ADMISSION FROM CHINA OF WIVES OF SINGAPORE RESIDENTS

Mr Lim Cher Kheng asked the Minister for Labour and Welfare whether he will supply the following information regarding the admission from China of wives of Singapore residents : -

(a) the number of applications (i) approved and (ii) rejected during (1) the period JuneDecember 1955, and (2) the first two months of 1956;

(b) the number of applications (1) received and (2) still outstanding during (i) JulyDecember 1952, (ii) JanuaryJune 1953, (iii) July-December 1953, (iv) January-June 1954, (v) July-December 1954, (vi) January-June 1955; and whether he is satisfied with the speed with which these applications are cleared.

Mr Lim Yew Hock: It is not possible without very considerable work to give exact figures. The figures which follow are approximate only : - (a) Approved Rejected July-December 1955 1,600 200 January-February 1956 600 60 (b) Received Outstanding July-December 1952 2,000 30 January-June 1953 1,700 80 July-December 1953 1,800 160 January-June 1954 1,300 300 July-December 1954 1,400 380 January-June 1955 1,550 620

The Immigration Department have engaged additional staff to deal with these outstanding cases, the majority of which are under active consideration and will shortly be finalised. For the remainder, the Department is writing to the sponsors to produce further evidence. In new cases, the sponsor is called for interview within one month of filing the application, and, provided that the evidence produced at that time is satisfactory, the entry permit is issued within a further one month period. Unfortunately, despite detailed instructions many sponsors fail to produce satisfactory evidence at the first interview and thus delay their own cases. I am satisfied with the steps being taken both to clear the old outstanding cases and also to deal with new applications.