Page 1 of 1

Dropping PR and Applying for Student Pass

Posted: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 4:50 pm
by ads94
hey im a 14 year old PR in living in singapore since 2001 and i turn 15 in march 2009. I have been a PR since i very soon after i moved here. Now i face the problem of NS. So far i have been unnoticed by the government because i am not yet 16. When i turn 16, they will send me a letter asking me if i wish to go for NS when im 18. I dont want to do national service as it takes up 2 years of valuable time i should be spending in university but i want to stay in singapore till i finish school (which is a few months after i tun 18) and be able to return later and live/work here. From what i know, dropping my PR now will put me on dependent pass which means i will have to leave singapore when i am 18. However my school wouldnt have finished by the time im 18. The only way i know to stop being kicked out when im 18 and on Dependent Pass is to have a student pass. This will let me stay and study in singapore till i finish my studies. However since i am currently a PR and im only a little bit more than a year away from recieving the letter for NS, i dont think it will be easy or go unnoticed for me to drop my PR and then apply for a student pass and i probably wont get it. So my 2 main questions are...

1. Will i really be put on Dependant pass (as my father is a PR and works here) when i drop my PR? will i not get asked to leave immediately?

2. If i can sucessfully get drop my PR and stay here (on dependent pass), will it be possible for me to obtain a student pass? will it be easy?

thanks a lot to anyone who answers

Posted: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 5:05 pm
by metroguy
Answers to the respective questions.

1. Yes
2. No

An ex-colleague of mine cancelled PR for his son when he was about to become 18. The son was given a dependant pass and his student pass was rejected though he got admission letters from both NUS & NTU. He was a Raffles student all the way. Finally he had to go to Australia for his uni.

Hope this helps.
MG.

Posted: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 5:16 pm
by smayrhofer
I can imagine you'll have trouble coming back here after uni to work, as well. They don't take dropping of PRship very lightly.

If dropping PR is very important to you, be prepared to study overseas and not return to Singapore to live/work.

You may want to consider NS. It's not a bad idea, really. I know a lot of boys including my brothers who would have really benefitted from NS. NS would give you time to 'grow up' before going uni.