PR application from USA

[trilfer]

Hi Everyone,

I've searched the forum pretty extensively but have found very little info on this specific topic.

This is my profile:

Male Singapore citizen
Chinese
30 years old
born in Singapore
educated in Singapore till JC
served NS
Obtained A*STAR scholarship and have been in the US from 2004-2013
2004-2006 obtained Bachelor's degree
2007-2013 obtained PhD
All financially supported by A*STAR
Returning to Singapore end May 2013 to serve scholarship bond with A*STAR

Here's where my questions come. While here, I met my wife (American citizen/caucasian) in 2004 and married her in 2011. She has been to Singapore multiple times since 2004, all on tourist visas. We both currently live and work in San Francisco. She holds a Bachelor's degree in supply chain and operations management and has 6 years working experience in this field. In addition, she also has a minor in East asian languages (Chinese specialization).

She will be relocating to Singapore with me and I am sponsoring her PR application. Interestingly, we found out we can do it from here in the USA. San Francisco has a consulate-general where we can submit our documents.

1) Has anyone had experience applying for Singapore PR from the US, and if so, any advice on the process?

2) Does anyone have any idea on her PR approval chances?

3) I called the SF consulate this morning and was informed it should take 8-12 weeks to process on average, sometimes longer. Is this generally accurate?

4) Should this be something we should do right now and hope it gets processed and approved before we leave at the end of May, or should we wait till we get to Singapore to do it?

5) With regards to question 4, would she then enter Singapore on a tourist visa and initiate her PR application from there?

Thanks in advance for all replies!

[sundaymorningstaple]

She will be relocating to Singapore with me and I am sponsoring her PR application. Interestingly, we found out we can do it from here in the USA. San Francisco has a consulate-general where we can submit our documents.

1) Has anyone had experience applying for Singapore PR from the US, and if so, any advice on the process?

None that I am aware of, but at least one regular here did it from the UK (She was the Singaporean and he is now the PR. Approved while still in the UK and finalized upon arrival here - Do relevant searches of the forum with the nick: Saint

2) Does anyone have any idea on her PR approval chances?

Probably very good to excellent I'd say.

3) I called the SF consulate this morning and was informed it should take 8-12 weeks to process on average, sometimes longer. Is this generally accurate?

Reasonably accurate although it can take up to a year or more now. But there are also quick approvals depending on the situation - I'd say yours would be rather quick.

4) Should this be something we should do right now and hope it gets processed and approved before we leave at the end of May, or should we wait till we get to Singapore to do it?

You can start it now, but if you arrive in Singapore just let ICA know upon arrival so correspondence will not be lost in the shuffle - not good.

5) With regards to question 4, would she then enter Singapore on a tourist visa and initiate her PR application from there?

She should get a 90 day visa on arrival as a US citizen. That should give sufficient time. It if takes longer, a eExtension one time should be sufficient. Or, you could apply for an LTVP for her on arrival just in case.

Thanks in advance for all replies!

Good Luck and welcome home.

sms

[x9200]

Hi Everyone,

I've searched the forum pretty extensively but have found very little info on this specific topic.

This is my profile:

Male Singapore citizen
Chinese
30 years old
born in Singapore
educated in Singapore till JC
served NS
Obtained A*STAR scholarship and have been in the US from 2004-2013
2004-2006 obtained Bachelor's degree
2007-2013 obtained PhD
All financially supported by A*STAR
Returning to Singapore end May 2013 to serve scholarship bond with A*STAR

Here's where my questions come. While here, I met my wife (American citizen/caucasian) in 2004 and married her in 2011. She has been to Singapore multiple times since 2004, all on tourist visas. We both currently live and work in San Francisco. She holds a Bachelor's degree in supply chain and operations management and has 6 years working experience in this field. In addition, she also has a minor in East asian languages (Chinese specialization).

She will be relocating to Singapore with me and I am sponsoring her PR application. Interestingly, we found out we can do it from here in the USA. San Francisco has a consulate-general where we can submit our documents.

1) Has anyone had experience applying for Singapore PR from the US, and if so, any advice on the process?

I don't recall any related stories that are more recent (except one from this week but with a bit different configuration) but a good few years ago some members of this forum got PR applying from UK and Germany (IIRC). The problem is that since than the political climate has changed and the government is tightening the criteria (including PR) so nobody knows what to expect in such cases as yours.

2) Does anyone have any idea on her PR approval chances?

My gut feeling is that you have reasonable chances but see above. It would be good if you were married for more than 2 years. If not, I would supply along with the application some prove of cohabitation from the period before you got married.

3) I called the SF consulate this morning and was informed it should take 8-12 weeks to process on average, sometimes longer. Is this generally accurate?

Probably but no evidence. In Singapore people wait anything between 2 month to over 1 year for the outcome.

4) Should this be something we should do right now and hope it gets processed and approved before we leave at the end of May, or should we wait till we get to Singapore to do it?

5) With regards to question 4, would she then enter Singapore on a tourist visa and initiate her PR application from there?

If you come over here you will likely need to apply for her for LTVP - see my remark on the processing time. It should be no problem but she won't be able to work until something more suitable is granted. If you are married over 2 years (unlikely but possible) you can also apply for LTVP+ for her. She can work with this pass. This is while waiting for the PR application outcome. It is IMHO hard to say whether it is better to do it from the Sates or just wait till you are here. As you have to come back anyway in May, I would wait till you are here.

Thanks in advance for all replies!

[ProvenPracticalFlexible]

I agree with the earlier post, that it is difficult to say for sure, but you (I mean your wife) should be ok to apply.

Let’s be realistic you should be exactly the kind of people (with just using common sense and without any internal intelligence of how ICA works) that the government wants the most as residents: 1st Singaporean Chinese (especially the educated ones) moving back to Singapore, 2nd educated foreigners who are easy to integrate (for example married to Singaporean) and 3rd young enough to start a family. So I’d say you tick all the right boxes, educated Singaporean Chinese, married to an educated woman with a working experience, and in an age that you are likely to have babies in near future.

Then to look what happens if the application is refused (just simple scenario analysis, I don’t claim to know how ICA does it):
The OP has a bond to serve, so he’s likely to come back to serve it, but if the wife is not given a reasonable chance to join in Singapore it would make it more than likely that he would only come back to serve the bond and then leave back to US after that. Or decide to break the bond and pay (not sure of the conditions for A*STAR, but I know a few MOE bonds paid out when people got tired of waiting). Other possible end result could be that the marriage would break up due to distance. Government hardly wants any of those outcomes.

And why would I do it from the US?
Because then when you wife arrives or even if she stays some time in US after you move, she can apply jobs as PR. Yes it makes a big difference for some companies when they are filling in roles, plus she would start collecting CPF immediately, and it makes a lot of other small paperwork easier to do (credit cards, phone lines etc.)

So first apply from the embassy that way you can get the paperwork done in US, in case any extra documents are required it is most likely to be easier to get those while you are still there.

Also as SMS mentioned make sure you have an address that you can be reached all the time for correspondence, (maybe parents address in Singapore ). My experience is some time ago, and not from US but Europe, but I doubt that different embassies would have different procedures for this. I never received any notification via the embassy, and the approval letter to come to ICA to apply for IC card and get the PR stamp on passport was sent to my in-laws address in Singapore. The letter gave 1 month only to come and do the paperwork at ICA if I remember correctly, so you don’t want to miss this kind of correspondence.

Best of luck which ever way you decide to proceed.