A case where a European couple applied for Singapore PR under the Sponsored Scheme. Challenges include ethnicity quota, age and income bracket, and presenting an easy-to-understand profile on career.
Sponsored PR Application for Husband
Application Details
| Gender | Wife sponsoring Husband |
| Country of Origin | Netherlands |
| Ethnicity | Caucasian |
| Education | Bachelors, Masters Degrees + Various Professional Certifications |
| Occupation | Finance Professionals |
| Social Integration | Regular Donations + Volunteering |
| Number of Years in SG | 7 years |
| Reason for Application | Have been seeking the assurances as husband and wife to attain PR status for some time now. Taking care of ageing parent who is dependent on the sponsor. Elevated need for family to be together during and after Covid-19 and both Sponsor and Applicant sees themselves to be based long-term in Singapore till retirement. |
PR Application Challenges: Age, Niche Skills, Financial Standing
- Both applicant and sponsor are highly worried about their age. Sponsor being in her mid 40s and applicant already in the 50s. Published reports from the government on approval age demographics dampened their confidence
- Applicant has a very wide variety of accreditations and academic professional qualifications + short courses. All of which are highly relevant to his present role as Advisor and CFO for an investment company. They are very concerned on how to bring up the complexity of such niche skillsets in a way that ICA will understand
- Afraid that their present combined income is lesser than some of their other expat friends who had attained PR but with much higher income brackets. Difficult to undo the notion that the ICA will predominantly assess financial well-being above all else.
Profile Attractiveness Score – 72.5%
Disclaimer: Please note that this scoring system and analysis is only based on IASG’s knowledge and expertise and is in no way a standard metric to be used to gauge Singapore PR approvals. IASG is not liable for any consequences of the usage of this scoring system and analysis by any person.
Talent & Industry Representation – 85%
The main applicant is a very seasoned finance professional and investor. Have held leadership positions and built a career over 32 years within the financial services industry. The Singapore government has long recognised that this is indeed a sector that is severely lacking in top talent.
Additionally, the applicant is also adept in business management and financial planning, in the fields of architect of finance and business planning, audit legal and tax compliance, and people development. He has taken up roles such as Manager of Commercial and Business Planning, Consultant.
As Singapore is also keen to build on an already thriving startup ecosystem, applicants’ current focus on pre-seed, seed, and raising capital for investments across the tech sector, F&B, and transportation sectors across the Southeast Asian markets from Singapore is highly attractive.
On the sponsor front, spouse is currently also employed within the financial services sector for one of the biggest local banks, cementing added stability in their profile credentials.
Financial Stability & Grounding in Singapore – 75%
Both applicant and sponsor have a combined household income that is within the healthy range of typical approvals. Additionally, sponsor is already invested in a public housing unit and has never been based outside of Singapore. The applicant is no stranger to Singapore, having been based here for 15 years and very assimilated culturally and in business. Liquid finances wise, assets are mostly in Singapore.
Social Integration Efforts – 80%
Both applicant and sponsor have been strongly grounded in community work in their residential neighbourhood. They have strong rapport with neighbours and are able to demonstrate these through testimonials. They have also been long supporters of several charity organisations through monetary contributions.
Age & Nationality Demographics – 50%
At above 50 years of age, approval statistics reflected in government reports suggests that this age band contributes to the least amount in terms of percentages. However, Singapore stance on family ties of kinship is strong and takes priority over applicants applying under the non-sponsorship schemes. Nevertheless, all forms of applications remain competitive and successful applicants in this age band must demonstrate their talent and expertise in their respective domains.
IASG’s Case Analysis & Strategy
Having scrutinised ICA’s application pages and downloaded the forms, it initially seemed an easy and straight-forward enough task to embark on, or so they thought. While compiling the listed documents, sooner did the applicants realise that there was no avenues to possibly fully communicate and present their profile in the manner in which they wish to.
The process was starting to consume a lot of time. That and with no avenue to seek an audience with ICA, the couple thus looked for solutions online – hoping to extract answers from those that have applied before. It was during this phase of their journey where they realised that there were no credible sources of information out there.
While seeking out answers, IASG was one of the immigration consultancies the couple spoke to. The maturity and business acumen of the team stood out as the applicant found that we understood what he does for a living without having to make much explanations. This was critical in determining if their application will be in good hands.
IASG probing methodology helped uncover several facets on the applicants that were intuitively unthought of. For example, the applicant did not originally feel that investments made to local startups would have a positive spin to the application. This was something unearthed through scrutiny of the CVs.
The thorough nature of IASG work coupled, non-rush nature, and avenues to hold multiple discussion sessions with the clients led to a very well-put together application whose strategy was centered around the expertise and track record of the main applicant plus the longing desire and assurances for husband and wife to remain in Singapore without fear. Lastly, IASG also convinced the client to table in the submission within a certain deadline, to take advantage of the quota surplus available during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
PR Application Result: Approved within 7 Months!
The PR was approved within 7 months. IASG helped the clients navigate the detailed instructions that came with the IPA to ensure that approval formalities had no hiccups. IASG also assisted with the completion of all forms and briefed clients on what will happen on the ICA appointment day.
The transition of SingPass took some time to reflect the new NRIC details however that was sorted out after a few calls. Overall, IASG’s assistance led to the completion of formalities professionally.
Excerpt of Testimonial for Kenneth Kwek, IASG’s Manager, Lead Consultant
“We selected IASG after interviewing four potential agents. IASG stood out because they were neither ignorant about our personal situation nor pushy or hard-selling. Kenneth really took time to understand our situation and share info even before any payment was made and that comforted us…
…We received our In Principal Approval after 7 months. We do recommend IASG for beingp rofessional, diligent, and amicable.”
