Unable to make out if my PR status is useful

[huasingdan]

Hello everybody. Greetings to you all. I am new in this forum so if I happen to hurt anybody with my questions or remarks please pardon me. We are from the Philippines. I got my PR about 3years ago when I had a good job. Today my job is not permanant and I dont know how I will progress in next few months. I have been applying for a lot of jobs in my line of work (sales and marketing), but havent at all got any success. I understand many employers are wanting to hire only Singapore citizens. At the same time, my son is now 15 and soon he will need to go for NS. I am not sure if I will be able to live here in singapore till then if I dont find adequate employment. I have offers from back home, but I am afraid that if I move back, it may not be taken well with Singapore govt as they may feel that I am escaping NS for my son. Also I cannot afford to live here if I dont have good job, becuase cost of living is really increasing - particularly housing - I am paying $2500 for HDB unit. Cannot afford to buy due to high prices in resale market. Being PR I cannot buy HDB from govt directly also. All in all, I am unable to decide what benefits me as PR. Should I give-up and apply for EP (if my prospective employer can sponsor my EP). Once I planned to apply for Citizenship, but I was told that I can apply only after 2years as PR, but chances of approval is also very low. please help me with any suggestions.

Thank you and god bless!

[the lynx]

Hello everybody. Greetings to you all. I am new in this forum so if I happen to hurt anybody with my questions or remarks please pardon me. We are from the Philippines. I got my PR about 3years ago when I had a good job. Today my job is not permanant and I dont know how I will progress in next few months. I have been applying for a lot of jobs in my line of work (sales and marketing), but havent at all got any success. I understand many employers are wanting to hire only Singapore citizens. At the same time, my son is now 15 and soon he will need to go for NS. I am not sure if I will be able to live here in singapore till then if I dont find adequate employment. I have offers from back home, but I am afraid that if I move back, it may not be taken well with Singapore govt as they may feel that I am escaping NS for my son. Also I cannot afford to live here if I dont have good job, becuase cost of living is really increasing - particularly housing - I am paying $2500 for HDB unit. Cannot afford to buy due to high prices in resale market. Being PR I cannot buy HDB from govt directly also. All in all, I am unable to decide what benefits me as PR. Should I give-up and apply for EP (if my prospective employer can sponsor my EP). Once I planned to apply for Citizenship, but I was told that I can apply only after 2years as PR, but chances of approval is also very low. please help me with any suggestions.

Thank you and god bless!

Ultimately, do you want to remain in Singapore for life? If you're only here because of the benefits (as how I read it in your post), I'd suggest you to think carefully. And no, your son is 15 now, so it is too late apply to renounce his PR status and pull him out of NS.

Giving up PR and getting EP is backward. Getting EP is way harder than trying to find a job as a PR!

Think again why you wanted to live in Singapore and become a PR in the first place. Do you really love Singapore?

(and correction, you should apply for citizenship only after one or two rounds of REP renewal, which means it is either 5 or 10 years,; need someone to confirm this.)

[PNGMK]

Yes. This is exactly why I don't recommend PR.
I too regret taking it. I've never had a problem finding a job here well about the EP/P1/P2 levels so why did I need it?

[Sergei82]

I thought people are discussing some sexual problems when I saw the name of this topic.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Sergei, you seem to have a one-track mind lately. Why don't you go down to geylang a couple of nights to get yerself sorted.

[bro75]

Some Options
1. Try to tough it out here. Reduce expenses by sharing the HDB or moving to a less expensive location. I do not know your family situation (how many small children in the house) but can your wife work if she does not work currently? There is always available work for PRs although many are in retail and F&B. Apply for citizenship after your first REP renewal.
2. Go home and renounce PR. You and your son may not be allowed to get any employment pass in the future if authorities feel that you are skipping NS for your son. So think carefully about this. A few exPRs have been able to get an employment pass a few years after renouncing PR but their situation may be different from yours.
3. You can go home with your whole family for the job offer and still retain PR. I think you will need an exit permit for your son(with bond). Your REP will be up for renewal in 2 years and it may be renewed or may expire (if REP expires and you are out of Singapore then your PR is revoked automatically). If your REP is renewed and your son is due for NS, send him back to SG. If your REP is not renewed, your son has no more obligation but I am not sure if his future career in SG will still be jeopardized by this. I am also not sure what will happen to the bond if PR is automatically revoked due to non-residence.
4. You can go home for the job offer but leave your son here to continue his studies. Your REP renewal in 2 years may be approved or rejected. If your REP renewal is rejected and you are out of singapore, I am not sure if your son still has an obligation since his PR is tied to yours. I am also not sure if his future in Singapore is jeopardized since you did not renounce your PR directly. If REP renewal is accepted, then your son can continue to do his NS obligation.


Let us see what other people will suggest.

[Beeroclock]

Another similar themed recent thread "Give-up SPR for my son & apply for Student Pass" .... downgrading from PR to EP doesn't seem logical to me. As others said, I guess you have to decide if you want to be here or not for long-term. That includes the cost of living which may be only getting worse here. If in spite of that you want to stay then you should hang on to your PR as long as possible and try to find a way to make it work and get the REP renewed when it comes up. If you decide you no longer want to stay here long-term, then you need to assess how to renounce and control the damage as best as possible (in particular for your son and his NS obligation).

[huasingdan]

bro75- thank you somuch for your valuable suggestions.

Can anyone share what is the process if I have to take my son with me now and send him back for NS when he is due for it. I know a bond would be required, but howmuch amount and what would the normal terms and conditions for the bond. At present we cannot take our son out for more than 3 months.

If we give-up our PR (we are family of 4 me, wife, son (15) and daughter (12), what will happen? Apart from the fact that we will not get employment opportunity again & children not being able to come here for studies. are there any other results?

[taxico]

...Can anyone share what is the process if I have to take my son with me now and send him back for NS when he is due for it. I know a bond would be required, but howmuch amount and what would the normal terms and conditions for the bond. At present we cannot take our son out for more than 3 months...

www.ns.sg

http://www.ns.sg/nsp/web/esvcs/mindef/eep/about?_afrLoop=845339329985771&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowId=vhfygul3q_28#%40%3F_afrWindowId%3Dvhfygul3q_28%26_afrLoop%3D845339329985771%26ucontent%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.ns.sg%252Fcs%252Fgroups%252Fpublic%252Fdocuments%252Fhtmlcontent%252Fmdaw%252Fmdaz%252F%257Eedisp%252Fmindef_eep_about.html%26_afrWindowMode%3D0%26_adf.ctrl-state%3Dvhfygul3q_64

[taxico]

...I got my PR about 3years ago when I had a good job.

Today my job is not permanant and I dont know how I will progress in next few months. I have been applying for a lot of jobs in my line of work (sales and marketing), but havent at all got any success. I understand many employers are wanting to hire only Singapore citizens...

...Also I cannot afford to live here if I dont have good job, becuase cost of living is really increasing - particularly housing - I am paying $2500 for HDB unit.

Cannot afford to buy due to high prices in resale market. Being PR I cannot buy HDB from govt directly also...

i am not an employer of many persons. neither do i work in an MNC's HR. but aren't SPRs treated as singapore citizen equals when it comes to hiring "preferences?"

if so (and other members chime in here please, because this was the impression i had), then perhaps it is not because employers prefer SCs but because you are not the candidate they are looking for.

housing affordability is not just a problem you face, but also the problem of many other people... strike that. for MOST people living in singapore.

the fact that you can't buy a flat from HDB is something you should have known before taking up SPR. (and the son's NS liability too)

so if you want subsidized HDB flats... then there's only one way forward. (i think)

p/s: there is no such thing as a "permanent" job any more.

[Wd40]

OP, if you think not having a house and paying rent is difficult, think about the situation where you buy a HDB and then the economy tanks and job market tanks and you are left with a big mortgage.

Current global environment is such that the economy is doing fantastic, yet the job market is kind of tight and salaries are going down. If economy were to get bad, jobs will get even worse. In the current environment the best thing to do is to keep your home country as your base(especially since its an emerging market) and then travel the world for opportunities without any commitments anywhere, especially in expensive and overpriced developed markets.

[Sergei82]

OP, if you think not having a house and paying rent is difficult, think about the situation where you buy a HDB and then the economy tanks and job market tanks and you are left with a big mortgage.

No, the bank will foreclose his house and he will go home to his country. That's it.

[huasingdan]

> taxico: bro, regards to my job, although i am 100% qualified and also have required experience and my past performance demonstrates my abilities, many places where I apply, I just dont hear back. I know a few HR people and they say that they are unable to find 'Singaporean' talent which they 'have to' hire. 'Singaporean' does not include SPR's

As regards to buying HDB, I know before I applied for SPR that I cannot buy HDB from govt at a price which Citizens get. But at that time it was OK for SPR to buy in resale. But now that I have one property in my name back in Philippines, I am not eligible to buy HDB in resale. This is really a crazy rule.,

I just dont understnad what benefit SPR get.. cannot buy resale HDB, cannot get jobs, cost of living is high, son has to do NS, but no benefit to parents who sruggle to bring-up the children here to do NS.. I feel I am really stuck here...

What say..?

[the lynx]

Just a status for you to remain in Singapore legally?

Honestly you ought to move back if the benefits mean a lot to you. You will be happier at home. Just remember to check about your son's NS part.

[beppi]

I became PR just to get CPF, which in my opinion is a real and great benefit.
Later, the fact that I could start a small business and stay here even when not having a job came in handy.
I never intended to buy an HDB (or any other property in Singapore).