Moving to Singapore

[Benkq]

Hello,

I'm currently dating my Fiancée and will be moving once we get married. At the moment we have quite a few options available to us, but I am interested in investigating Singapore as a possible destination.

I've got the right to live in Australia, UK(EU countries), and Hong Kong and she has P.R. in Singapore and also is a Chinese Citizen. I think if we have any children I will attempt to make sure they are born in Hong Kong so that they are able to get UK/AU/HK chinese Citizenship and HKID.

Anyway, I am not Chinese at all but have got a parent from Hong Kong and so on. Does my parent being born / having grown up in Hong Kong have any kind of bearing on the eligibility for me (I have read quickly people saying ooh Malaysian Chinese you'll have more chance because of your background etc)

I'm assuming we'll get married and move either to Hong Kong or Singapore and live as a dependent of each other if possible. Also I do not need to complete military service right, as I'd be a 'dependent' then possibly a first generation P.R. (if i get it after a few years).

Sorry if this seems like I'm assuming too much but I'm planning ahead as it's quite a big decision.

My background is limited work history, Bachelors degree a few diplomas and so on.

Cheers

[the lynx]

Eh sorry, I got lost reading through your post. So what was your question again? Was it about to move or not to move to Singapore?

[zzm9980]

Yeah, I'm also confused also. What exactly are you asking?

And are you sure about your future child's ability to get all of those citizenships just by being born in HK post handover? Are you a HK PR, or do you just have Right of Abode? If you're not a PR or citizen, your child will also have at most Right of Abode, and must reside in HK for 7+ years to gain PR.

I have no idea how you plan to leverage a child born in HK (whether PR or just with Right of Abode) into UK and/or AU citizenship. I'd be curious to hear how that works.

[Benkq]

Eh sorry, I got lost reading through your post. So what was your question again? Was it about to move or not to move to Singapore?

1. Does having a parent from Hong Kong make any difference to the 'suitability' of myself to integrate into Singapore in the eyes of Immigration?

2. Would having a Chinese wife (PRC) work towards / against me?

3. What are the job prospects like in Singapore for mono-lingual people?

4. Would I have much of a better chance to gain employment / increase my chances of receiving P.R. by spending a year or two to undertake intense mandarin study in China prior to living in Singapore?

Thanks.

[Benkq]

Yeah, I'm also confused also. What exactly are you asking?

And are you sure about your future child's ability to get all of those citizenships just by being born in HK post handover? Are you a HK PR, or do you just have Right of Abode? If you're not a PR or citizen, your child will also have at most Right of Abode, and must reside in HK for 7+ years to gain PR.

I have no idea how you plan to leverage a child born in HK (whether PR or just with Right of Abode) into UK and/or AU citizenship. I'd be curious to hear how that works.

Sorry, I have got UK/AU citizenship and Hong Kong PR and my fiance is a Chinese Citizen which means that birth in HK would mean my kids get all 3 of them.

I am just thinking that I'd like to spend time in Singapore rather than living in Hong Kong, at least for the first part of my life, as Hong Kong is not a place I'd like to live on a lower income bracket.

[zzm9980]

Ok, the clarifications help. Your kid is going to have a nice collection of passports

1) No, your single parent from HK won't make a different unless they were ethnic Chinese (positive) or ethnic Indian/Nepal (negative)

2) In theory, it's a pro. However there is a strong backlash against PRC Chinese , especially with a lot of incidents publicized in the media recently. But while the populace is PRC hating, I'm not too sure if it's affecting immigration yet.

3) Good as long as it's English. If it's Mandarin, then you can work in a shop or F&B, or other kind of service position.

4) No.

Singapore isn't too hot for lower income brackets either. What do you do/what kind of job do you expect to get and in what income bracket? You should figure out if you even have a shot at getting a job and thus EP to get yourself here before planning on your PR application. Without a clear chance at a good job, and with no kid, I'd personally go to PRC or HK, but that's just me.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Eh sorry, I got lost reading through your post. So what was your question again? Was it about to move or not to move to Singapore?

1. Does having a parent from Hong Kong make any difference to the 'suitability' of myself to integrate into Singapore in the eyes of Immigration?

No.

2. Would having a Chinese wife (PRC) work towards / against me?

Could be against you, depending on how long you have been married

3. What are the job prospects like in Singapore for mono-lingual people?

As long as it's English or Mandarin, no problem, depending on the industry and the company's target market.

4. Would I have much of a better chance to gain employment / increase my chances of receiving P.R. by spending a year or two to undertake intense mandarin study in China prior to living in Singapore?

Doubtfully. What would be more helpful would be have useful credentials that would allow you to get a job in the first place. You would need to be here several (2 or 3) years before you could apply for PR.

Thanks.

Malaysian Chinese have a leg up here because they are almost identical to Singaporean Chinese. They can dovetail into society here almost seamlessly. Culturally they are almost identical, unlike the PRC.

[Benkq]

Thanks for the information. Actually I am not sure what kind of job I would try to get if I went to Singapore as I am really into the initial stages of looking into where to live.

I'd say $$ wise I'd be better of in Australia, but I really prefer Asia.

I'm Just going to have an International Business degree and a couple of diplomas in Management and HR etc. Nothing too exciting..

Might be possible for me to do a masters degree before I leave if that would make much of a difference. (Trading 1 year of earning potential for that piece of paper).

[sundaymorningstaple]

Without any experience to go along with the degree, you may as well go to Australia or stay in Hong Kong as you won't get a via to stay in Singapore anyway.

[cw1483]

If I got your question right, I think you were just decided between Singapore or Hong Kong, correct?

Since you noted your future spouse is a Permanent Resident, then once she becomes your spouse, you can apply for permanent residence as well under the category "(a) Spouse and unmarried children(below 21 years old) of a Singaporean Citizen(SC)/Singapore Permanent Resident(SPR)". Most first-generation males are exempted from national service.

If you decide to start your lives in Singapore, then your child born in Singapore still do not have Singapore citizen (as only children of Singaporean citizens can have Singaporean citizenship or by their own efforts...no citizenship rights from birth). Your son however, will only get priority to public schools after a Singapore Citizen, then P.R., then him...unless your child become P.R., then as male, he has to do national service.

If the two of you choose to leave Singapore, then your spouse who did not meet the residency test in Singapore may lose her P.R. in Singapore.

Also, you did not note what right you have to HK stay, Right to Land, Right of Abode, etc, which can impact your ability to work and stay in HK. If you have neither, then your spouse (who I assumed is a China Passport holder, not HK SAR Passport holder), may have trouble going into HK to have the baby if the laws in 2013 gets passed to ban mainlanders to give birth in HK. http://asiancorrespondent.com/81403/no- ... n-in-2013/

HK uses primarily Cantonese (can survive on some Mandarin), but English alone is not enough to live a non-expat lifestyle. Unless you are in a skilled profession or has native English(and wish to teach English), then not speaking Chinese is a big hidrance to finding a job.

I'm in the process of relocating from HK to Singapore myself.

[Benkq]

Yeah I have residency in H.K. myself but not citizenship. She has Chinese Citizenship.

[sundaymorningstaple]

How long has your wife been away from Singapore?

[Mi Amigo]

Without any experience to go along with the degree, you may as well go to Australia or stay in Hong Kong as you won't get a via to stay in Singapore anyway.

To follow on from SMS' comments, IMO the three things that will really improve your chances of being able to live and work in Singapore are: Experience, Experience and more Experience. Go and study for a master's degree if you want, but frankly they are ten a penny here. Maybe we on here are too negative about the whole "I have MASTER from a very prestigious... etc." syndrome (do a search and you'll see what I mean), but most potential employers will be more interested in the amount of relevant, real-world experience you have.

It sounds like you have many years ahead of you to build up a nice career history; it would probably be better to do that in a place where you already have the right of abode, rather than coming straight here and having to compete with all the local folks who will (rightly) have preference for jobs where little or no experience is required.

[cw1483]

Dear OP,

What does residency in H.K. mean? P.R. or what? If you are not of Chinese decent, you can lose your Permanent Resident Status in HK for a continous period of not less than 36 months since you ceased to have ordinarily resided in HK http://www.gov.hk/en/residents/immigrat ... e/loss.htm

So you and your future spouse needs to decide if you want for her to lose Singapore P.R. or for you to lose HK P.R. Unless you plan to live 75% of the year in Singapore and 25% in HK. Landing a job that will allow that is nearly impossible.

[Benkq]

I am very clued up on the Hong Kong side of things, don't worry about that. P.R. in HK can be maintained by me spending literally 30 seconds in the country and then leaving every 36 months so it's not an issue at all. (Even if I did NOT do this, I'd still have Right to Land which is totally adequate.)

She still has valid P.R. and has not been out of the country for more than 2 years. I think it's been around 12 months. As far as I know she is able to stay here for the duration of her studies as she has provided documentation and so on about this? (Again not an expert though.. because I have no clue about Singapore in regard to this kind of thing.)