Singapore citizenship is something we tend to take for granted, but for many who aren't citizens of this country, it can be notoriously difficult to obtain.

In particular, for PR spouses of Singaporean citizens, there is no guarantee of them receiving citizenship themselves.

Also, there is no guarantee of learning the grounds for rejection of their application.

Pasir Ris-Punggol Member of Parliament Zainal Sapari submitted a two-part parliamentary question about this that asked:

• How does the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) ensure fairness, transparency and consistency during the evaluation process in approving citizenship applications by PR spouses of Singaporeans? And
• What are the reasons for not stating the grounds for rejection of citizenship applications especially if spouses of Singaporean are involved?

In a written reply, Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam said the ICA and MHA do not share specific criteria or grounds for rejecting applications.

[related_story]

Prevents gaming of the system

He gave two reasons for this:

1. Information about detailed assessment criteria could be abused to inflate an undeserving applicant’s chances of success. Some people could then try and game the system.
2. Those whose applications have been rejected may also use the reasons for rejection to try and arouse sentiments in other countries, with potential diplomatic implications. This is not in Singapore’s interests.

However, Minister Shanmugam noted that other factors that determine a successful application are publicly known, such as the length of the couple's marriage, whether they have any children, and whether the spouse has the ability to support his or her partner.

Checks to ensure fairness

He added that the ICA ensures applications are put through a few layers of checks, and that this is also done for appeals and subsequent applications.

However, a rejection does not necessarily mean the end of the road. Minister Shanmugam said:

"That said, I assure the Members that if they raise specific deserving cases to our attention, we will re-assess them carefully."

Top photo via Louis Ng's Facebook post

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