I thought my Singapore Citizenship Journey might be useful to others here – especially long-term Caucasian expats who are thinking about finally biting the bullet.
Gender: M
Age: Older than sh*t
Marital Status: Married to Singapore citizen
Occupation: Advertising
Salary: None of yer business and, in fact, I doubt that it was relevant in my case.
Race : Caucasian, originally from Ireland
Length of time in Singapore: 31 years (see point 2 above)
PR: Since 2004 – so yeah, it took me almost 20 years to make my mind up.
Why I applied
Quite simply, I’ve lived most of my life here. Singapore gave me what was in essence a ‘reboot’ of my career and my life and now the vast majority of my business and personal connections are here. With my parents’ passing and the subsequent sale of the home I grew up in, there was little or no ties back to Ireland. So, it made absolute ‘logical’ sense to take that final step – but it still took me long enough to do it.
My application experience
Very smooth. Because of my age, we decided it was best for my wife to sponsor me. The online application took a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon but was very straightforward.
14 months later my wife received an email notification from ICA to log into her SingPass and go to her MyICA account where it showed I had received an in-principle approval. I also had the same message in my MyICA account. However, as the sponsor, only she received the actual PDF of the letter stating the next steps to be taken. This would reoccur throughout the entire process.
My wife forwarded me the letter which contained a link to the My Citizen Journey Road Map webpage. There are 3 steps on this Journey that have to be completes before your citizenship application is formally approved:
an e-journey – which is a series of seven modules which must be completed, along with a quiz after each module: you need an 80% pass rate to move on to the next module. (These quizzes are pretty easy to pass.) I completed this e-journey in a couple of hours on Sunday evening (with a glass of wine).
A Singapore Experiential Visit – quite literally joining a tour group with fellow new citizens. This you have to book online though the website. In my case I had a visit to the Indian Heritage Centre in Little India and the URA building in Maxwell Road. (Both highly recommended even if you are not planning to be a citizen.) Again, there was another online quiz to complete immediately after, but the tour guides helped us with this. (No wine involved here.)
Finally, you have to attend a Community Sharing Session, which in my case happened to be held in my local Community Centre. I was certainly the odd one out there (for obvious reasons…) (I think this would have been a great occasion to have a few glasses of wine but alas I had to make do with very watery fruit punch.)
Important note: for each of these steps, you HAVE to complete an online survey on how you felt about it before you are considered as completing the steps.
A week later my wife received another email notification to check her MyICA account. There was another PDF letter stating that my application was now formally approved. When I checked my own MyICA account, I had also received the letter.
Renouncing my former citizenship
The letter stated the next steps: formerly apply to my embassy/relevant ministry to renounce my Irish citizenship. Then bring along the renunciation letter together with my PR IC, and a copy of the ICA letter to the ICA at a given date and time to do the formal paperwork and Oath of Allegiance (along with 2 passport photos which must not be more than 3 months old).
When I queried them by email, the Irish Embassy were very helpful, sending me the link to the relevant Irish government website to download the Citizenship Renunciation form. Once I filled in the form, I took it to the Embassy to get it formally notarised. They also passed me an official letter stating that I was going through the renunciation process.
After that I sent my signed and stamped Renunciation form, together with my Irish passport by registered post to relevant ministry office in Ireland. (In this case it was the Ministry of Justice.)
However, I only had one month in which to renounce before my date with destiny at ICA and I was not confident that Irish bureaucracy would be up to the task. A call to ICA reassured me: the letter from the Irish Embassy would probably do if I didn’t get a response in time.
Late August I received a letter from the Irish Ministry for Justice to state that I had ceased to be an Irish citizen. (Gulp! The moment when I read this was more emotional than I expected it to be.)
Sealing the deal: Completing the process at ICA and swearing the Oath of Allegiance
The letter from ICA stated that my Sponsor had to be with me during this process. In the end we spent longer waiting to be attended to than the process itself.
There was a few moments of concern: first the ICA counter staff dealing with me seemed confused by the renunciation letter – she was quite insistent that there should be another form and I repeatedly told her ‘nope – this is all I have’. Fortunately, a more senior staff member stepped in and cleared things up but saying that yes, it was indeed okay. (I had visions of finding myself ‘stateless’…)
The next little piece of drama was the photos I provided. Because they were the same photos I used in my initial application 16 months prior, they were deemed to be too old. Fortunately, in the block next to ICA, an entire ecosystem of passport photo shops has sprung up for idiots like me who didn't double check the photo requirements, and so 10 minutes later and $6 poorer I was back at the counter to complete the process. My PR IC had a hole punched through it to cancel it and then I had to wait my turn to take the Oath.
The oath-taking process took a very anti-climatic 60 seconds, after which I was passed a slip of paper which would be my temporary IC.
Going Pink and Red: IC and Passport
The slip of paper had a url which I was to use one week later to book a time to collect my IC from my selected post office. I was told I could apply for my passport the day after my appointment with ICA, which is exactly what I did. That application took about 2 minutes on my phone. One week later I was able to book a time to collect both my IC and passport on the same day.
Now I am waiting for the letter inviting me to the official citizenship ceremony which is really just a welcoming event. However, I am now officially a Singaporean and can start complaining about FTs stealing our jobs and women.
Overall experience
The approval was out of my hands. I applied and then stopped thinking about it. I was pretty confident I would get it because of my length of stay and my marital status. (I have also in the past worked on several Government ministry and SAF projects that would have required extensive background checks.)
The application process itself was a doddle. Apart from the initial application which I completed on a laptop, the rest of the process was done via my phone.
Important note to anxious PRs who want to be citizens:
My experience getting approved is just that – my experience. I have no tips or advice that will somehow tip the odds in your favour. Please go through the wealth of information on this forum (the search function is there for a reason) to see other people’s experiences.
