National Service Deferment Procedure in Singapore.

[Baobaotou]

Hi MS, SMS, not sure if I am lucky enough that you are reviewing the posts still. I contacted ICA but was told my son cannot renounce citizenship before 21. He is currently 6. His SG citizenship was obtained via registration and he has dual US citizenship since birth. Whole family does not have SG citizenship now except for him. I tried to contact Pang and Steven listed in the forum but their email bounced back. We live in US. Is there any ICA officer we could contact please?

[PNGMK]

Hi MS, SMS, not sure if I am lucky enough that you are reviewing the posts still. I contacted ICA but was told my son cannot renounce citizenship before 21. He is currently 6. His SG citizenship was obtained via registration and he has dual US citizenship since birth. Whole family does not have SG citizenship now except for him. I tried to contact Pang and Steven listed in the forum but their email bounced back. We live in US. Is there any ICA officer we could contact please?

That is correct. You cannot renounce until 21.

You need to follow the steps outlined and ensure your son receives no state benefits from Singapore until 21. It's important ICA know where he is so they can post docs to you as required as well.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Hi MS, SMS, not sure if I am lucky enough that you are reviewing the posts still. I contacted ICA but was told my son cannot renounce citizenship before 21. He is currently 6. His SG citizenship was obtained via registration and he has dual US citizenship since birth. Whole family does not have SG citizenship now except for him. I tried to contact Pang and Steven listed in the forum but their email bounced back. We live in US. Is there any ICA officer we could contact please?

That is correct. You cannot renounce until 21.

You need to follow the steps outlined and ensure your son receives no state benefits from Singapore until 21. It's important ICA know where he is so they can post docs to you as required as well.

^^^^^This.

[Baobaotou]

Thank you PNGMK and Hi SMS:) I was under impression that if a kids is young enough with dual citizenship and no family member holding SG citizenship,on a case by case basis he could be granted renunciation early. In that case, we will do my plan B, follow the steps to the path for deferment. Regarding the kids medisave CPF grant, CPF relied saying they need more time to check hopefully they will allow us to return.

[PNGMK]

There's no "case by case" with NS issues. There are rules and you must follow them exactly. Do not listen to urban legends or old wives tales. They are usually wrong, exaggerated or biased.

[Lisafuller]

Thank you PNGMK and Hi SMS:) I was under impression that if a kids is young enough with dual citizenship and no family member holding SG citizenship,on a case by case basis he could be granted renunciation early. In that case, we will do my plan B, follow the steps to the path for deferment. Regarding the kids medisave CPF grant, CPF relied saying they need more time to check hopefully they will allow us to return.

The system is very rigid when it comes to NS. You need to request for deferment until 21, and then have him renounce his citizenship. Of course, you will need to make sure that he receives no benefits from the government until then.

[Baobaotou]

Thank you Lisafuller and PNGMK. I will. Meanwhile I will keep an eye here/online to see if regulation changes. Keep fingers crossed that there won't be any changes on the deferment process...

[PNGMK]

Thank you Lisafuller and PNGMK. I will. Meanwhile I will keep an eye here/online to see if regulation changes. Keep fingers crossed that there won't be any changes on the deferment process...

Very unlikely. In the 21 years I've watched the system the most likely thing is more case history from the courts enforcing NS.

[Baobaotou]

ya it is rigid and I can understand why. I just wish that by keeping my son with no IC, no passport since he was born, and with whole family has no SG citizenship would still make it relatively easy to apply for deferment when he's at the age...

[sundaymorningstaple]

ya it is rigid and I can understand why. I just wish that by keeping my son with no IC, no passport since he was born, and with whole family has no SG citizenship would still make it relatively easy to apply for deferment when he's at the age...

I did some digging over the weekend and I think you might be okay. But, you will have to be in touch with MinDef/CMPB in order to accomplish this. This is assuming that for all intents and purposes, you have divested yourselves completely from Singapore, e.g., holding no property and no longer have any CPF sitting here drawing interest, etc. These couple of things are not written in stone but will show Mindef the seriousness & sincerity of your request. The Blogspot mentioned earlier is accurate (and differs from mine as it was still 11 years old when I was researching for my own dual citizen son (who is now 31 and a true blue Singaporean - he made the right choice). Use this blogspot guideline and you should be good, and considering Covid it should be even easier as it would make sense not to have someone jumping out of the pot to potentially start a fire in safe Singapore. Please let us know how it goes.

SMS

http://asingaporeanson.blogspot.com/201 ... tvK34L00HF

[Baobaotou]

Thank you so much SMS! I really appreciate people like you all sticking around and sharing your insights and experience! Congratulations to your son and ya he made the right choice! My son is going to make his in 15 years hopefully(if we are lucky enough to get the deferment till 21). CPF just responded it sounds like there is a way to return the newborn baby medisave grant on the basis whole family renunced SG citizenship and if there is intend for child to renounce as well. Will send in the documents and see how it goes there. I was lucky to find this forum when my son was 1 year old, having been following protocol ever since then. so will keep the finger crossed

[sundaymorningstaple]

I wish you good luck, and would appreciate you keeping us updated along the way occasionally so we can see any new pitfalls we need to take note of. You, our members, are where our knowledge and 'wisdom' come from to pay it forward, as it were.
Cheers,

[Mad Scientist]

Hiya SMS ;

Still going strong in this forum. Good on you

Retired ? or ????

[sundaymorningstaple]

Hey MS, Glad to see yer still kickin' around as well. Yeah, still spending time here aggravating the folks! And yeah, I actually pulled the plug 2 years ago this past March. Officially retired, and 6 months ago, became a Grandfather for the 3rd time. My youngest, the boy & his wife gave us our first G.Daughter. My Daughter has given me two boys, one 2 & 5, now. Looks like Singapore is more or less home. Although having said that, I still keep the keys to the back door (PR still over 26 years, just in case!). I'm under no illusions that we haven't seen the backside of Covid here. In fact, I don't think we've seen but the surface, truth be told. I've had both shots back in Feb/Mar (PA member so considered frontline special consideration and being over 70 to boot-on paper only, lah!) LOL

Hope all is well down your way! Nice to see you stick yer toe in the pot here!

[Mad Scientist]

We are glad to be at the bottom of the world. No mask, no community transmission for many weeks now. OZ trans tasman bubble opens up weeks ago. Manage to see my daughters and my 10 grand kids in Wollogong and Adelaide
My sons still in UK. Both of them have their own lives
I have 14 grand children in total
Wife is not in great shape. I buggered my knee again, have to go under the knife next month
But hey once you pass the GMT line in your life, every day is a blessing.
You send my regards to your wife and family
Take care buddy, this virus throws a lot of curve balls