Many of our blog’s readers are actually foreigners and expats travelling to Singapore and have lots of questions about immigration and migrating to SG. Singapore is a hot spot for foreigners looking to become a permanent resident, and many apply for a Singapore PR yearly to work here as well as to live here. In this post, we go through common concerns by foreigners who are applying for a Singapore PR such as whether your place of studies in the past matters, if changing jobs during the process of applying will affect you negatively, and more.
Since some friends have also been bugging me on this matter, I decided to write this post instead of repeating one by one to them which is a lot of additional work for me. This is just general tips based on my personal past experience as well as what other fellow expat friends who migrated to SG have experienced in the past. For more information, always check out ICA’s website.
Most of my readers are executive expats, as they are also interested in my other posts regarding meeting pretty girls in the country. And one of the biggest concerns that many expat readers of my blog working as an executive in SG ask me is whether they should wait for their PR applications to be approved first before picking up another high paying job, or if they should just do it while they are still applying. If you want the short answer to this question, you should only change jobs during an permanent resident application process if any logical person in your situation will also change careers. For instance, if you are currently a Vice President at a company, and are being headhunted to be the Chief Executive Officer of a reputable business, and the pay is double your current, then most sane human beings in your position would change jobs too. In such a case, most of the times, you can safely change your careers and simply notify ICA of this with some explanatory notes, identity details and evidence. Additionally, the pay is significantly higher and it will help your case in applying for and getting your PR. However, if you are simply changing careers due to job hopping, then that can be seen as a negative factor, and cause your application to be thrown aside and you being seen as a weak candidate by ICA.
Another common concern is whether you had studied in the country before, and if that can help you boost your chances of getting the permanent residency approved. There are two sides to this coin. If you had only studied in the country as a regular student, using it as part of the explanatory notes to help you in applying will only result in a near negligible difference. However, if you were a scholar and were also actively participating in the school’s activities and curriculum, you now stand additional chances over others. Being a scholar always works, as Singapore is an Asian culture country, and the general public tends to look up to scholars, whether or not that is founded. So depending on your situation, you should include it in your explanatory notes.
Some people also ask me if going the investor route will be the best route in getting their PR in Singapore approved. Let me put it this way – the richer you are, and the more over qualified you are, the higher your chances of success. Therefore, if you can afford it, and would like to explore the investor route, it is definitely one of the faster ways to getting your PR versus other methods. Of course, good explanatory notes are still absolutely essential for your application to see success.
