Foreign Students Applying for Permanent Residency and Subsequent Citizenship in Singapore

Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how is the trend among foreign students applying for permanent residency in the last ten years; (b) what is the percentage of success; (c) how many stayed on and continued to work in Singapore and subsequently take on citizenship.

The Second Minister for Home Affairs (Mrs Josephine Teo) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Speaker, from 2008 to 2017, 7,251 foreign students applied for Permanent Residency (PR) on their own merits. Close to 82% or 5,932 have been granted Permanent Residency. Of these PRs, 1,072 or 18% have subsequently taken up citizenship as at the end of 2017. Eighty five or around 1% have renounced their PR.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat (Bishan-Toa Payoh): I thank the Second Minister for the reply. I have got one follow-up question. Can she share in terms of the nationalities of the students that have been successful and have taken up the citizenship?

Mrs Josephine Teo: Can I ask Mr Saktiandi to repeat his question? I did not quite hear it.

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: The question I have is the nationalities of the students who had been successful in getting their PR and also those that had been successful in getting their citizenship as well.

Mrs Josephine Teo: Mr Speaker, I do not have the detailed breakdown. But suffice to say that they would have to reflect the profile of the foreign student population in Singapore. By and large, unless my memory serves me wrong, I think a good majority of them come from Asia. The important thing to point out is that in assessing whether an applicant should be granted Permanent Residency or Singapore Citizenship, an important consideration is the applicant's ability to integrate with the local population as well as his potential to contribute to our society. These considerations apply to all applicants, including the foreign students.

11.30 am

Mr Speaker: Order. End of Question Time.

[ Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3) Written Answers to Question Nos 22, 24, 26-33 and 38 on the Order Paper are reproduced in the Appendix*. Question Nos 23, 25, 34-37 and 39-40 have been postponed to the next available sitting of Parliament. ]