to differing opinions.

i publicly note here however, that your opinion of low skilled illegal workers in singapore being nothing more than mere prostitutes extremely distasteful and erroneous and beyond bordering offensive.

i will further recapitulate my original stand in 2 points:

ICA works well, for a number of reasons, to detect/prevent sham marriages. the number is kept low because IMO the system works as the rules are spelled out clearly (marriage not= working rights AND via rejections) and applicants can't tussle over their case with the help of an immigration attorney (a la America).

and the number is increasing and will continue to do so as this is the normal trend. we also know there are usually more cases than those discovered/reported (just like in cases of rape, infidelity, etc).