8
There are two different cases to consider:
1) If you left Singapore and let your Re-Entry Permit (REP) expire, but did not formally renounce your PR, you can return to Singapore as a tourist and attempt to "reinstate" your PR:
A SPR will lose his/her PR status if he/she travels out of Singapore or remains outside Singapore without a valid REP. On his/...
8
Will post an answer of my own as well for completeness sake. I sent the same question to CPF directly, here's what they said:
Yes, you are right in saying that your Singapore Permanent Resident
(SPR) status will be revoked when you are no longer residing in
Singapore for a substantial amount of time.
We would like to clarify that you can ...
8
Yes, you can keep your savings in CPF essentially forever even if you leave Singapore. (Or that's the rule at the moment, anyway; you have no control over CPF investments and are subject to the whims of the Singapore government here.) In fact, the process of getting your CPF money out is rather bureaucratic and will definitely not "just happen" on its own.
...
6
What you have is a non-immigrant visa that allows you to enter Thailand. If you do not use it, it simply expires.
A non-immigrant B visa is not an "employment visa". It is a visa that allows you to enter Thailand sponsored by a company. If you had taken the job, then upon your arrival in Thailand, you would have been required to apply for a work permit ...
6
Singapore is a small country with lots of foreigners working in all sorts of jobs. As a rule, for professional roles, unless the job posting states "Singaporeans & PRs only" (and many do), it's worth at least enquiring whether they will sponsor an Employment Pass.
That said, Singapore has ratcheted up the requirements for getting an EP considerably ...
6
It's possible, and quite a few people do it, but I would not recommend it. Singapore Expats has a good thread on this, but I'll summarize.
There are only two ways to travel between Singapore and JB:
The Causeway from Woodlands to central JB. This is perennially congested, and central JB is (IMHO) not a particularly pleasant place to live.
The Second Link ...
5
No.
According to HDB, the eligibility criteria for a new flat in respect to citizenship is:
Citizenship
You must be a Singapore Citizen
This holds true for all the categories, you can check this by clicking through the categories on the left hand menu on the website.
Note that even for resale flats there is a restriction:
From 27 August 2013, ...
5
There is no visa specifically for looking for work. What you can do, though, is apply for a visa as an ordinary tourist, enter Singapore, and then look for work.
5
I had a similar problem when I moved to Singapore for work a couple months ago. Here are my conclusions.
The offer you got sounds like what the employer is obliged to provide for S-Pass holders and Work Permit holders. In this case, it will cover your medical costs of up to at least 15'000 $. If you are however under an Employment Pass, then this is an ...
4
I think the main question is whether you want to keep your US permanent residency and avenue to citizenship or not.
If you stay a PR but go to Singapore for employment and don’t file Federal taxes (or worse, file non-resident taxation status), you’ll be considered to have abandoned your permanent residency. You need to be careful when engaged in long-term ...
4
PR status for Singapore can be lost if the person travels outside Singapore without a valid REP (re-entry permit), or if the REP expires while the person is overseas.
You can apply to renew the REP while overseas, but official recommendation is that you do this at least two months before your old REP runs out. There is no guarantee that you will get a new ...
4
I lived in Singapore for some years until 2009. Things might have changed since, and I am not a US citizen, but I will try to answer some of your questions to the best of my knowledge.
[Edits by LCR. I lived in Singapore 27 years and only left in Dec 2015.]
I would say that it is relatively easy to emigrate to Singapore, if you can find a job there, ...
3
After the May 2014 changes to the Entrepass scheme, what you propose is basically not possible anymore. The Entrepass is no longer suitable for solo entrepreneurs, and you cannot open a company without a resident director, who must be a Singapore citizen or PR.
The usual workaround is to hire a nominee director (~S$1500/year) and then get that company to ...
3
According to the Immigration authority you need a Re-Entry Permit (REP) to retain your permanent residency status when leaving the country, and this permit needs to be renewed periodically. If you don't do that you lose your permanent residency status and have to apply for a completely new one. The immigration office might consider that you were an SPR ...
3
I think an option for you might be a SIM-only plan. Normal postpaid plans in Singapore are unnecessarily expensive, because they need to finance your free phone upgrade every year or so. Unfortunately, there's not that many options for plans without phone. Here's what I found:
Starhub has a new SIM-only 4G plan which apparently starts at S$13.95 a month.
...
3
There is no age limit beyond the legal retirement age (62). As long as your company is willing to, and able to, sponsor an EP, you should be fine. Note that the salary is only one of the criteria (education is another). You can do the self-assessment here. Also, the decision is done on a case-by-case basis, with very little transparency.
3
CPF will not cancel your account or instruct the providers of your Special Account unless you specifically request them to do so.
If you are not Malaysian and residing in West Malaysia and then even so, withdrawal should be straight forward.
I suggest you email the the CPF board and clarify: member@cpf.gov.sg
3
There are no cheap cars in Singapore. A bog-standard Toyota Corolla will set you back on the order of $100,000, or $10k/year if amortized out over the 10-year span of the required Certificate of Entitlement (COE), and that's before registration, insurance, petrol, road tolls, etc. More detail:
https://www.valuechampion.sg/costs-car-ownership-singapore
...
3
Taxis are plentiful in Singapore. For S$20 you can get a ride half way across the country (literally).
Unless you are planning on commuting to home and back for every lunch and coffee break, taking taxis would be far cheaper than operating your own vehicle.
And you'll save time getting dropped off at your destination rather than searching for a parking ...
2
No, it's not easy. You basically need a firm job offer & visa sponsorship from a Singaporean company to be able to get a work visa, and it's a long and uncertain path from there to permanent residence.
2
Ok, spoke to insurance agents and they told me you can't; has to be one or the other :/
They could not provide any proof though, so I guess I will just have to wait and see
1
I was in the same situation as you some time ago. It's going to be a judgment call by the officer based on how strong your ties to Singapore are, but one possible outcome (or, at least, my outcome) is that you will get a one-year extension to your REP. The thinking here is that if you're serious about living in Singapore, then you can arrange to come back ...
1
It's hard to prove a negative, but as far as I know there is no residence requirement for holding an EP: all that matters is that you're regularly paid in Singapore. I previously worked in Singapore in a near-100% travel job and never had any issues with this.
Until 2020, Singapore even had tax breaks for frequent travellers:
https://www.iras.gov.sg/...
1
Is there is a chance I can get the permit renewed if I Volunteer to contribute to the CPF? If so, what are my chances?
I don't think volunteering to contribute to CPF when not working is even possible; this is intended mostly for self-employed people.
If my re-entry permit renewal gets rejected, is it mandatory to renounce my PR?
No. Your REP lets you ...
1
The Singapore Goverment Ministry of Manpower is specific about the conditions under which foreign students may work and, during the school term, those 16 hours must be part of your school's program requirements.
If you are holding a Student Pass in Singapore, you are only allowed to work if you meet specific requirements.
Not allowed to work
...
1
If you have surrendered your PR and witdrew your CPF, then you have to return it full amount plus the interest for the whole period you are away from Singapore. Afterwhich the CPF will give you a white paper to be included in your PR appliccation. However you still need to submit all the document as required for general PR application.
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