’13 years in Singapore… 12 times PR application got rejected.’ Man asks what he might be missing

SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user crowdsourced for his Filipino friend who’s been in Singapore for 13 years, but whose application for Permanent Residency (PR) has been rejected 12 times.

The friend has worked as a Senior Programmer in the country since 2009. He first applied for PR in 2011, and it was rejected. His application has also been rejected every year since then.

He wrote that he has contributed a lot in the course of his work, as well as “paid taxes on time, trained locals about the digital industry, and even helping create digital campaigns for events such as NDP, list goes on.”

The friend asked what he was missing and what he needs to do for his application to be approved, adding that he feels regret at times because if he had served longer “in another country they might appreciate it more and (he) would probably be a citizen now.”

The May 11 (Thursday) post on r/AskSingapore has gotten almost 500 comments since it was posted. The post author’s friend’s situation is, unfortunately, not that unusual.

One Reddit user compared getting a PR to a lottery, adding, “My american ex boss is married to a Singaporean, has two sons both born Singaporeans and serving NS, one of them a commando officer (though not his merit). High net worth as well, his company employs Singaporeans, deals with high-profile international projects. Still not a PR.”

“Only re-apply when there is a substantial change in your circumstances. for example getting married to a local, a huge pay raise or owning assets. every time you reapply with the same parameters just makes your case weaker,” another netizen advised.

However, one Reddit user wrote, “Unfortunately I have a feeling its because of race quota 🙁 filipinos fall under others which has like a 1% quota.”

One told the story of a former colleague who “applied for PR 15 consecutive years” but was rejected.

“Me and partner have been in Singapore since 2008 and also have about 11 rejected applications. My partner works in one of Singapore’s national universities as a senior instructor, I own a company here for a decade now (B2B working with local companies), we have a kid literally born here and still nothing. We used to do applications with attached local certificates, recommendation letters from companies, friends, institutions, even certifications of charity work for local gov… We pay taxes, have savings, don’t travel out for more than a week a year (if that!), and still it’s a big fat no,” wrote another. 

/TISG

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