What to do When ICA Rejects Your PR?
I like to share stories so let's start by sharing my wife's PR story.
I married her in Sep 2010 and I applied LTVP for her, then in May 2011, I applied PR for her, waited for about 6 months and it was rejected with no reason given, boy was I pissed, but I knew I was simply trying my luck so I had no intention to appeal nor submit it again as soon as possible, that is because I did a lot of research on this topic, spoke to a couple of friends, co-workers and relatives, and I realized that if there is not much change from point of submission to appeal, then there is really no point to appeal.
For spousal PR application, ICA will assess both of our eligibility, just look at the Form 4, they want to know our occupation, salary, education level, number of children, then they will also want to know our IRAS and CPF information, so what I'm saying is if there is not much change in those information, then really no point to appeal or submit soon.
So for my wife's case, her first PR application was rejected in Nov 2011, we submitted again in Oct 2013, about 23 months later, so we waited for almost two years, finally her second application was approved last month, this time we waited about 9 months.
So from Nov 2011 (first PR reject) until Oct 2013 (second PR application), what has changed for us?
- My salary increased from $2850 to $3480.
- I was converted to permanent position in my company.
- We tried having baby but my wife had a miscarriage, not sure if they check hospital record, not sure if this even helps at all.
- I started to pay income tax.
- My CPF contribution was consistent and grew as I remained employed with annual increment.
As for my wife she didn't have much change since she was and is still a housewife.
But I don't think they gave my wife her PR just because of the above, let's look at what has changed from Oct 2013 (second PR application) to Jul 2014 (PR application approved).
- We bought our 2-room resale flat.
I have a gut feeling that buying a flat helps, or maybe not, well I shared my experience and I hope it can be a good reference to someone out there, ultimately I feel that PR application is like entering a lucky draw, win happy, lose move on.
Good luck.
Comments
how long will they take to respond for the appeal ?
I am pretty time tied as my wife LTVP is expiring in mid Nov, so from now until then only left 3 months.
Yes, maybe buying a flat helps in securing the PR status, come to think of it, as ICA may be more assured that both of you are serious about starting a family in Singapore. Maybe you could share more about your experience in buying a two-room resale flat in your blog in future, if you haven't done so, as I am also planning to buy a flat (either two-room BTO or resale) under Non-Citizen Spouse Scheme, and readers like myself may be able to learn and benefit from reading about your experience.
Best wishes to you and yours.
I have mostly recorded in my blog, you can check out the following links:
http://marrythaigirlsingapore.blogspot.sg/search/label/Housing
http://marrythaigirlsingapore.blogspot.sg/p/home-purchase.html
Hope it helps!
Seems like your housing and financials are very stable, another thing I can think of is marriage duration.
When I apply for my wife the second time, it was in Oct 2013, that time we have been married for 3 years and 1 month, and by time of approval in Jul 2014, we have been married for 3 years and 10 months.
Another thing is nationality or race quota, I'm sure they have some kind of quota for each country and race for a certain period, could be by year, or could be by month.
And also children should play a part too. If you have children then you can appeal based on this, I think it's very hard for them not to grant PR to your wife based on compassionate grounds.
when I submitted in May we did not know that my wife already pregnant for 1 month already ... so I just sent them an appeal telling them that my wife is carrying one of SG's first few Jubilee baby boy.
keeping my fingers crossed.
I have a feeling your appeal will get approved, if I am the approving officer and your case is presented to me, there's no way I can say no again ;)
Wait for good news!
the letter is pretty straight forward ... just reject and also tell me that marriage does not guarantee PR.
anyway, I have submitted an appeal and still waiting for their reply ... but in the meantime, I guess i'll just have to extend her LTVP first.
@Unknown: resale flat lor.
"appealing" does not make anything any easier ... you still have to wait ... for even longer ... my first application was rejected in 3 months ... my appeal has been pending since Sep 14 !! I think should just reapply instead of wasting time waiting for them to look at my appeal ... furthermore, my baby already arrived on Xmas eve ...
but abit confused over here ... what are the fees that I need to pay ? there is the PR card fee, and then there is this re-entry permit fee - is this necessary ?
also for the med checkup, can do at polyclinic ? coz not many GPs for x-ray machine. my wife did not do the xray during LTVP as she was pregnant ... so not got to do for the PR thingy.
Yes the re-entry permit is necessary for her to leave and come back SG unlimited for 5 years, without it, once she leave SG she will lose her PR status.
Medical checkup can also be done at polyclinic, you can try outram poly or queenstown poly, less people so no need to wait so long.
anyway, due to work, had to resched the apt to two weeks later than go to do the formalities.
one more thing, its time to file income tax already (so fast!!) ... question; will it matter if my wife is permit holder or PR WHEN I file my returns ?
You can check out this link for the relief you are eligible: http://www.iras.gov.sg/irashome/page.aspx?id=9902
If she is not working, you can file for spouse relief, if she is working, she will need to file her return if her company is not under the auto-inclusion scheme.
hahnhahnhahn
It's quite common to wait so long, some people waited up to one year, nothing else you can do but wait ;)
And best of luck!
alternatively, you can approach you MP for assistance ... it will go a long long way. but make sure you have waited for some time already before going to your MP ... say after 2 years with a Singaporean kid.
Married for 4.5years, Husband Singaporean, 1 son and bought BTO 3years ago. Apply in Sept 2014, approved in 5 months.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
It has given me lots of insight on applications for LTVP, LTVP+ and PR. Thank you all, esp to site owner !
My Wife got LTVP (1 year) after we got married. 6 months to expiry, as she is pregnant, we applied for LTVP+, approved.
Within 1 month of getting LTVP+, I just apply PR for my wife. Waited for close to 7 months, today got mail. PR Approved.
Really abit shocked as it's our first time try.
To anyone, just apply for it. We really don't know the outcome, be it quota or any factors pertaining to it.
Ps. I'm just a normal working class. with minimum CPF, haven't bought a hdb.
Cheers.
Congratulations! I believe government is also aware that having PR will help us a lot. Nowadays not easy for those on EP to get PR, I believe they allocate more for families.
So those who have not try, just do it and maybe you will be in for a pleasant surprise!