FORMER WORK PERMIT HOLDERS MARRYING SINGAPOREANS

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman asked the Minister for Manpower (a) if he will clarify the policy of disallowing former work permit holders from marrying Singaporeans even after they have ceased being a work permit holder; and (b) if his Ministry will consider a timeframe for which a former work permit holder who has ceased holding the work permit, be allowed to marry a Singaporean without facing charges of violating his work permit agreement.

The Minister for Manpower (Dr Lee Boon Yang): Mr Speaker, Sir, currently, there are already more than 500,000 lower skilled foreign workers on work permits in Singapore. To discourage unskilled work permit holders from marrying locals, with the view to sinking roots in Singapore, we require all existing and ex-work permit holders to seek approval before marrying a Singaporean or a Permanent Resident. Ex-work permit holders are also required to seek marriage approval to prevent them from circumventing this requirement simply by cancelling their work permits in order to marry a Singaporean or Permanent Resident without prior approval.

Sir, my Ministry approved more than 80% of marriage applications by existing and ex-work permit holders. Hence, this work permit condition is not an unreasonable hurdle for Singaporeans who wish to marry existing or ex-work permit holders. There are no plans to change this work permit condition.

Mr Low Thia Khiang: What is the general guideline or criterion for the Ministry to approve ex-work permit holders marrying Singaporeans?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, the general guideline is the capability, the skills of both parties, the Singaporean and the work permit holder, or the ex-work permit holder. We have to make an assessment of the work permit holder or the ex-work permit holder. Once given the chance to sink roots in Singapore, would they be able to look after themselves in the long term? So, the level of skills that they have, the educational achievement that they have, are all important considerations. There is no hard-and-fast rule. We look at both parties. If the Singaporean has a very high level of education, and also high skill level, then, obviously, that can help to compensate if the non-citizen party has lower skill level, and vice-versa. Overall, it is a question of the ability of both the Singaporean and the non-citizen to satisfy us that they are able to look after themselves. They will not become part of our burden of being unemployed, especially if the economy were to take a turn for the worse. And if they have lower skill, they are most likely to be made redundant even if they may be employed now. So we want to be assured that under any circumstances, they should be able to look after themselves.

For those who lack the skill and they want to apply for approval, then the advice to them would be to please go and make an effort to upgrade their skill, both the Singaporean party and also the non-citizen party. They should both make efforts to upgrade their skill and, if they do so, they could be considered more favourably the next time they make an application. As I have said earlier on, we have already approved 80%, which means that our criteria cannot be that rigid nor are they so unreasonable.

Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman: I understand that if they violate the agreement, they are supposed to serve a ban for a certain period. Can I check how long is this ban? Also, if they did not apply for a permit to get married, even if the spouse had ceased to be a work permit holder, but if the husband is capable of supporting her, how long is the ban that she has to serve? Does she still need to serve a ban if the husband is capable of meeting the criteria set by MOM?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, as I have said, for those who choose to consciously violate the conditions of the work permit which are stated upfront and quite clearly that they must seek prior approval, then we have no option but to insist that they suffer some penalty. Otherwise, the provision itself is ineffective as a deterrent. As to exactly how long the ban should be, it depends on the circumstances of the case - some are perhaps a bit longer than others. Also in the interim, if they make efforts to further upgrade themselves, then the lifting of the ban can be achieved much earlier.

In the case of those who married a Singaporean who obviously is of a fairly high calibre, high education and achievement, could we have a shorter period ban? Yes, that would be considered.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong: Is having children out of the marriage in this case one of the reasons for the non-approval?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, if the couple proceed to have a child before they seek our approval for the marriage, they will be deemed to have contravened the work permit condition and the penalty will have to be enforced.