Chances of getting PR for Iranians

[rayman]

Hi there,

Im an Iranian citizen and have been living in Malaysia for 15 years. I have been exploring the opportunities of moving to Singapore, but after reading the posts in this forum, I understand that getting PR may have a very low chance of approval for some nationalities such as Iranian.

Was wondering if there are any Iranians that have managed to get PR and if they can share their experience and what qualifications helped them to get their PR.
and what is required (salary, job title, the skills...) to help an Iranian PR applicant to have a chance of getting PR?

Any feedback and guidance will be helpful and appreciated. Thank you.

[malcontent]

Even if there are Iranian PRs on this board who can share their experience, past experience isn’t necessarily going to translate to current. Whether you are Iranian or Argentinian, if you are not Chinese, Malay or Indian, you are Others. The Others category has the least number of PR granted, and the competition within Others can vary greatly from time to time. The best advice is not to worry about or expect PR; you simply cannot count on it. So, unless working here on an EP alone is an attractive proposition, you shouldn’t waste your time or make any sacrifices based on an assumption of future PR.

[PNGMK]

Mal - you're mostly correct but there is the additional difficulty for Aghani, Iranian etc in that even obtaining a social visit pass to get here is quite difficult. We rarely see or hear of successful PR applicants from any of these country where a 14A or V39A is needed for entry here.

See https://www.ica.gov.sg/enter-depart/ent ... quirements

[gold.spot]

With the exception of India and PRC, yeah?

[sundaymorningstaple]

With the exception of India and PRC, yeah?

What exception is that?

[gold.spot]

"We rarely see or hear of successful PR applicants from any of these country where a 14A or V39A is needed for entry here."

I meant this statement. In response, I wrote - with the exception of India and PRC, yeah?

[malcontent]

"We rarely see or hear of successful PR applicants from any of these country where a 14A or V39A is needed for entry here."

I meant this statement. In response, I wrote - with the exception of India and PRC, yeah?

I believe you are trying to say that those from India and the PRC are more likely to be granted PR than those from other 14A or V39A countries. If my interpretation is correct, then I would say it depends. Take someone from Jammu-Kashmir in India for example — are they going to have any advantage over an Iranian applicant? I doubt it.

But all other things being equal, someone from Tamil-Nad might have an edge, if for no other reason they speak Tamil which is one of the four official languages of Singapore… much easier to integrate, plenty of local schools offer Tamil as a mother tongue. I don’t see any local schools offering Farsi.

[mystic_river]

"We rarely see or hear of successful PR applicants from any of these country where a 14A or V39A is needed for entry here."

I meant this statement. In response, I wrote - with the exception of India and PRC, yeah?

I believe you are trying to say that those from India and the PRC are more likely to be granted PR than those from other 14A or V39A countries. If my interpretation is correct, then I would say it depends. Take someone from Jammu-Kashmir in India for example — are they going to have any advantage over an Iranian applicant? I doubt it.

But all other things being equal, someone from Tamil-Nad might have an edge, if for no other reason they speak Tamil which is one of the four official languages of Singapore… much easier to integrate, plenty of local schools offer Tamil as a mother tongue. I don’t see any local schools offering Farsi.

Do you reckon this applies to SC too or just PR?

[malcontent]

"We rarely see or hear of successful PR applicants from any of these country where a 14A or V39A is needed for entry here."

I meant this statement. In response, I wrote - with the exception of India and PRC, yeah?

I believe you are trying to say that those from India and the PRC are more likely to be granted PR than those from other 14A or V39A countries. If my interpretation is correct, then I would say it depends. Take someone from Jammu-Kashmir in India for example — are they going to have any advantage over an Iranian applicant? I doubt it.

But all other things being equal, someone from Tamil-Nad might have an edge, if for no other reason they speak Tamil which is one of the four official languages of Singapore… much easier to integrate, plenty of local schools offer Tamil as a mother tongue. I don’t see any local schools offering Farsi.

Do you reckon this applies to SC too or just PR?

Over the past few decades, fueled by the birth rate decline, the PR pool here has become more and more viewed as a backfill for the shortfall in citizenry. It has been a carefully calibrated process to make PR less attractive to nudge up citizenship applications, while at the same time the granting of PR has become far more selective, to match up with the desired attributes of future citizenry.

Back when I first arrived over a quarter century ago, PR used to almost be akin to a long-term EP. Those days are pretty much over.

[sonnabend]

I believe you are trying to say that those from India and the PRC are more likely to be granted PR than those from other 14A or V39A countries. If my interpretation is correct, then I would say it depends. Take someone from Jammu-Kashmir in India for example — are they going to have any advantage over an Iranian applicant? I doubt it.

But all other things being equal, someone from Tamil-Nad might have an edge, if for no other reason they speak Tamil which is one of the four official languages of Singapore… much easier to integrate, plenty of local schools offer Tamil as a mother tongue. I don’t see any local schools offering Farsi.

Do you reckon this applies to SC too or just PR?

Over the past few decades, fueled by the birth rate decline, the PR pool here has become more and more viewed as a backfill for the shortfall in citizenry. It has been a carefully calibrated process to make PR less attractive to nudge up citizenship applications, while at the same time the granting of PR has become far more selective, to match up with the desired attributes of future citizenry.

Back when I first arrived over a quarter century ago, PR used to almost be akin to a long-term EP. Those days are pretty much over.

If this is the case, then why are we still seeing SC application by PR (even those from the preferred race) got rejected?

[PNGMK]

With the exception of India and PRC, yeah?

They don't need the extra paperwork that Iranians need. There used to be a website which showed the classifications of SVP and Afghanis, Iranians, Syrians were way down in the very difficult section.

My point is that the gahmen is making is clear from the get go who they want to make it easy for and who they won't.

[smoulder]

The main thing that makes it "hard" for Indians is the sheer number of applicants vs the available slots (this is dependent on the quota).

As for PRCs having it hard to get PR or citizenship - I don't think that's a very accurate description. Far from it. They have it the easiest after probably the SEA Chinese (mainly Malaysian Chinese).

There really is no comparison between Indians and the groups listed above (Iranians, Syrians and Afghans) in terms of ease of immigration into Singapore.

[MOCHS]

^ My single, late 30s PRC friend couldn’t get PR after two attempts and has been here since 2017. She got offered a position in Canada and will go there instead but visa processing in Canada is very slow. It’s been pending since late last year, it’s that bad.

My ex-PRC colleague on the other hand, was in SG since 2003, got PR & baby girl in 2008, acquired SG citizenship before the 2011 GE and we all know that year’s GE changed many things pertaining to PR/citizenship stuff.

What I’m saying is not all PRC applicants have it easy.

[smoulder]

^ My single, late 30s PRC friend couldn’t get PR after two attempts and has been here since 2017. She got offered a position in Canada and will go there instead but visa processing in Canada is very slow. It’s been pending since late last year, it’s that bad.

My ex-PRC colleague on the other hand, was in SG since 2003, got PR & baby girl in 2008, acquired SG citizenship before the 2011 GE and we all know that year’s GE changed many things pertaining to PR/citizenship stuff.

What I’m saying is not all PRC applicants have it easy.

For sure not all. Just the same as some Malaysian Chinese are also rejected. But it's significantly easier for a PRC who ticks enough of other boxes as compared to some of the other ethnicities. Like Indians. Or further down the spectrum - Iranians.

[malcontent]

Do you reckon this applies to SC too or just PR?

Over the past few decades, fueled by the birth rate decline, the PR pool here has become more and more viewed as a backfill for the shortfall in citizenry. It has been a carefully calibrated process to make PR less attractive to nudge up citizenship applications, while at the same time the granting of PR has become far more selective, to match up with the desired attributes of future citizenry.

Back when I first arrived over a quarter century ago, PR used to almost be akin to a long-term EP. Those days are pretty much over.

If this is the case, then why are we still seeing SC application by PR (even those from the preferred race) got rejected?

Just ticking the race box doesn’t clinch it. At any given time, the best candidates for citizenship will be selected. I also believe there was a surge of SC applications during the pandemic. They have refined the process to be more careful and controlled, because too large of an intake carries risks.

They want stayers, not quitters. They want those that blend in well and won’t cause complaints by existing citizens. And they certainly don’t want another embarrassing incident where a newly minted SC from the PRC couldn’t even name the PM of Singapore when questioned by the US border control.