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Written Answer by Mrs Josephine Teo Minister for Manpower to PQ on the Number of Applications Received from Work Permit Holders to Marry Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents Past Five Years

Foreign manpower Work passes and permits Statistics and publications

NOTICE PAPER NO. 2015 OF 2020 FOR SITTING ON 3 MARCH

QUESTION NO. 1630 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) for each year of the past five years, how many applications have been received from current or former work permit holders to marry Singapore citizens or permanent residents; (b) of these, how many applications have been rejected; (c) what are the top three reasons for rejecting such an application; and (d) what are the considerations in determining whether an application is to be approved.

Answer

  1. From 2015 to 2019, the Ministry received about 1,200 marriage applications per year from current or former work permit holders to marry SCs or PRs. We assess all marriage applications holistically taking into account the applicants’ ability to look after themselves and their families. In recent years, about 8 in 10 applications were approved. The most common reasons for rejection were lack of gainful employment or income instability.