LIBERALIZATION OF RULES FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE (Criteria for Singaporeans contracting marriage with foreigners)

Mr Chng Hee Kok asked the Minister for Labour if he will readily grant permission to those Singaporeans who meet the criteria under the new rules for permanent residence to contract marriage with foreigners.

The Minister for Labour (Mr Lee Yock Suan): Mr Speaker, Sir, foreign workers are given work permits to work in Singapore on condition that they seek approval from my Ministry if they wish to marry Singaporeans. My Ministry will revise its criteria for approving such applications to be consistent with the new criteria for permanent residence announced recently. Singaporeans wanting to marry foreign spouses will be treated no less favourably than non-Singaporeans seeking permanent residence for themselves and their families.

Whether a work permit holder is allowed to marry a Singaporean will depend primarily on the merits of the work permit holder herself or (himself), although we will also consider the qualifications of the Singaporean partner and his or her ability to support the work permit holder. Approval will be granted if the foreign worker has skills or qualifications of value to Singapore, has adjusted to our social and work ethos, and is unlikely to become a burden to the State.

There are more than 150,000 work permit holders in Singapore, mostly unskilled. I do not want them to misunderstand that it will be easy for them to sink roots here by marrying Singaporeans. It will not be easy. We cannot absorb all of them or hold out the false hope that they can all settle in Singapore. Very few of the work permit holders, whose applications for marriage have been turned down in the past, can satisfy the new criteria for permanent residence. We must continue to be selective in attracting those foreigners who can integrate into and contribute to our society and are unlikely to become a burden to the State. This is the way to protect the interests of the vast majority of Singaporeans.

Mr Chng Hee Kok: Sir, will the Minister confirm that, under the new criteria, the income and educational qualifications of the permanent resident himself are the main consideration, and not the family's? In other words, are the qualifications of the wife of the potential permanent resident also considered? Otherwise, the Singaporean who has the same qualifications as the potential permanent resident can bring anyone into Singapore, including an ex-work permit holder, for example, and yet the same Singaporean cannot marry a work permit holder as the latter's qualifications are considered.

Mr Lee Yock Suan: Sir, I thought my answer is quite clear. When we look at the applications from work permit holders to marry Singaporeans, we look mainly at the qualifications of the work permit holder. That is the primary consideration. We want to attract people of value to Singapore. At the same time, we have to be fair to our own Singaporeans. We also look at the qualifications of the Singaporean spouse to see whether he is able to maintain the work permit holder. So the principle will be that we will treat the Singaporean partner no less favourably than, for example, the Hong Kong people that we are going to recruit.

Mr Chng Hee Kok: My question really is this. Under the new scheme, the qualification of the spouse is not seen to be considered. As long as the potential applicant can satisfy the income and qualifications criteria, he is granted permanent residence. The spouse automatically gets permanent residence. On the other hand, in the case of a Singaporean who is similarly qualified - and wishes to marry a work permit holder, the latter's qualifications are considered. In other words it is not quite the same thing. I support the stand taken by the Minister about making sure that we bring in people withtalent. The point I am trying to establish is that the new permanent resident should not have more rights than the Singaporean.

Mr Lee Yock Suan: Sir, I think my position is no different from his understanding. It is just that we have to be careful about this large pool of unskilled foreign workers here and that we do not give them the wrong signal. That is my basic point.

Dr Arthur Beng Kian Lam: Mr Speaker, Sir, the Minister has said that he will reconsider these cases. Does this mean that he will reconsider it retrospectively, ie, those cases that were previously turned down for marriage will now be reconsidered?

Mr Lee Yock Suan: Mr Speaker, Sir, yes, if there are past cases that have been turned down and they now meet the new criteria, I am prepared to relook at them.