Sg citizenship approved 2022

[thomasanoop76]

SINGAPORE EXPATS FORUM
Singapore Expat Forum




I have gained quite a bit of useful information from this site hence I feel its my duty to return the favour. Last time I posted on this site was when SPR was approved.

My profile:

Age 46
Race Indian
Occupation: Doctor, working for in one of the restructured hospitals
Married, two kids(boys) both studying in local schools
Wife homemaker
Arrived in Sg 2010
SPR Jan 2017
Bought condo same year
Salary : 300 K gross
Applied for citizenship 20/12/20
AIP 19/09/22

I need expert opinion from your forum on a small issue... Planning to travel home to meet parents after 3 years ( postponed due to covid and then sons PSLE) Tickets booked for 30/11/22(dep)30/12/22 return.
Quick perusal of this site shows citizenship journey stage 2 should be completed within two months of AIP letter and once stage 3 is commenced should not use foreign passport to travel anymore. Given the timeline can I still make the trip ...or not possible? What will happen if I still travel with Indian passport after completing stage 2

[smoulder]

Check the IPA letter. It outlines fairly well what you cannot do.

Stage 2 - What You Must NOT Do:
 Avoid using your foreign passport to purchase travel itineraries that are 2 or 3 months ahead from the date of issue of this letter. Once you register to become a Singapore Citizen in Stage 3, you must not use your foreign passport for travel purposes.

[thomasanoop76]

I did see all of that

[smoulder]

I'm in roughly the same situation as you. I wouldn't travel once I get past stage 2 and until I can use my Singapore passport.

[thomasanoop76]

Noted...gulp... Thks

[gold.spot]

Its not an issue. I was in a similar situation as you. I postponed my SG citizenship registration date exactly due to the same reason as you, I needed to travel 2 weeks after my original scheduled registration date.

You can easily do step 2 (finish the experiential journey etc) now. Step 2 can be done within 2 months from the date of AIP letter. It has no effect on your renunciation. (Additional Note : Step 2 can be completed as soon as 3-7 working days. This is because one of the 3 quizzes get graded only once a week). Lets say your AIP date is 19/9/2022. You can complete Step 2 within 60 days of 19/9/2022.)

Once Step 2 is completed, you will receive the next letter indicating that you may now renounce your citizenship, and to complete your SG citizenship registration within 6 months from the date of the new letter issued in Step 3. (Additional note : Lets say you finish Step 2 by 25/9/2022, you will likely be issued this new letter dated 30/9/2022. This letter will contain an appointment date for SG citizenship registration, which will be about 1.5 months from the date of this letter, lets say 10/11/2022. However, this letter will also say you need to complete the registration within 6 months of the date of this letter, which is 30/3/2022. You may go to eappointment and change your appointment date to another date)

Effectively, you have a max of 8 months to do your conversion.

As long as you have not renounced your Indian citizenship, you can continue to travel on your Indian passport.

PS - with your timeline it looks very possible for you to do the registration expeditiously, and have your SG passport ready before your intended travel date (ICA passport waiting timeline is 1-2weeks now). However, you will need to apply for an Indian tourist visa - as your OCI will not be processed so quickly.

[smoulder]

Its not an issue. I was in a similar situation as you. I postponed my SG citizenship registration date exactly due to the same reason as you, I needed to travel 2 weeks after my original scheduled registration date.

You can easily do step 2 (finish the experiential journey etc) now. Step 2 can be done within 2 months from the date of AIP letter. It has no effect on your renunciation. (Additional Note : Step 2 can be completed as soon as 3-7 working days. This is because one of the 3 quizzes get graded only once a week). Lets say your AIP date is 19/9/2022. You can complete Step 2 within 60 days of 19/9/2022.)

Once Step 2 is completed, you will receive the next letter indicating that you may now renounce your citizenship, and to complete your SG citizenship registration within 6 months from the date of the new letter issued in Step 3. (Additional note : Lets say you finish Step 2 by 25/9/2022, you will likely be issued this new letter dated 30/9/2022. This letter will contain an appointment date for SG citizenship registration, which will be about 1.5 months from the date of this letter, lets say 10/11/2022. However, this letter will also say you need to complete the registration within 6 months of the date of this letter, which is 30/3/2022. You may go to eappointment and change your appointment date to another date)

Effectively, you have a max of 8 months to do your conversion.

As long as you have not renounced your Indian citizenship, you can continue to travel on your Indian passport.

PS - with your timeline it looks very possible for you to do the registration expeditiously, and have your SG passport ready before your intended travel date (ICA passport waiting timeline is 1-2weeks now). However, you will need to apply for an Indian tourist visa - as your OCI will not be processed so quickly.

Slight deviation - what was it like to renounce your Indian citizenship? (Rough process and timelines)

[gold.spot]

Slight deviation - what was it like to renounce your Indian citizenship? (Rough process and timelines)

Its a very very easy process, thanks to COVID.

You first setup an appointment online on BLS website (https://blsindia.sg/) - they have 2 offices, one in Little India, the other in International plaza. You can set up an appointment 5 days in advance, and just like ICA, appointments dry up immediately after they are released (they are released about 10am every day).

The appointment is critical because when I went to International plaza, there was a snaking queue with about 40 people in line. I learnt later that most of them were walk-ins. But because I had an appointment I skipped the queue.

After setting up the appointment, go to the Indian passport website to fill up the application form (https://embassy.passportindia.gov.in/), and then print and carry the form during your appointment. If you don't do this, its still fine, because BLS can fill it up for you on the spot during your appointment for a small charge.

I didn't take a passport photo beforehand because I knew BLS had in house photo taking ($5 for 4 pp photos, 3 of which will be given to you, 1 will be attached to the application), which is cheaper than most other places.

On the day of the appointment, submit the relevant docs with your passport, and $200+small change fees.

BLS will then ask you if you want them to courier the renunication docs and canceled passport to you. I said yes (additional $20+). Alternatively, once ready, you can go back to BLS to collect your documentation (not recommended as you never know the crowd).

As I understand it, previously you needed to go to the Indian high commission to complete the renunciation, but thanks to COVID, you no longer need to. With regard to timeline, my application at BLS was on a Monday and my cancelled passport and renunciation cert were couriered to me on Saturday.

[smoulder]

Thanks gold spot. Very detailed and informative.

[gold.spot]

Oh one more thing - BLS accepts cash only.

[thomasanoop76]

Dear gold spot,

Thanks for the detailed reply. Its a relief to know that there I can still do the trip. Thanks again.

[Teslafan]

Dear gold spot
Very useful info. Do you also take photocopies of your passport (according to the required docs) ? That’s a lot of pages

[gold.spot]

Photocopy of passport = data pages only.

[jalanjalan]

Sounds smoother than applying for Canadian citizenship renunciation. That currently takes almost 2 years for the final stamp of approval (thanks to colossal backlogs due to covid).

[RBRCosworth]

Hi,

I had a question on a slightly different topic. My wife applied for my citizenship last year (sponsored). I have read that there is some sort of interview where they validate our documents. At what stage does this happen? (Or this is a thing in the past as neither of the stages talk about any interview or document verification)

Appreciate your response and have a good weekend.

Regards