A Singapore passport ranks among the top three best passports in the world,
attracting vast numbers of foreign nationals who desire to apply for Singapore citizenship every year. Once you obtain Singapore citizenship, you can benefit from health care subsidies, enhanced career opportunities, educational rewards, and more.
At Singapore Immigration Partners, we are dedicated to realising your goal of becoming a Singapore citizen. With over 8 years of experience, we have successfully helped diverse client profiles achieve approval.
Uncertain about how to apply for Singapore citizenship? Get in touch with us today.
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.
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 stay visa or even a PR status. While as a PR, you are only limited to sponsoring PRs for spouses and unmarried children under the age of 21.
Singaporean children are entitled to a government initiative called the Edusave Scheme.
This scheme rewards children who do well academically or non-academic activities. The scheme can also be utilized to pay for 2nd-Tier Miscellaneous Fees.
Furthermore, Singapore Citizens pays the lowest fees for public education and are entitled to substantial number 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 | $13 | $218 | $763 |
| Secondary | $25 | $400 | $1,420 |
| Pre-University | $33 | $497 | $1,777 |
The Central Provident Fund (CPF) scheme is such, in which a Singaporean or a 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, while Singapore citizens have further privileges.
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 ownership. But this is not applicable for a Singapore citizen.
Even for subsequent property ownerships, 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 first two children and up to S$10,000 cash bonus for the third and the fourth 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.
With that many windows of opportunities and incentives to apply Citizenship in Singapore, should you wish to find out more about your chances or how to apply for Singapore Citizenship, do not hesitate to contact us for a free consultation today!
You will first have to meet one of the eligibility criteria, such as having been a Singapore PR for at least 2 years and above the age of 21, as well as currently employed in Singapore. You will need to prepare mandatory documents, including your passport/identification/birth certificate, marriage/divorce certification, PR identification, foreign citizenship certification, and income tax contributions for the last 3 years. For business owners, it is also required to include your ACRA business profile. In addition to the documents listed, you will also need to fill up the application form for Singapore citizenship.
Once you have completed the above steps, you can choose to either submit your application online through ICA’s Electronic SG Citizenship Application or in person at ICA building. However, you will still have to book an appointment through their online appointment booking system.
The entire process will generally take about twelve months, or slightly even longer depending on the complexity of your application. You will be notified of the outcome of your application via mail.
Singapore does not permit dual citizenship. Therefore, all new citizens must renounce their existing citizenship at their respective embassies before completing the formalities to acquire Singapore citizenship. However, Singaporean children may hold dual citizenship until they are enlisted for NS (for males) or until they reach 21 years old.
Under the Enlistment Act, all male Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents (PRs) must fulfil National Service (NS) obligations. NS-liable individuals are required to register when they reach 16.5 years old and are scheduled for enlistment at age 18, usually before university enrolment following completion of Junior College (JC), Polytechnic, or Institute of Technical Education (ITE) studies.
Singapore Citizens and PRs can only withdraw excess funds from their CPF account upon reaching 55 years old, with the amount available for withdrawal being determined by the balance in your CPF account. Starting at age 65, you will receive a monthly payout from your CPF Retirement Account (RA) until your passing, with the payout amount depending on the remaining balance in your RA.
Gain a better understanding of the benefits of Singapore citizenship as well as the entire application process with our expert guidance.
Yes, but it can be an exceedingly tedious and complex process for you. The Government assesses over ten different aspects of your profile, with several additional criteria introduced in late 2019 that are not widely known. Our knowledge and experience are crucial in ensuring your application fully complies with these requirements, saving you time, effort, and money.
Every client’s case is different. We will explain your current chances and how you can improve them after reviewing your entire profile during the consultation.
If all the required documents are submitted correctly, applications will be processed within 12 months. For children born overseas to Singapore citizens, the processing time is typically within 2 months.
Contact Us
SGX Centre II 4 Shenton Way , #15-03 Singapore 068807
Tel +65 6980 0668
Copyright © 2023 Singapore Immigration Partners Pte. Ltd. | All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy