Singapore Permanent Residence (PR) Benefits 

If you are a current work pass holder (Employment Pass, Personalised Employment Pass, EntrePass or S Pass), and have worked in Singapore for at least six months, you’ll be eligible to apply for Singapore PR (permanent resident) status.  According to 2016 data, there are 524,600 Singapore PR holders residing in Singapore – and the numbers are increasing. This is because Singapore PR holders enjoy many of the benefits and rights that are given to full citizens. 

Check out various Singapore PR Schemes here.

As a Singapore PR, you can:

1. Live, enter and leave the country without having to apply for separate Singapore visas to work or travel. You’ll receive a Blue Card, which acts as your identity document.
2. Include your spouse and unmarried children under 21 in the PR application. If your children are school-aged, they are high on the priority list, behind citizens, to enter public schools of your own choosing.
3. Apply for long-stay visas for your parents
4. Change jobs freely without having to re-apply for a Singapore work permit. If you hold a work-related Singapore visa and want to change jobs, you’ll have to cancel your old Singapore visa and reapply for a new one – at the risk of delay or rejection.

Click here to find out more about Singapore work visa schemes

5. Reap the financial and tax benefits provided by Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) scheme. Under the CPF scheme, you and your employer contribute a monthly minimum amount to your pension fund, which can be used for purposes related to health care, home-ownership, family protection and growing your assets.
6. Apply and get a higher priority to borrow various loans, such as housing loans to purchase property. Singapore PR holders are also eligible to buy second-hand units of government HDB flats (only citizens can purchase new ones)
7. Be eligible to apply for full Singapore citizenship after a number of years of having permanent residence status, in which you will be able to obtain a Singapore passport and enjoy the same rights as locally-born citizens.

Do note that becoming a Singapore PR also gives the government some rights. For instance, if you have young sons who are Singapore PR holders, they are required to enlist in the military service (commonly referred to as national service) by age 16.5 years old and serve for 2 years on turning 18. After that, they’ll need to participate in 40 days of Operationally Ready National Service every year until they turn 50 (for officers) or 40 (for other ranks).

Nevertheless, becoming a Singapore PR – a process which usually takes around 6-12 months - opens up many opportunities for you to live, work and invest in the society and economy of Singapore. 

For more information on the various PR schemes available in Singapore, see our Singapore PR Schemes page.