LTVP for foreign spouse if SC spouse hasn't earned any income in the past 5 years?

[pgyg]

Heya, I'm a SC (27yo) who married my foreign spouse (28yo) over a year ago. I haven't had any income in Singapore or otherwise for the past ~5 years. I previously held corporate jobs in finance in Singapore when I was 20-22yo and he currently is self-employed making >14k SGD/month. We are both currently residing in the US, both of us are educated (I have 2 master's and he has an Ivy STEM degree) and neither of us has any criminal records, etc. I'm currently looking into applying for a LTVP for him but seems like it's not possible if I haven't had any income in Singapore in the past 3 years nor CPF contributions in the past year? Are there any other routes we could take so we can buy a resale HDB flat together? Would appreciate any advice!

(Also wondering if ethnicity plays a factor in LTVP application approvals as they do in PR/SC application approvals as my spouse is not Asian/white/an ethnicity that the SG government seems to deem as more easily integrable?)

[MOCHS]

(Also wondering if ethnicity plays a factor in LTVP application approvals as they do in PR/SC application approvals as my spouse is not Asian/white/an ethnicity that the SG government seems to deem as more easily integrable?)

You can check my topic. My husband is also American (but Caucasian) and he got his LTVP.

While ICA does look at age, nationality, race, etc for the application, LTVP mainly looks at the Singaporean’s ability to financially sponsor the foreigner spouse. If you have not been working at all, this will be tough.

For SC-foreigner couples currently residing overseas, they relocate back to SG, the SC lands a job and once SC gets the first payslip, then applies LTVP for the foreigner spouse.

Do you have plans to relocate back to SG? I would not recommend applying LTVP if you’re not in SG.

I also made a blog post about buying HDB via Non-Citizen Spouse Scheme. The SC has to have income as HDB will only look at the SC’s income, not the foreigner spouse. If not, you can just go ahead and buy condo or private property without the HDB red tape.

[smoulder]

Also wondering if ethnicity plays a factor in LTVP application approvals as they do in PR/SC application approvals as my spouse is not Asian/white/an ethnicity that the SG government seems to deem as more easily integrable?

Not sure what you mean by this. Asian isn't a racial classification in Singapore. That said, the only desirable (if that can be related to their perception of integrable) race is Chinese. Not any other kind of Asian, and definitely not white aka Caucasian.

[MOCHS]

^ Because a huge percentage of PRs are given to people from SEA countries, next is non-SEA (but still within Asia) countries, then lastly with the smallest number is the rest of the world aka outside Asia. See Table 18 on page 27 for the 2019 data.

Now with regards to LTVP, I personally feel they will focus more on salary to prove that one can support the foreigner spouse, how long the couple knew each other before getting married ‘cos sham marriages are a huge no-no, and maybe age of both parties as well. The other parameters like nationality and race, maybe not as highly for LTVP application but I could also be wrong.

[smoulder]

^ Because a huge percentage of PRs are given to people from SEA countries, next is non-SEA (but still within Asia) countries, then lastly with the smallest number is the rest of the world aka outside Asia. See Table 18 on page 27 for the 2019 data.

Now with regards to LTVP, I personally feel they will focus more on salary to prove that one can support the foreigner spouse, how long the couple knew each other before getting married ‘cos sham marriages are a huge no-no, and maybe age of both parties as well. The other parameters like nationality and race, maybe not as highly for LTVP application but I could also be wrong.

And most of the numbers are made up by those of Chinese ethnicity, primarily from Malaysia. That's the preferred race - other Asians are not quite what you would describe as preferred.

[MOCHS]

And most of the numbers are made up by those of Chinese ethnicity, primarily from Malaysia.

And that’s where we don’t have specific data about… It’s all guesswork as they will never release the breakdown by nationalities. Even Shanmugam said in this article that “a large number of the PRs come from Singapore’s “geographically nearest” neighbours.”

Take note of the plural, not singular form
of “neighbour”. You could add in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, other ASEAN nations into “geographically nearest neighbours” too.

And it’s OP, not me, that assumed “Asians were preferred race”. I was merely explaining to you, smoulder, on why OP would think that way because of the article and published data.

[Sunjackal]

You can try - but there’s not a guarantee.

I’ve been granted an IPA for a LTVP, being sponsored by my wife - and she hasn’t worked since we moved back to Singapore.

So it’s definitely not something that you MUST have - but we do have other mitigating factors at play that we used to offset it. I think that we are likely an exception as opposed to the rule.

I am British Caucasian. My wife is Singaporean Chinese.

* My wife owns a property here outright, no mortgage.
* We have a Singaporean born son.
* My wife showed her severance package from her overseas firm, from the end of 2020, which demonstrated a settlement payment of circa $60K.
* We have been married for over 5 years.
* I’ve been in and out of Singapore with her for over a decade. Not sure that they considered this but they’re quite thorough so I suspect they’ve investigated our longevity.

I think that the ICA’s main concern with respect to granting the LTVP is that the spouse isn’t going to become a burden to the state. In place of the income criteria, you’d need to demonstrate a strong case for why that wouldn’t be an issue.

Good luck!

[smoulder]

And most of the numbers are made up by those of Chinese ethnicity, primarily from Malaysia.

And that’s where we don’t have specific data about… It’s all guesswork as they will never release the breakdown by nationalities. Even Shanmugam said in this article that “a large number of the PRs come from Singapore’s “geographically nearest” neighbours.”

Take note of the plural, not singular form
of “neighbour”. You could add in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, other ASEAN nations into “geographically nearest neighbours” too.

And it’s OP, not me, that assumed “Asians were preferred race”. I was merely explaining to you, smoulder, on why OP would think that way because of the article and published data.

Not sure what your point is. Regardless of the nationality breakdown of PRs, the Chinese ethnicity gets the bulk of them. The preferred "race". There is no other preferred "race". Saying that Asians are the preferred race is quite misleading because there are ethnicities within "Asian" including from the immediate neighborhood which would fall under "others". Caucasians aren't favored either contrary to the original statement that was made.

[MOCHS]

Lmao go and read your posts again.

You said Asians are not the preferred race.

I explained why OP thinks so by citing the article.

That is all. I’m not fighting with you, I’m just telling you why OP interpreted it that way.

So while the Chinese race does get the bulk of the PR quota, the population 2020 article also shows that majority of successful PR applicants come from Asia.

I’m just interpreting a statistic that’s right in front of us. One could be an American-Chinese or British-Chinese and their nationality is not from Asia but still can be approved.

So yes, if one is of Chinese descent, it’s a higher chance but nationality also plays a part too.

I’m also thinking from ICA’s POV, why would someone of Chinese descent from a Western country want PR when they might leave SG if they’re offered a higher paying job elsewhere? Maybe another Chinese descent candidate from Asia with similar cultural ties would be better? Who knows? Maybe that’s why applicants from Asia also form the bulk of PRs approved? (This paragraph is all hypothetical and does not require a response)

[smoulder]

You said Asians are not the preferred race.

Nope. Read what I wrote.

[MOCHS]

You said Chinese were only desirable race, not any kind of Asian and Asian isn’t a racial classification.

I explained that the stats don’t lie that Asians (no matter SEA or not) do form the bulk of successful applicants.

So based on the stats, it is assumed if you’re from Asia, maybe you might have a higher chance. That is all. No need to throw the whole of Asia under the bus ‘cos it’s not M’sia.

Anyway we are going way off topic from the OP’s original concern.

[malcontent]

Those who migrate to Singapore from Western countries are more of a curiosity, no matter what the race. But there are always going to be a few odd balls… and I am one of them!

Migrating here from a Western country without an expat package to cushion the sticker shock takes some real dedication. I still remember the feeling, although the local salary here was similar, what I could afford with that salary was starkly different. I went from having my own apartment and driving my own car… to renting a room and taking the bus. It was like regressing back to my poor college days.

Had it not been for my GF at the time (now wife), I wouldn’t have lasted beyond 6 months.

[sundaymorningstaple]

mal and I both had a similar start. The only reason I survived the first year is because the company provided a house in a duplex up in Watten Estate that housed foreign diving crews between crew changes. Add to that, I was offshore on drilling rigs on a two/one month on/off rotation so was only here 4 months the first year. But yeah, similar situation, left a car & truck and trailered Glastron boat for a one year contract that turned into 8 years. All history now and am working on completing my 4th decade here on June 11th. 2022. And yes, we were definitely a curiosity back in the 80's when I got here and it hadn't changed much in the 90's either when mal got here.

[malcontent]

I can’t say I would recommend doing what I did… moving myself here, sight unseen, with only two suitcases and a couple hundred bucks.

Luckily my car in the US sold the day after I arrived in Singapore, that freed up $5,000 net of the loan, which got me by for a while. Those were tough times, but I’ve survived and managed to eke out a life here.

[Sunjackal]

I’m somewhat fortunate because we bought a resale HDB, although it doesn’t actually reside in my name at all.

The tough part is this wait as I seek employment. Once I am gainfully employed, it’ll be a massive weight lifted.