Tips
There are several reasons why people look to immigrate to Singapore. For starters, it has a growing economy which provides endless opportunities. It’s also a safe country to live in, has good healthcare, excellent education, fairer taxation, etc. The number of PR applications received by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) exceeds 100,000 every year. Yet, only 30,000 are approved each year.
The best way to even your chances for approval is to ensure first if you’re eligible for the programme and then prepare all the necessary documents. With only a 7-day time limit from the start of the application process, you have to ensure you have all documents available and ready to be uploaded.
To help you draw up a checklist of the required documents, here are the 10 important documents you’ll need to apply for a Singapore PR.
The ICA requires all PR applicants to submit a digital passport-sized photograph. To ensure uniformity in picture quality, the ICA has pre-defined specifications and settings for each submitted photo.
The ICA-approved photograph size is 35 mm X 45 mm (WxH). As a digital image on the e-website, the acceptable size must be 400 X 514 pixels. The photograph should also not be larger than 1MB with a camera resolution of at least 2MB. The digital photo should be in either JPG or JPEG picture format.
The ICA mandates that the picture finish should be Matt or Semi-Matt. This applies only to photographs that were not taken by a digital camera. Matt/Semi-Matt finish eliminates distracting shadows or shine that could appear naturally when a non-digital photograph is scanned and uploaded.
The digital camera used must have a resolution of at least 2.0 megapixels. A digital camera is preferred since it usually has automatic settings to set the proper white balance, focus, and exposure.
The photograph must be taken with a white background. There should be no distracting shadows or stains on the white background.
PR applicants and sponsors are required to upload clear copies of valid travel documents and passes. This includes the current international passports of both applicants and sponsors. The ICA mandates that an acceptable international passport must have a minimum validity period of at least six months from the date of application.
Additionally, only the biodata page of the passports should be uploaded. The required photograph size of these travel documents should be less than 2MB.
A valid immigration pass includes any of the following:
Education documents are required to ascertain the highest level of education the applicant has attained. As such, not all PR applicants are required to submit education certificates. Applicants required to submit education certificates include persons that fall into any of these categories:
The educational documents required to be submitted include the following, where applicable:
PR applicants are expected to provide a copy of a valid means of identification. All documents should also be less than 2MB and a notarised translation attached when the language used is not English.
Valid identification and profile documents, if applicable, include:
PR applicants and their sponsors are required to declare their current employment status. This helps ICA to understand the financial capabilities of the applicant and the relevant sponsor. International students are not required to submit this document since it doesn’t apply to them. The document should also be less than 2MB.
Applicants under the PTS scheme can make use of testimonials from previous employers. If applicable, self-employed applicants must provide their valid Business Registration Certificate, occupational license and partners’ names.
All PR applicants must include Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) consent forms. Additionally, sponsors are mandated to provide consent forms from the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board.
Applicants must include a letter from their employer dated within a month prior to the start of the application process. The letter should expressly state:
PR applicants, as well as their spouses (if applicable), are required to complete the declaration forms and append their signatures before scanning and uploading them. All fields must be completed with accurate and verifiable information. In addition, each of the signatures must be clear and properly signed. Signed declaration forms serve as confirmation to ICA that all information provided is valid.
This is among the documents required to confirm the applicant’s marital status. It is only applicable to PR applicants that are married or have been married. It helps ICA ascertain the ties between the applicant and possible sponsor/dependant. These documents include:
Other supporting documents required if the applicant is married include:
This applies to applicants with child(ren), whether biological or adopted. The required supporting documents include:
ICA’s official language is English. However, when documents have information not written in English, applicants must include a notarised translation for each document. Notarised translation can be done by a local Notary Public or the embassy of the country in which the document was issued.
Applicants are not required to submit these documents during the application stage. They are only supporting documents/paperwork that helps ICA understand the applicant and build a profile on them. These documents do not guarantee that an application will be approved. They include:
Examples of supporting documents that may be asked for during subsequent evaluation include:
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of documents and paperwork required when applying to become a PR. However, with proper preparation, you should be able to provide everything that’s needed before starting your application. ICA requests these documents for a good reason, and that’s to ascertain the economic and social relevance of applicants to the growth of Singapore.
If you want to ensure all the documents you submit are accurate, you should engage an immigration consultant. They would be able to vet the documents you are submitting as well as advise you to add any documents you have missed or remove the ones not required. Increase your chances of getting a positive response by including all the important documents required.
