Born in Singapore, do I have PR status?

[steveJH]

Hi All,

I would really appreciate advice on my Singapore status here, as I can't find out through Google!

I am a male and was born in Singapore in 1963 and left to Hong Kong in 1969. I have a Singapore birth certificate and British birth certificate. I have a British passport and never held a Singapore passport (as Singapore don't recognise dual nationality). My father and mother are both British citizens.

I am considering moving to Singapore, now aged 55 years, to work and settle down here.

Do I have PR status by birth, or would I have to apply like any other foreigner ?

Many thanks in advance.

Steve

[bgd]

1963 Singapore was part of Malaysia, probably didn't even have PR as we know it now.

You won't have any special access to PR, or citizenship for that matter, at least as far as I understand it. Some related discussion here: viewtopic.php?t=96123

PR isn't easy to come by these days and there are probably (undisclosed) age restrictions. You may have already done this but do research the job and work permit situation.

[steveJH]

Many thanks for the quick response. Not good news for me I'm afraid.

[PNGMK]

I doubt you ha r Singapore citizenship but it may be worth asking ICA. There are some interesting cases that fell through the cracks around independence. Be happy you're not stateless!

[steveJH]

Thanks PNGMK, yes its worth having a go with ICA.

The following from Wikipedia shows how complicated my situation is.....I could have been both a Malaysian and Singaporian at one point as I was born on 31st July 1963 inbetween those cracks of independence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore ... nality_law

Indeed I am lucky not have been stateless and lucky my Dad had the sense to register my birth with the British High Commission in Singapore, as well as with Singapore authorities. One other thing is my Dad was born in Northern Ireland and I obtained an Irish passport by descent, so I have both British and Irish passports. My wife is Hong Kong Chinese and our two kids were born in HK before 1997 (Handover) and they all got Irish passports too......we never been to the republic of Ireland!

[bgd]

With Brexit looming the Irish passport is valuable now. I'm going through the onerous process of renewing mine.

[steveJH]

Well sent off my request to ICA with my unique situation and surprisingly got a quick positive response. They asked for copies of my birth certs and passports and will take it further. Fingers crossed. I quoted the old Singapore Ordinance and new Singapore Constitution may be applicable in my case as I was born on 31st July 1963. Here is an extract of my letter to them ........

"Having done research on my situation, I am given to understand that the old Singapore Citizenship Ordinance 1957 provided Singaporean citizenship to all residents who were born in Singapore or the Federation of Malaya, British citizens who had been resident for two years, and others who had been resident for ten years.The old Singaporean nationality law was incorporated into the Constitution of Singapore, and the constitution repealed the 1957 Ordinance, and all persons who were citizens as of 16 September 1963 by virtue of the Ordinance continued to be Singaporean citizens. 

I seem to tick all the right boxes, and am wondering if I can thus gain Singapore citizenship or PR status due to my birth right, and how can I go about doing this? "

[SaraAbdul]

Well sent off my request to ICA with my unique situation and surprisingly got a quick positive response. They asked for copies of my birth certs and passports and will take it further. Fingers crossed. I quoted the old Singapore Ordinance and new Singapore Constitution may be applicable in my case as I was born on 31st July 1963. Here is an extract of my letter to them ........

"Having done research on my situation, I am given to understand that the old Singapore Citizenship Ordinance 1957 provided Singaporean citizenship to all residents who were born in Singapore or the Federation of Malaya, British citizens who had been resident for two years, and others who had been resident for ten years.The old Singaporean nationality law was incorporated into the Constitution of Singapore, and the constitution repealed the 1957 Ordinance, and all persons who were citizens as of 16 September 1963 by virtue of the Ordinance continued to be Singaporean citizens. 

I seem to tick all the right boxes, and am wondering if I can thus gain Singapore citizenship or PR status due to my birth right, and how can I go about doing this? "

Send them your copies, i would say you can apply straight to citizenship. however Singapore did not do dual citizenship.

[sundaymorningstaple]

And therein lies the crux of the problem. If they allow Singapore citizenship, the Irish citizenship will have to be renounced. The PR question is something new and I would also like to know if they can pull it off.

[PNGMK]

Considering how hard it has been for some stateless folks to sort the mess out (similar cases but undocumented or unregistered births around Independence) I'd say OP will be 6 foot underground before he needs to worry about giving up his Irish PP.