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Showing posts with the label Immigration

Singapore Passport Change to 10 Years

May 07, 2021

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singapore-passport-validity-increase-10-years-applications-october Nice, somehow every 5 years feel like I got older, but then every 10 years probably will feel even worse, anyway the point is it will be less troublesome, no need to renew every 5 years. It will start from 1st Oct 2021, so if you want to renew passport, might as well wait after that, anyway most people will probably not be going anywhere this year, if you do have to go out of Singapore, then it will be at your own risk so make your own assessment carefully, think again, and again. And the application fee is the same, still S$70, cool, strangely ICA didn't take this opportunity to increase price, they could probably just increase to S$100 and people will be lan lan anyway. Speaking of going somewhere, damn bloody long never go Thailand, wish I could go Phuket or something, but then with the Covid not getting better, recently actually got worse, I think I will probably just stay p...

Have to Renew Wife's Re-Entry Permit Soon

May 22, 2019

She got her PR in 2014, so fast coming to 5 years this Aug 2019. Good thing e-services these days are so advanced, can do it anytime anywhere, so I think I'll renew online maybe early Aug, probably can get results within a week or so, ICA very efficient so I trust them to get things done fast.

Collected Passport at iCollect

September 15, 2018

This morning went to ICA building to collect my passport, the collection mode is iCollect, but very strange that I still need to book appointment for it, even though it is fully self-service. Anyway when I reached there so many people at the eLobby, now they have so many kiosks there but not sure those are for what purpose. The iCollect kiosks only two, only wait for one couple to collect then my turn. The procedure same like my first time , only difference is now need to do iris enrolment, it's just a new piece of device to scan for eye images, need to scan 3 times, quite fast. Overall I think less than 3 minutes done, technology is awesome.

Applied Passport at ICA APPLES

August 18, 2018

Applying for passport in Singapore is so easy, only 3 steps, 15 minutes settled. Hopefully next week can collect. 1. Take selfie against white background, try not to have shadow. 2. Fill up simple online form, attach photo. 3. Pay $70 via credit card. I think even best if can send to home, but I guess still have to go down to ICA to collect, hope can use the iCollect, I remember it was super easy and fast back when I used it in 2013 .

Changes to PR Application

November 02, 2017

So from 18 Dec 2017 all have to submit online, no more counter submission, which is a good thing, can do at own convenience, hope they have a draft system so can progressively update, imagine you update halfway then have to do it all over again lol. Also seems like the application fees will be revised but not sure go up or go down. When my wife got hers, we paid total of $200 ; $100 for entry permit, $50 for re-entry permit ($10 per year for 5 years), $50 for blue IC. So new system they only mentioned the Entry Permit but never mention the Re-Entry Permit. Anyway I guess people don't mind la, can get PR is already worth celebrating, who cares about that few dollars.

Thinking of Moving to Thailand

February 27, 2017

Link to Royal Thai Embassy Singapore. So I checked out their Non-Immigrant Visa-O (Thai Spouse), have two doubts so I emailed them and got a reply. 4. A Letter from the Applicant’s Thai spouse This is a letter from the Thai spouse to the embassy to request for my visa to stay with her in Thailand. Still not quite sure what the content should be, I guess something like writing to the embassy and requesting permission for me to stay with her. 5. Bank statement (At least 400,000 Baht) The staff said the bank statement can be from my Singapore bank account equivalent to 400,000 Thai Baht, that's about 16,140 Singapore dollars. I also asked whether I can work in Thailand with the visa, the staff say cannot, hmm, like that how to make money to survive, seems kind of strange.

Lucky Can Get Extension

May 25, 2015

This morning I brought MIL and wife's cousin to ICA at around 8am+, also long queue at level 4 but lucky clear quite fast, I went to the same counter staff and told her this time I brought everything and she said MIL can but wife's cousin subject to approval, then she gave me a queue ticket. By the way I used back the same forms she gave me, filled it up so no need to fill again, just need to fill in the date, all signed. So we went inside and waited for queue number, also quite fast, they have several counters so no need to wait so long. Finally our turn, I told the officer I wanted to extend MIL and wife's cousin visit pass, I introduced and said the cousin is MIL's sister's son lol, she said huh and told me MIL can but the cousin cannot, then I started to worry, she then asked whether they travel together and I said yes, she looked at the cousin, he is 15 years old, then she frowned and seemed to be thinking, and then I explained that my wife gave birth last we...

Super Long Queue at ICA

May 23, 2015

So yesterday MIL and wife's cousin social visit pass online extension got rejected, this morning I woke up at 6.30am and brought them to ICA. We reached there at about 7.30am, the security guard told everyone to queue up by the side entrance, they don't want people to crowd at the main entrance, end up the queue is ridiculously long, SG, PR, foreigners all one queue, can imagine how long, can fight with Hello Kitty queue, so instead of queuing, I brought them for breakfast at golden mile food centre, ate the Bak Chor Mee not bad. After breakfast, at about 8.30am, we went back and the queue disappeared as expected, we went to the ticket counter at level 4, queue also long but at least clear quite fast, finally our turn and the counter staff told me to prove my relationship with my wife, I didn't bring my ROM cert so cannot prove, she also asked about the cousin, that one I really stunned, then she handed me two form 14 and said, "subjected to approval lor", NB, m...

Mother-in-law and Cousin Short Term Visit Pass

May 03, 2015

They entered Singapore on 01 May, they were granted 30 days stay so I wanted to confirm the last day of their stay. ICA have this tool for public to use, basically just add 30 calendar days to the day of their entry i.e. 01 May + 30 days is 31 May last day, another example is 01 Jun + 30 days is 01 Jul last day since Jun only have 30 days. So right now still not confirm whether I need to extend their stay, if need be I can do it online or bring them to ICA, now I'm more concerned with my wife's hospitalization on 05 May.

Pre-Marriage Long-Term Visit Pass Assessment

March 14, 2015

https://www.ica.gov.sg/apply/PMLTVP/apply_PMLTVP_nonresident I learned about this new procedure from one of my visitors, I took a look and this new thing is not what I expected, at first I thought it's something to help our group of people, but seems like this is more to screen the couples first before they get married, last time is marry first then apply for LTVP, now is apply for this pre-marriage assessment before you get married, if don't apply, will face longer LTVP processing time, according to this page , under Processing Time, can be up to 6 months! "Those who did not go through the Pre-Marriage LTVP Assessment will be subjected to longer processing time of up to 6 months." What I can see is this is a new strategy to control the SG/Foreigner couple population, obviously Singaporeans who cannot meet their hidden criteria will not be granted the Letter of LTVP Eligibility, and even if they go ahead and get married, they will have to wait up to 6 months for...

Just Noticed This Advertisement Haha

December 13, 2014

How to Get Singapore PR with 90% success rate, haha sure or not, how come they can game the system? I thought ICA is trying to stop people from gaming the system and how come there is such a company doing such a business??? 90% Success Rate Speaking of PR, nowadays so many working class foreigners get PR, how come they don't give PR to spouse of citizens instead, really bullshit. And PR makes a HUGE difference for family planning, because with PR, it's possible to apply for BTO which is way cheaper than buying from the resale market, furthermore, healthcare costs are generally halved from what foreigners pay, yes I understand that there are foreigners who love Singapore and want to settle down here, fine but they should have been working here for a few years before being allowed to get PR, some I know of they get PR within a year, how can that be, and yet some spouse of citizen cannot get PR even after staying here for 7 or 8 years! Doesn't make any sense, especial...

My Wife Got Her Singpass

November 21, 2014

Just received her Singpass login details and I tried to login to CPF successfully, I think her CPF account was created because I applied Medishield for her. Just want to remind all fellow Singaporeans with foreign spouse, once your wife gets PR, be sure to apply Medishield for him/her, if you can afford it, private shield plans from NTUC, Aviva or Prudential are the best, hospitalization is not joking matter and healthcare cost is very high in Singapore, one big illness or operation can burn a big hole or put you in huge debt if you are not shielded. Anyway when applying Singpass for my wife, I noticed that LTVP+ holders can also apply for Singpass, I wonder since when they implement, anyway good move, I also hope they can allow LTVP holder to apply for Singpass. Now I'm waiting for my wife's Medishield to be approved, wonder how it is going, login to CPF and it only says successfully processed, anyway at the end of 2015, CPF Life will come into effect, I think it's goo...

My Wife's Long-time Friend is Coming to Visit

September 07, 2014

When my wife settled down in Singapore after our marriage, she went to look for a job at a Thai restaurant and met some new friends, they are all married to Singaporeans, all the husbands including me were waiting outside the restaurant haha, and that was 4 years ago. That time she met a young girl, I think 1 or 2 years older than my wife, they got along well because they are both from Isaan, I think also same province, both from Udon. So 4 years later which is today, my wife still remains in contact with her, now the girl has one baby girl and is currently pregnant with another baby, heard from my wife that her current pregnancy has been 5 months, while we are still childless, sad. Anyway her friend will visit our humble flat with her baby later, around 11am, and I think my wife might be pregnant again because she said that when her friend comes, she will use a pregnancy test kit to check, I hope it's good news. I heard from my wife that her friend don't get along well wit...

Wife Completed PR Formalities

August 21, 2014

Our appointment was at 1.45pm, we reached ICA building at 1pm and registered at about 1.05pm, the PR services centre at level 5 was quite empty so we didn't have to wait long, about 10 minutes later our number was called, we went to submit my wife's passport, her long-term visit pass plus (ICA will keep this), 2 passport size photograph taken at the same level (4 pieces for $5), the approval letter, paid $200 by NETS ($100 for entry permit, $50 for re-entry permit, $50 for blue IC), and finally collected my wife's entry and re-entry permit and a slip of paper to register an appointment to collect her blue IC. And she got a new IC number starting with S, her G number is no longer in use. The whole process ended before 1.45pm, faster than expected, I thought we will be stuck there for at least 2 hours lol. And just to share an incident while taking photo at the level 5, the uncle insisted that my wife put on a coat for her photograph, I checked the approval letter and there...

What to do When ICA Rejects Your PR?

August 20, 2014

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 ca...

First-Time LTVP Applicant is Required to be Present in Singapore

August 20, 2014

Thanks to an anonymous visitor who encountered this issue and also updated back to this blog. The reason why first-time applicant is required to be present in Singapore is because when the applicant submits the application online at e-VP , one of the mandatory field is DE Card Number, this number comes from the white card a visitor gets when he/she enters Singapore. For renewal, there is no such requirement. I have attached following screenshots from the original posting for reference, the comments was posted at How to Marry a Thai in Singapore . Original Comments

Just Received the PR In-Principal Approval Letter

July 21, 2014

First thing that comes to my mind is how much will it cost, according to the letter, it says in order to get the PR, my wife needs to complete formalities, provide 2 passport sized photographs taken in last 3 months, $5 for 4 pieces at ICA building, do a medical checkup, should be around $50 for TB scan and HIV test, $100 for entry permit, $50 for 5 years re-entry permit (leaving and entering Singapore for multiple journeys), $50 for identity card, I think it's the blue card, so total is 5+50+100+50+50=$255, wow, kind of pricey but well, PR has its perks so I think it's worth paying. Update: Just finished filling up the medical report part and remembered that my wife went for checkup in Nov or Dec 2012 when she renewed her LTVP so no need to checkup again since the report is valid for 2 years, the PR letter also say no need if the report was submitted to ICA no more than 2 years, so can save $50 ;)

PR Application Appointment have to Wait Up to 7 Months or More

July 18, 2014

After my wife learned of her successful application, she shared the good news with her fellow Thai friends who are also married here, one of them said she booked the appointment to submit documents but the appointment is 7 months later! I also checked with my colleague who is a Malaysian and he is interested in getting PR, he said his friend have to wait for 8 months just for the appointment! I think too many people applying for PR, first time we applied the appointment is only one month away, nowadays so long, what if you wait 7 months for the appointment and then another 7 months for the outcome and they tell you rejected and you will be damn frustrated, long wait for nothing.

Wife's PR Application Approved!

July 17, 2014

Wow, what a pleasant surprise when I log in to ICA iEnquiry today, I have been checking almost everyday for the past 8 months, finally today I see "Approved" and not " Pending ", haha. PR Approved! I think it was approved this week but not sure which day because I have not been checking earlier this week as I was quite busy at work, reach home also forget, now we just need to wait for the official approval letter from ICA, should receive it soon. Ahhhh, finally, by the way this was our second try, first time was in 2011 right after election , well you probably can guess why it was rejected, then we tried again in Oct 2013, finally we got it, thanks to whoever approved it, long wait though, Oct 2013 until Jul 2014, about 8-9 months.

Wife's PR is Still Pending

July 11, 2014

From October last year until now is about 8 months, I wonder when we can get the result, how come they need so long to determine whether my wife can get PR or not, or maybe too many people applying for PR, so much that they are overloaded. But actually when I think about it, it doesn't really make a hell lot of difference whether she is on PR or LTVP+, yeah with PR see doctor will be cheaper, can get rebate for HDB, much easier to find work, renew every 5 years, what else, all these are not going to make a hell lot of difference because it's just too expensive to live in Singapore, and so stressful here. I am dreaming of one day when I can rent out my flat, have some dividends from stocks, some income from this blog, and then I go live in Thailand at my wife's house, I will do some farming for income, but mainly to keep myself active, or probably teach people computing if there is a demand, and then take my own sweet time to enjoy life, go tour the countryside, everyday...

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