ICA Encourages Foreign Spouses of SGs to Exploit LYVP to Look for Jobs in SG. Song Bo

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An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:

ICA: S'POREAN-FOREIGNER COUPLES SHOULD APPLY FOR LONG TERM VISIT PASS BEFORE THEY MARRY

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24 Oct 2014 - 7:55pm








The Ministry of Home Affairs announced today that Singaporeans and their future foreign spouses would have to share their background information with each other before they get married.

Beginning next year, before Singaporeans and their foreign spouse marry, they would have to apply for the Long Term Visit Pass (LTVP). The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) says that by applying for the pass earlier, this would allow them to decide “whether the foreign spouse can qualify for long term stay in Singapore”.

Currently, couples can only apply for the pass after they marry.

ICA says that this new measure will benefit “those who may not have had the benefit of a long relationship”.

From 1 January 2015, “prospective Singaporean-foreigner couples are encouraged to jointly submit an application for a Letter of LTVP Eligibility (LLE) before marriage.” Couples are then required to submit “sufficient pertinent information”, which is intended to help them decide if they should get married.

ICA says that “Couples can then use the LLE to support their application for an LTVP after marriage.”

However, if couples do not undergo this new system, ICA says that they “could face a longer processing time of six months or more when they submit an LTVP application.”






ICA also says that for foreign spouses who eventually qualify for LTVP, it will be “easier for foreign spouses of Singaporeans to seek employment - They will not be counted against the foreign worker quota of their employers and their employers are also not required to pay the foreign workers’ levy for them.”

The profile of the foreign spouses who qualify for LTVP is unknown.

However, “Marriage to a Singaporean does not automatically qualify a foreigner for long-term stay in Singapore.” ICA explains that there are criteria to meet such as “the ability of the Singaporean sponsor to support and look after the family.”

ICA also introduced two new marriage programmes – the Marriage Preparation Programme (MPP) and Marriage Support Programme – for Singaporean-foreigner couples. From 1 December 2014, couples can undergo the MPPs to “gain more insights into cross-cultural issues in their marriage,” which they say is for “building the foundation for a strong marriage.”

The Marriage Support Programme is “to help couples manage cross-cultural differences as they settle down,” which “will offer conversational language skills to the foreign spouse, and point out avenues to seek job opportunities to help with family finances.”


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