Trying to apply for citizenship with foreigner spouse (EP)

[anon110110]

Hi all,

This seems like a wonderfully helpful community. I wonder if anyone has any insight into this question:

I (a Singapore PR for nearly 10 years) am trying to apply for citizenship jointly with my spouse (long-time EP holder for 10+ years).

The ICA website for citizenship application says upfront that this is possible:

"You are eligible to apply for Singapore citizenship if you:
1. Have been a Singapore Permanent Resident (PR) for at least two years and are aged 21 and above (you can apply together with your spouse and any unmarried children aged below 21 born to you within the context of a legal marriage or legally adopted by you)."

However, when I start an application and enter my details, as soon as I enter my spouse's FIN and our marriage date, I am unable to proceed. Instead, I get an error message directly under my spouse's FIN that says:

"In order to apply for Singapore Citizenship you must be a Singapore Permanent Resident."

I find this confusing, since the first part would suggest that as a PR of >2 years I am eligible to apply for citizenship together with my spouse. Our marriage was registered here so that's not the issue.

Am I reading the first bit wrongly? Has anyone had any experience of a similar situation, where they as a PR were able to apply for citizenship jointly with their non-PR spouse? Or is it just not possible for a non-PR to apply for citizenship without first being a PR? If that's so, then the first part seems to be worded incorrectly.

Thanks very much in advance for any insight you can share.

[sundaymorningstaple]

There is no short cut to SGC. You have followed the proper steps thus far, going from a employment pass of one sort or another to PR and now want to progress to SGC. You wife, on the other hand has failed to advance to the next step, e.g., gaining PR. You cannot skip this step. It's not worded incorrectly at all, it's just not the interpretation you want it to be. This happens a lot here.

"In order to apply for Singapore Citizenship you must be a Singapore Permanent Resident." Is pretty clear. The first doesn't specify what you want it to say exactly, but the the quote answers it directly. No ambiguity there.

[anon110110]

Thank you for the very prompt response. That's very clear!

[sundaymorningstaple]

There is no short cut to SGC. You have followed the proper steps thus far, going from a employment pass of one sort or another to PR and now want to progress to SGC. You wife, on the other hand has failed to advance to the next step, e.g., gaining PR. You cannot skip this step. It's not worded incorrectly at all, it's just not the interpretation you want it to be. This happens a lot here.

"In order to apply for Singapore Citizenship you must be a Singapore Permanent Resident." Is pretty clear. The first doesn't specify what you want it to say exactly, but the the quote answers it directly. No ambiguity there. Nowhere does it state "upfront" that it is possible. It states.....

The requirements to apply for SGC are
"Have been a Singapore Permanent Resident (PR) for at least two years and are aged 21 and above
To further clarify it add in parentheses, that you wife doesn't have to apply on her own but can apply with you (assuming she qualifies like the beginning statement, e.g., she is been a SPR for at least 2 years and are aged 21 and above.(you can apply together with your spouse and any unmarried children aged below 21 born to you within the context of a legal marriage or legally adopted by you)"

[lot286]

suggestion

simultaneously apply for your wife's PR when you apply for Citizenship.

records will show that you're both serious on the SC track

[anon110110]

Thank you - that's a great suggestion! We will do so.

[malcontent]

The only case I know of where someone was able to skip PR and go straight to citizen is a PR couple who had a son who was not PR and they were invited to take up citizenship for their whole family (from India, long-term PR, husband was active in the local community and a manager earning $16k monthly). After twice turning down the offer, they finally took the plunge.

[smoulder]

Sounds similar to our case. Wife was a PR and I was on an EP. Wife applied for citizenship and off the top of my head, I applied for PR at the same time. My wife's application was successful. Mine wasn't but I did apply again for PR a while later after a job change to a local bank and was successful.

Obviously, there are many factors that the ICA considers. What's your profile - how old are both of you, ethnicities and nationalities, how long have you been in Singapore, which industry and how much do you earn.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Among other things!

[simple_guy]

@Meil,You are a SG Citizen; why are you so stressed & creating so many duplicate posts?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Four of her 5 posts have been removed to keep it clean and all replies in one place.