Hi all,
My sincerest apologies for yet another NS post. Very worried mother over here.
Quick family background—I am a Singaporean citizen with US permanent residency and will be eligible for US citizenship in 2021. My husband is an American citizen and no SG PR or anything, as we reside only in the US. My son is currently 2 years old, and my parents pressured us into applying for SG citizenship for him when he was born. We have not applied for baby bonus for him and DO NOT intend to get an IC or Singapore passport for him.
I am trying to figure out the process for renouncing his citizenship so that he will not have to serve NS. The best I can figure from frantic Googling is:
1) send a letter to MINDEF and CMPB announcing his intent to renounce citizenship at 21
2) when he hits (11 or 13?) apply for Deferment Till Age 21 Pending Renunciation and secure the exit permit necessary for us to continue living in the US as we intend to do. Hopefully this gets us the extended exit permit and we’re not stuck dealing with the issue of a bond.
3) at 21 we take him to an SG consulate and renounce his Singaporean citizenship here in the US.
My questions—
1) by what process do we notify MINDEF and CMPB? Is registered mail good enough?
2) in order to strengthen our case for Deferment and Renunciation, should I renounce my own SG citizenship? I was not intending to do so and maintain a US green card and my own citizenship.
3) how does one apply for the Deferment at age 13? Is it done via CMPB website or must we return to Singapore?
4) should I prevent my son from traveling to Singapore at all, even on his American passport (he does not hold a Singaporean passport) until the Renunciation is successful?
Any critique on the process I’ve outlined is welcome. We are hoping to preserve his future freedom to travel between the US and Singapore as we still have family there for the foreseeable future. And of course no mom wants the stress of her son being considered a criminal by her home country!!
TIA to you all for any help or advice you can offer!