Singapore Citizenship
Our Smooth & Stress-free Immigration Service
The Government’s Selective Immigration model demands any eligible and outstanding Singapore Permanent Resident be sure-footed in their applications.
On top of that, there are numerous contributing factors to a robust citizenship application that our team will be able to concisely present to clients.
Singapore Citizen applications are usually lengthy and complicated. Therefore, they require a considerable amount of time during the screening and decision-making phases over at ICA. At The Immigration People, we work together with all clients to see that no stone is left unturned when applying for citizenship in Singapore and we will ensure the entire application will not be a waste of resources.
All approved clients have up to two months to complete the three components of the Singapore Citizenship Journey (SCJ) before they can complete citizenship formalities and receive their pink National Registration Identity Cards (NRICs) and citizenship certificates. This comes in the form of the SCJ mainly partitioned into the e-Journey, the Singapore Experiential Tour and the Community Sharing session.
Fret not, we will be with you throughout the entire journey on how to apply Singapore Citizen and shall advise you accordingly when it comes to your Singapore Citizenship eligibility, from your application process and till you receive your In-Principle Approval (IPA) letter.
Benefits Of A Singapore Citizenship Status
Singapore ranks in the Top 3 of the best passports in the world and this makes its citizenship rights one of the most attractive to many foreigners – resulting in a large number of candidates wanting to apply for Singapore Citizenship every year. While many benefits and perks come along with holding a citizenship status in Singapore, there are also its own set of obligations. Citizens of Singapore are expected to comply with the country’s regulations and duties imposed. The benefits are:
With the country’s strong bilateral ties, Singapore Passport holders face few travel restrictions across the world. One gets to enjoy the freedom and flexibility of Visa-free travel to different countries without needing to apply for any travelling pass with their respective embassies, which may take up to weeks to approve for some.
A Singapore citizen gets to enjoy a more considerable amount of subsidy for medical and hospitalization bills in Public Hospitals, Polyclinics and National Centres compared to a PR and a foreigner.
Furthermore, there are additional government subsidies to finance the medical expenses of needy Singaporeans only.
Singaporean children are entitled to a government initiative called the Edusave Scheme.
This scheme rewards children who do well in either their academic or non-academic activities and can also be used to help pay for the 2nd-Tier Miscellaneous Fee.
Furthermore, Singapore Citizens pay the lowest fees for public education and are entitled to the most immense amount of subsidies for private and tertiary education.
The table below shows a comparison of the latest, maximum rates of school (including Miscellaneous Fees) payable monthly.
For more information, you may visit the Ministry Of Education website to know more:
https://www.moe.gov.sg/admissions/international-students/general-info
| Level | Singapore Citizen (S$) | Singapore PR (S$) | International Student (S$) |
| Primary | 6.50-13 | 280 | 545-935 |
| Secondary | 5-25 | 560 | 970-1,910 |
| Pre-U | 6-33 | 640 | 1,170-2,260 |
Similar to a PR, there are always more job openings available to Singaporean citizens and PRs based on the current government’s policies to ensure the locals are first and given priority in the job opportunity.
A Singapore citizen is entitled to sponsor his/her direct family members – spouse, unmarried children under the age of 21, born within a legal marriage or legally adopted and aged parents to obtain a long-term staying visa or even a PR status.
Whereas as a PR, you are only limited to sponsoring PRs for spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21.
The Central Provident Fund (CPF) scheme, in which a Singaporean employee or PR employee and their employer have to contribute a monthly minimum amount to the employee’s pension fund.
The CPF scheme helps the individual financially when it comes to home-ownership, health care, children’s education, family protection and asset growth through investments and higher interest rates given.
CPF contributions can also be a form of tax relief, hence, resulting in a lower taxable income per year.
If one has been a PR for more than 2 years, the employees’ CPF contribution is the same as a Singapore Citizen.
For more information, you may visit: https://www.cpf.gov.sg/members
(i) Public Housings
Unlike Singapore PRs who are only entitled to purchase resale public housings (HDB) owned and managed by the Government after being a PR for at least 2 years, Singapore citizens have a further privilege.
They are eligible to own and rent apartments from the HDB once they are over the age of 21 years old. In addition, any Singapore citizen who is owning a property for the very first time is allowed to purchase the government’s Built-To-Order (BTO) flats, which are further subsidized by the Government.
For more information, you may check out: https://www.hdb.gov.sg/cs/infoweb/homepage
(ii) Taxes For Residential Properties
As a Singapore citizen, it is a lot easier to borrow various loans such as a housing loan should they want to buy property as compared to foreigners.
While a Singapore PR or foreigner needs to pay an Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) for even their first property owned, this is not applicable for a Singapore citizen.
Even for subsequent properties owned, the stamp duty payable for a citizen is considerably lesser as compared to being a PR or foreigner.
The Singapore Government has implemented various measures to encourage and help Singaporeans at each stage or aspect of their journey as parents and also to address the broader set of concerns that have been preventing Singaporeans from having larger families. These measures include:
- Making Child Birth More Affordable – Singapore citizens can use Medisave to pay for pre-delivery medical expenses (e.g. ultrasound scans) in addition to delivery expenses, for all their children.
- Enhanced Baby Bonus – A cash bonus of up to S$8,000 for the 1st 2 children and up to S$10,000 cash bonus for the 3rd and 4th child of a Singaporean family.
- Parenthood Tax Rebate and Working Mother’s Child Relief – Provides a lump sum tax rebate of S$10,000 – S$20,000, depending on the birth order of the child. There will also be a tax relief of 5% – 25% of a working mother’s (of a Singaporean child) earned income, depending on the number of children in the family.
- Infant Care Subsidy – Parents of Singapore Citizen infants aged, 2-18 months and attending licensed infant or child care centres, will receive an infant-care subsidy of up to S$400 per month.
- Foreign Domestic Worker Levy Concession – Singaporean families with children aged 12 years and below will only pay an FDW Levy of S$250.
No Dual Nationality
Singapore does not allow dual citizenship. Hence, all new citizens are required to renounce their existing citizenship at their respective embassies before they can complete the formalities to become Singapore citizens.
However, Singaporean child(ren) may hold dual citizenship till enlistment for NS (for males) or till 21 years old.
National Service
Under the Enlistment Act, all male Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs) are required to serve the National Service (NS).
NS-liable individuals are required to register for NS upon reaching 16.5 years old.
They will be scheduled for enlistment at the age of 18 years old, typically before enrolment for university studies, after completion of Junior College (JC) / Polytechnic / Institute of Technical Education (ITE).
Limitations For CPF Withdrawal
Singapore Citizens and PRs are allowed to withdraw the excess amount from their CPF account upon reaching the age of 55.
The amount withdrawable depends on the balances in your respective CPF account. From age 65 onwards, you will receive a monthly payout from your CPF Retirement Account (RA) till death. The monthly payout depends on the amount of money left in your RA.
For more information on CPF contributions, accounts, withdrawals and payout, refer to: https://www.cpf.gov.sg/Members
Eligibility Requirements
For Singapore Citizenship
To moderate the impact of ageing and low birth rates in our citizen population and to prevent it from shrinking over the longer term, Singapore grants approximately 22,000 new citizenships annually, to individuals who are committed to making Singapore their home. These individuals either share family ties with Singaporeans or have studied, worked or lived here for some time as Permanent Residents.
If you are considering applying for Singapore citizen and are wondering how to apply for Singapore Citizenship, do look through the table below to have a clear picture of Singapore Citizenship requirements.
The following categories of individuals are eligible for a Singapore Citizenship application if they satisfy one of the following criteria:
| 1 |
|
| 2 |
|
| 3 |
|
| 4 |
|
| 5 |
|
In addition to satisfying the above requirements, the Government also takes into account the following factors for a Citizenship candidate:
|
|
With over 45 years of collective experience in citizenship application Singapore, we believe in sharing and educating people to better understand the process instead of holding back the information.
This is unique to us. Most agencies hide the main points you should be aware of when applying for Singapore Citizenship, worrying that the general public will use this knowledge and ultimately lose business. But we believe in unscrambling the mystery to educate and empower all.
With a tailor-made approach to suit each specific client profile, let us help you out with your Singapore Citizen application.
Get started today. Reach out to us to understand how we can assist with how to become a Singapore Citizen, guiding you through the time-consuming document preparation process and enhancing your chances to become a Singapore citizen. Speak to our immigration experts today.
Please share with us some details about your needs, we will get back to you.
