20,693 granted citizenship last year, Parliament told

SINGAPORE — About eight in 10 people granted citizenship last year had stayed in Singapore for more than five years, while half had stayed for more than 10 years.

These numbers do not include the 2,735 minors who were granted citizenship, most of whom were born overseas to Singaporean parents. In all, 20,693 applicants were granted citizenship last year.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Grace Fu submitted these figures in Parliament yesterday in response to questions from Members of Parliament (MPs).

In 2011, 15,777 citizenships were granted, and 27,521 applicants were granted permanent residency, according to figures from the Department of Statistics.

Ms Fu also revealed that from 2008 to last year, an average of 4,100 new Permanent Residents (PRs) and 4,100 new Singapore citizens each year were foreign spouses sponsored by Singaporeans. Of these, about 82 per cent of the new PRs and 92 per cent of the new citizens were female.

During the same period, an average of 4,400 PR and 580 Singapore citizenship applications from foreign spouses sponsored by Singaporeans were rejected each year. Nine in 10 of the PR applicants and 86 citizenship applicants were female.

Asked by MP David Ong (Jurong GRC) whether “prominent” foreign citizens were given Singapore citizenship before they have resided in Singapore, Ms Fu clarified a period of residency in Singapore is “generally” required.

Citizenships are granted based on a set of criteria including the contribution of the applicant and their education level, she added.

Asked by Dr Lily Neo (Tanjong Pagar GRC) whether policies that could be taken advantage of, such as property ownership by PRs, could be tweaked, Ms Fu said the Government would try “as much as we can” to differentiate between the benefits for Singaporeans and PRs.

Mr Ong and Mr Baey Yam Keng (Tampines GRC) highlighted the plight of foreign spouses whose Singaporean spouses may have died, leaving them in “limbo”, or those who have been unsuccessful in applying for permanent residency or citizenship.

Asked of what the plans are for this group, Ms Fu said that if the applicants show that their marriage to the Singaporean spouse is stable, they stand a better chance of success than “those without family and without children”.

In the meantime, the foreign spouse can apply for the Long-Term Social Visit Pass and Long-Term Visit Pass Plus, which allows them to work.