Make my son a PR ?

[merlion88]

Me and wife have been PR's for a while. Have registered my son on a student pass currently. He's going on 5 now. We plan to stay here as long as the job is good. No job visibility beyond a few years though, and lack of marketability jobwise. Should I go ahead and make my son a PR?

Main reason is the cheaper cost of local schools, though we still debating the "cost" of the lack of creativity in the local school system, we not completely convinced and plan to put him in an IB school around the 8th grade onwards as it may provide a good finish. Besides, this also imposes NS obligations of 2+13 yrs. Another reason is better integration with local kids etc, which again we not quite convinced, as apart from the top 5-10% of local kids which go to the best schools like ACS, Raffles etc seem to cut it, and anyways he wont be able to get into these even if I make him a PR.

Some friends have made their sons PR's, they see 10 years as too long and will decide closer to then, some others are for it (local school+NS). Some say, the kid is born here, his friends and future girlfriends!! will be here, he'll identify more with Singapore than India etc. while a few others have retained their kids on student pass and send them to an International School.

My questions are...
1) Is it worth it to make him a PR?
2) Can I continue to keep him on student pass, and me and wife a PR for as long as I want? or will I be forced to make him a PR when he's closer to 11 or 13 years?....some friends said they knew a few such cases.

Appreciate your comments....btw, we're from India.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I'm not going to get into this again, as I'm strongly biased, but I would like to say a couple of things....

What kind of social environment has your son been in thus far? Are you a typical overseas Indian family? e.g., tend to congregate with only your own kind instead of assimilating into the greater community? If so, keep him on a student permit. However, be advised that that is a potential minefield in of itself. Once the male child is 21, should you still be in Singapore, he will not be allowed to stay here, not even on an LTVP as the government will understand what you did and why. They are very vindictive towards people who do not do NS.

Additionally, with the current pogrom against foreigners and even PRs to some extent, there is the distinct possibility that you may find yourself in the position of having your re-entry permit renewal refused if you fail to apply for PR for your son so as to obligate him for NS as he is otherwise enjoying the socio-economic benefit of being here. They will see that as just another abuser of the system.

Something to think about.

[Wd40]

I really dont get this OP. In his other thread, he has mentioned about how cushy 350k per annum salaried job he has about how he has accumulated well over a million dollars in cash and looking to buy a condo and now in this thread he is asking whether its worth applying PR for his son to save a few(100s?) of dollars to put him in local school. I know a lot of foreigners(without PR) admitted in local schools so it has to be the cost.Seriously meh?

Also, my gut feeling is your son's PR will be rejected if you apply now, given that you have waited until he has turned 5 to apply for PR. So you wouldnt have to make the difficult choice after all.

[AngMoG]

I think they ask up to $1000 per month and kid for local school now, for non-PRs. I.e., up to $800 per month more.

The main question seems to be whether you intend to stay here for the long haul or not. According to what you write, you only want to stay here as long as the job market is good (which it is increasingly not), so I guess the answer is that it does not make sense to apply PR for him.

[Wd40]

I think they ask up to $1000 per month and kid for local school now, for non-PRs. I.e., up to $800 per month more.

The main question seems to be whether you intend to stay here for the long haul or not. According to what you write, you only want to stay here as long as the job market is good (which it is increasingly not), so I guess the answer is that it does not make sense to apply PR for him.

Here is the table of differences:

http://www.moe.gov.sg/media/press/2012/ ... s-2013.php

Its like $500 or so, more.

Actually I didnt know there is so much difference. Now I know why Indians put their kids in Indian International School which cost another $300 or so more. Makes sense, considering the amount of uncertainty of jobs, might as well put them through the Indian education system

To OP, I think you have 2 different dilemmas to sort out. You are mixing the 2.
1)Whether you want your kid to mix with the locals and go through the local education system.
2)Should you apply for PR for him.

If you put him through in the Indian educational system, then his friends will all be Indians and his future girlfriends too will be Indians, so you dont have to worry about having to uproot and go to India.

When you have your 1st dilemma sorted out, next is whether you should apply for PR for him and for that you need to weigh the pros and cons.

[PNGMK]

I would not make your son a PR. I don't think you're the type to commit unconditionally to Singapore and that's what you would be doing (no snark intended).

[Wd40]

This is off topic. But just wanted to know can a child on dependent pass do schooling in Singapore without having to apply for a student pass? If yes until what stage of schooling? Is there any difference between LTSVP and DP in that regard?

I tried searching for this info but didn't find it anywhere.

[zzm9980]

This is off topic. But just wanted to know can a child on dependent pass do schooling in Singapore without having to apply for a student pass? If yes until what stage of schooling? Is there any difference between LTSVP and DP in that regard?

I tried searching for this info but didn't find it anywhere.

Yes, it looks as if a student on DP receives preferential treatment to a student with student pass.

Check this link:
http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissi ... -students/

And scroll down to the "Categorisation of International Students" section.

[Wd40]

This is off topic. But just wanted to know can a child on dependent pass do schooling in Singapore without having to apply for a student pass? If yes until what stage of schooling? Is there any difference between LTSVP and DP in that regard?

I tried searching for this info but didn't find it anywhere.

Yes, it looks as if a student on DP receives preferential treatment to a student with student pass.

Check this link:
http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissi ... -students/

And scroll down to the "Categorisation of International Students" section.

Thanks! So other than the fact that LTSVP cannot work, another disadvantage is child on LTSVP need to apply student pass. I knew the former but didn't know about the latter.