Applying for Permanent Residency

ICA lists eligibility categories rather than scheme names, and the categories are the whole of the published eligibility. They are: the spouse of a Singapore citizen or permanent resident, sponsored through ICA e-Service using the sponsor’s Singpass; an unmarried child aged below 21 born within the context of a legal marriage to, or legally adopted by, a citizen or permanent resident; an aged parent of a citizen who is at least 21 years old; a holder of an Employment Pass or an S Pass applying using their own Singpass; a student studying in Singapore who has passed at least one national examination — PSLE, or the GCE N, O or A levels — or who is in the Integrated Programme; and a foreign investor, whom ICA refers to the Economic Development Board for the Global Investor Programme.

Two things are worth being explicit about, because both are widely misstated. Eligibility follows from one of those categories and not from employment alone: holding a good job is not itself a category, although an Employment Pass or S Pass holder applying on their own Singpass is. And the names that circulate in the market for particular routes are not ICA’s names and are not used here.

The assessment factors ICA publishes are family ties to Singaporeans, economic contributions, qualifications, age, family profile and length of residency. ICA describes the purpose of that assessment as the applicant’s ability to contribute to Singapore and integrate into society, and their commitment to sinking roots.

There is no published score and no published threshold. ICA publishes no points system, no salary figure, no quota and no priority route, and this page states none, because a number invented to fill that gap would be a false statement on a licensed agency’s website.

ICA also states that it has no affiliation with any external migration agency or commercial entity claiming to be a Singapore immigration specialist, consultant or partner, and that it does not support or endorse such services. We set that out plainly because it bears on how much weight to give anyone who offers to improve an application’s chances.

The application is made online through ICA e-Service. Every person added to the application as an applicant must review the application form before it can be submitted, so an application that includes family members cannot be completed without them.

Singpass approval may take two to five working days. That is the identity step rather than the assessment, and it is worth allowing for it rather than starting an application against a deadline.

Applicants are informed by email or post, or can check the status online at MyICA or through the e-Service. Successful applicants receive an In-Principle Approval and are granted permanent residence once the necessary conditions are fulfilled.

ICA states that it processes most applications within 6 months if documents are in order, and that some applications take longer. National service liability is set out at length by ICA, and every male applicant must read the Central Manpower Base information.

ICA publishes no appeal, no reapplication rule and no cooling-off period for a rejected application, and this page states none. That is a gap in what is published, not an omission here.