Married couple apply together or separately ...

[sailtraveller]

Profiles:
Husband (me): British; Cutting edge tech work / very high salary; 7yrs in SG on EP
Wife: Malaysian(Chinese); works at local SG uni; <5k salary; 4yrs in SG first on DP then EP for last 6 months

I got rejected once on my own; and last time in joint application with my wife (which was on DP at the time). This will be my third application.

As all our Malaysian friends on any salary all got their PR first chance after btw 6 and 18months stay in SG. Some questions on the impact of our respective nationalities on the application.

1) How is it seen if only one spouse applies for PR, but not the other ?
2) If married, and both on EP and eligible to apply for PR, is it allowed or recommendable to apply separately ?
2a) If we apply together, for couples, will they always either approve both or deny both - or there's precedence of singe application with multiple people where some where approved and some not ? There's pro and cons in each of our profiles, would it make sense for my wife being the main applicant, just because of her nationality/race (that's her only advantage across all parameters of the application)
3) Is it true the rumor that there's a variety of rejection letters templates used, and each version is linked to the reason(s) of the rejection ?
4) There's no "cover letter" mentioned in any of the official guidance - is that meant to be the text box in Form 4A where it asks for free text to explain how you will contribute ?
5) Do "recommendation letters" (I'm not talking about previous employer testimonials), really make a difference ? again these don't seem to be something captured "officially" in the application process
6) Do you think you lose quite a few points if you happen to be a dual national, vs single nationality ?

Thanks for any advice.
S.T.

[MOCHS]

1. If I were an ICA officer, it would look odd. One spouse have PR, the other non-PR as an exit plan, hmm?

2. Together lah. SG has not enough babies and they only way to get babies is for married couples to beget the next generation.

2a. It’s either whole application rejected or approved. No such thing as only one member approved and another rejected in the same application.

3. Maybe true in the past. Might have changed now.

4. If they don’t request for cover letter, then don’t put it in! Don’t use other documents to “smuggle” in a cover letter. If I were an officer and you did that, I will think you don’t understand simple instructions.

5. Same as 4. No such thing requested, so don’t put it in. They have ZERO value and are mostly bs. Just be honest and don’t over-embellish your profile or it’ll look suspicious.

6. If have dual nationality, might be viewed negatively since you already have citizenship in two countries, why you suddenly want a third country as your home? Do remember PR is a stepping stone towards citizenship. Are you willing to give up both to be a Singapore citizenship?

Again, we also don’t know what ICA looks at for PR… we can only make a calculated guess based on the anecdotes we get on the forum.

[sailtraveller]

"This is gold Jerry ! .. Gold !"

Thanks again.
Final question is: any opinion if it should be myself or my wife the "main applicant" considering our very different profiles and pro/cons of each ?
I've seen in other posts that the main applicants scoring carries more weight.

N.

[MOCHS]

I am not familiar with PTS scheme and unsure if there really is a weightage depending on who is the main applicant.

You can certainly try different permutation on having wife as main applicant and if it fails, wait a couple of years and re-apply with you as main applicant.

[carinj]

This post is really helpful! thanks. I am struggling with the cover letter and recommendation letter.

[sundaymorningstaple]

This post is really helpful! thanks. I am struggling with the cover letter and recommendation letter.

Maybe you should take a couple of hours to review our archives. Had you done so, you would have learned that you cannot submit any cover letters or recommendation letters. Don't waste your time. ONLY submit those documents specifically requested.