Singapore Expats

Firstly a big thanks to all the valuable information on this website. - In particular, I've been following the '12 year plan' for my sons to eventually have a choice to renounce their SG citizenship when they get to 21 years old.


Anyway - for this topic, I have 2 sons and their cases are as follows:
1a/ I have a 10 year old son whose SG passport will expire in the next couple of months (before May 2010).
1b/ He was born in SG but has been living in AUS since he was 4 years old.
1c/ He has been granted an AUS citizenship and AUS passport last year.

2a/ I have a 7 year old son whose SG passport will expires in 2013.
2b/ He was born in SG but has been living in AUS since he was 4 months old.
2c/ He has been granted an AUS citizenship and AUS passport last year.


3/ We (as a family) intend to visit Singapore in June for 1 week. The plan is for them to Enter, and subsequently Exit on their Australian passports.

4/ Does anyone know of have any condition / law I could possibly be breaking in the above scenario ? Or anything else I should be aware of ?

5/ Also - would it be more prudent for Son#2 to enter and exit on his (still valid) SG passport?

Many thanks!
Utopia

The way I read your post, both kids will still be under the age of 11 when they are traveling and both Singapore passports will also expire before they turn eleven. Therefore I see no problems as long as the remaining protocols are followed to the "T".

However, I'm not sure if traveling on the Australian passport to Singapore is a good thing or not. It really doesn't matter except where there is a problem while in Singapore. If they should get into trouble here, they would not be protected by any Singapore laws with regard to being citizens here as they did not enter the country "as Singaporeans". Otherwise, I don't see any problems, legal or otherwise.

sundaymorningstaple wrote:If they should get into trouble here, they would not be protected by any Singapore laws with regard to being citizens here as they did not enter the country "as Singaporeans". Otherwise, I don't see any problems, legal or otherwise.

All things being equal, I'd probably prefer to get in trouble in Singapore as a non-citizen, who at least has a chance of getting deported to a more hospitable criminal justice system... but for a 7 and 11 year old this is all pretty hypothetical.

Dear sundaymorningstaple / jpatokal - thanks for the replies.

Yes, both sons will be traveling before their 11th birthday, and their passports were attained when they were one month old so that they expire before they reach 11.

Son#1 would SG passport expires in May 2010 - hence will not have a valid SG passport in June 2010. So his only choice really would be to travel in on his AUS passport.

Son#2 would have a theoretical choice of using either AUS or SG passport. I think I read somewhere that if you are a citizen holder of SG passport, you should enter and exit with the SG passport. But I don't know if that's a 'hard' law or a 'prudent advice' , and if there would be negative implications for entering on AUS passport.

Basically I'm wondering if anyone else has done this for their children, and /if they ran into any issues.

Wth a SG background, I tend to want to stay on the right side of the Law

utopia wrote:
Son#2 would have a theoretical choice of using either AUS or SG passport. I think I read somewhere that if you are a citizen holder of SG passport, you should enter and exit with the SG passport. But I don't know if that's a 'hard' law or a 'prudent advice' , and if there would be negative implications for entering on AUS passport.

As noted in my reply, it's prudent advice but it's not a hard & fast rule.

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Thanks for the members of the board for their time and input.

Just an update that ICA hasn't answered me after 4 days but the Singapore High Commission in Canberra ( http://www.mfa.gov.sg/canberra/ ) has

Here are the replies as follows:

Q1: Your 10 year old son can enter and exit Singapore legally using his Australian passport. He will be granted 30-day pass upon arrival, provided that he has 6 month validity on his passport and return ticket leaving Singapore within 30 days.

Q2: Your 7 year old son can enter and exit Singapore legally using his Australian passport. He will be granted 30-day pass upon arrival, provided that he has 6 month validity on his passport and return ticket leaving Singapore within 30 days.

Q3: He can enter and exit Singapore legally using his Singaporean passport. He will be treated as a resident returning home country.

Thanks again
- and Turtle Soup / Tulang Merah / Kway Chap here we come!

MS. Thanks for the help. You are a real asset here. Looks like we both pegged this one spot on. And utopia, at least this trip you can rest easy.

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The post is pretty much completed, but I would be remiss if I didn't update that ICA has finally replied as follows :

2 If your children are holding dual citizenships, they may travel on their Singapore passport or Australia passport. After entering Singapore, you may approach our Citizen Services Centre, Citizenship Section, 6th Storey, for a "Right of Entry" endorsement onto their Australia passports. This endorsement is to facilitate their stay and future entries into Singapore as a Singapore Citizen. Please produce their valid Singapore and Australia passports, their Singapore citizenship certificate, birth certificate and your IC upon application for "Right of Entry" endorsement.

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To clarify, that was a cut and paste of the ICA reply to me.
I did not ask about, and have zero intention of having the "Right of Entry" endorsement chopped on my kids AUS passport.

But thanks for the info on the 'turnaround' time which I was not aware of, and also advice/concern Mad Scientist

utopia wrote:To clarify, that was a cut and paste of the ICA reply to me.
I did not ask about, and have zero intention of having the "Right of Entry" endorsement chopped on my kids AUS passport.

Tricky buggers ain't they!

Thank u - SMS and Mad Scientist

I think the deciding issue is not whether or not they have dual citizenship, but whether or not they are carrying two passports. Even if Dual Citizens by right of birth, if they never apply for nor get a Singapore Passport, but opt to only get a foreign one with an ROE, then the Gahmen cannot say that they have used any socio-economic benefit derived from their Singaporean citizenship. Having a Right of Entry stamp in their foreign passport just acknowledges that they are Singaporean Citizens without a Singapore passport. They cannot use that ROE to enter any other country in the world "as a Singaporean". Hope that clarifies it sufficiently for you.

sms