After exactly three years of being a Singapore Permanent Resident (SPR), I decided to apply for Singapore citizenship (SC) via the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) website. There are many articles online guiding people on how to prepare the documents for the application. Most of the documents are the same documents that I submitted during the SPR application. However, for SC application requires more details and the latest information to be submitted. This is the beginning of stage 1 of the SC application.
Eligibility
I will not elaborate on the details here, please refer to the reference link below. The information is taken from the ICA website. An important note is I must be a Singapore Permanent Resident (PR) for at least two years.
I should have done so two years after getting my PR and applied together with two other friends who did so during the first year of COVID-19. This explains why some people can become SC within four to five years after living in Singapore. I can apply for myself as an individual or apply for my family if I have a spouse and a child.
Documents required
The ICA website provides a checklist of all the required documents. I have to provide original documents and official translations (for documents in languages other than English). Luckily, all my documents from Malaysia are in both English and Malay languages. It saves time looking for a translator and a person to certify the documents.
Prepare all these documents before start applying online. It smoothens the application process as the documents are ready to be uploaded. If you do not have some of the documents ready, you can save the application and return to the page to update.
The application comes with a fee
Once submitted, I paid $100.00 for the application. All fees are non-refundable, it can be paid using a credit card, PayNow and Internet direct debit from the bank account.
Processing time
Applications will be processed within 12 months, provided all the required documents are submitted and are in order. For children born overseas to Singapore citizens, the application will be processed within 2 months. Some applications may take longer to process. You will be informed of the outcome of the citizenship application via email. You may also check the citizenship application status online at the ICA website.
Completion of formalities
Successful applicants will receive an In-Principle Approval. They will be granted Singapore citizenship status once they have fulfilled the necessary conditions. For Singapore citizenship applicants aged 16 to 60 years old, they will be required to complete the mandatory Singapore Citizenship Journey (SCJ) programme.
I will cover SCJ in another post, check it out later.
Why do I apply after three years?
I do not have any special reason why I delayed my application (until three years), in fact, I did not think of applying for citizenship in the first place. It was not an easy decision to make, giving up my previous Malaysia citizenship sounded like giving up all the convenience I enjoyed in Malaysia. I think it is normal to have such feelings when thinking about what I have and going to give it up for something.
I submitted the application during the COVID-19 period. It was the best decision made so far because it led me to achieve another milestone in my life.
Summary,
In short, the process of applying online is seamless and it did not take me a lot of time to prepare the documents too as long as I keep a copy of the softcopy of my personal detail documents that I used for my SPR application.
The processing or waiting time took me quite some time. I was unsure why, however, there were a few reasons that I could think of; ICA was waiting for my five-year SPR to expire, my age and marital status or there were many applications and ICA processed them. My friends got their citizenship within a year while my application took 17 months.
For context, during the SC application, my five-year SPR needs to be renewed in the next two years. Please follow me for part two of the story. Stay tuned.
References
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