What To Do & Why, When a Singapore PR Application is Rejected?

If your Singapore Permanent Residency (PR) application has been rejected, you should re-apply. Re-applying should not be taken lightly because if rejected again, your chances are lower. Not to mention the long waiting time you need to go through again.

Having said that, this article explores why your Singapore PR application is rejected, and what you can do differently like setting up your own business to increase your success rate in re-application.

It is best to wait for at least 6 months before you re-apply and use that time to improve your case: get a higher salary, obtain property, get involved in community work or invest in your education.

There’s no limit on how many times you can submit documents for Permanent Residency. Quite a lot of law-abiding and perfectly eligible candidates get rejected every year, so if you don’t get your PR status at the first attempt, don’t give up.

Many Singaporeans have expressed concern over the number of new citizens accepted into Singapore in 2017 which were slightly more than 22,000, the second highest in the last 11 years.

Especially so now, when economies are suffering from the pandemic, there is strong patriotism to support for local Singaporean talent and businesses. The government is being careful and tightening measures on immigration.

Although the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) does not state any specific criteria related to approval or rejection, there are valid reasons as to why a Singapore PR application may have been rejected.

• Missing information in online form submission

ICA uses online submission of forms. Once the system detects empty values, the application will be automatically rejected.

• Mismatch of compulsory documents

For example, the system asks for a degree, but you have provided a professional certification.

Back to basics, ICA evaluates your integration to society, potential contribution and commitment to Singapore through:

As an EP holder, you would be in a strategic management level position at work, with a tertiary or degree qualification, pay taxes, and maybe you volunteer or are part of a society. What else?

Consider this: You are just 1 out of 177,100 (as of Dec 2020) employment pass holders in Singapore.

To stand out, our best suggestion is to directly invest in the economy and upgrade your work visa to a more “prestigious” EntrePass.

Our suggestion is to upgrade to an EntrePass and invest directly into our economy. An analysis on why EntrePass holders would have higher chances of PR approval:

1. EntrePasses have specific criterion encouraging local investments

To obtain an EntrePass as an investor, you should have substantial local investments and your portfolio is partly tech (to comply with EntrePass requirements), and the rest in other investments.

2. EP holders and EntrePass holders are on different standings

MOM recognises EP and S Passes as part of the foreign workforce in Singapore. On the other hand, EntrePass holders are known as foreign business owners.

Owning and running a business of your own in Singapore illustrates a deep desire to establish yourself within the country’s corporate scene.

As a business owner, you move one step away from being part of the general workforce. You directly contribute to local suppliers you use. If you hire local employees, you pay into their central provident funds. If you bring overseas sales, you are growing our foreign direct investments.

If your PR is already rejected once, do things differently and avoid repeating the same mistakes. Become an active contributor to the economy by running your own business in Singapore and in expansion, you may hire local staff too. If are directly contributing to the salaries of local employees, you have a strong case.