Number of Long-Term Visit Pass Plus Granted after Introduction of Scheme

3 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the number of Long-Term Visit Pass Plus (LTVP+) granted after 30 September 2014; and (b) what are the annual number and percentage of unsuccessful LTVP+ applications since LTVP+ was introduced.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Amrin Amin) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): The Long-Term Visit Pass Plus (LTVP+) was introduced on 1 April 2012 as an enhancement to the Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) scheme. The LTVP+ grants long-term stay to foreign spouses of Singaporeans whose marriages have been stable over time.

During the period 1 October 2014 to 31 December 2015, a total of 12,743 foreign spouses were granted LTVP and another 5,879 foreign spouses were granted LTVP+.

There is no separate application process for LTVP+. Singaporeans can apply for LTVP or LTVP+ for their foreign spouses through the same process. Foreign spouses who meet the criteria will be granted LTVP+. Those who do not meet the LTVP+ criteria but meet the LTVP criteria would be granted LTVP.

Since the introduction of LTVP+ on 1 April 2012, an average of 16,738 LTVP/LTVP+ applications have been received annually, of which about 88% were successful. There may be a number of reasons why an application is unsuccessful. These include the ability of the Singaporean spouse to support the family financially, or the length of marriage.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh (Ang Mo Kio): Mdm Speaker, I thank the Parliamentary Secretary for the reply. Are there plans to increase any benefit for LTVP+? I understand that they are also not counted as part of the foreign worker quota for employers.

Mr Amrin Amin: They are not currently counted as part of the foreign worker quota requirement if they successfully apply for the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) Letter of Consent. There are no immediate plans to increase the benefits of the LTVP+ holders. LTVP+ holders currently enjoy a greater certainty of stay here, with longer periods of residency compared to LTVP holders. Each LTVP+ allows its holder to stay for three to five years and LTVP+ holders already enjoy healthcare subsidies at a level similar to Permanent Residents (PRs). They also enjoy employment concessions, with Letters of Consent from MOM, and, like PRs, they will not be counted in the foreign worker quota. The employers are also not required to pay the foreign worker levy for them.

Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson): Mdm Speaker, I would like to ask the Parliamentary Secretary whether both the LTVP and LTVP+ holders are eligible to get a Letter of Consent from MOM and can look for jobs with any employer in Singapore. That is the first matter. The second question is: should they encounter rejections from employers who say that they cannot employ them, even with a Letter of Consent, notwithstanding other possible reasons, what should they do?

Because one of the feedback has been that employers still consider them as foreign workers and say that it is really troublesome to hire them. That is not very helpful when they are also trying to work to supplement their household income and working towards gaining PR status so that their citizen families – generally, the majority are citizen families – can stay intact and remain stable in Singapore.

Mr Amrin Amin: I thank the hon Member for the feedback. From the policy point of view, it is very clear that once the person is given the Letter of Consent, he or she is not counted as part of the foreign worker quota and there is no levy imposed on the foreign workers with LTVP or LTVP+. As to why they are not employed, there could be plenty of reasons. It is important to highlight specific cases to MOM for further investigation.

Mr Darryl David (Ang Mo Kio): Mdm Speaker, I thank the Parliamentary Secretary for the answer. I have a question regarding the application process for LTVP and LTVP+. For applicants, for example, who have Singaporean children – one or two children or even more – are they regarded any differently in terms of the application process? Is the process, perhaps, expedited for such situations?

I ask because I have seen quite a few families, where the father is a citizen and the child is a citizen, and the mother had been trying but had not been able to get an LTVP. Could the Parliamentary Secretary shed some light on this, please?

Mr Amrin Amin: I thank the Member for the question. Applications for LTVP+ are considered holistically based on a range of factors. These include the duration of the marriage and whether the couple have children from the marriage and the ability of the Singaporean sponsor to support the family.

So, it is a range of factors. It is difficult to give the Member an assurance that once you have children, you will automatically get an LTVP. The point is that it is a whole basket of factors that needs to be considered.

Mr Gan Thiam Poh: Coming back to the question of the "unsuccessful rate", the Parliamentary Secretary just mentioned about the financial capability of the spouse. Besides that, are there any other major reasons for the rejection?

Mr Amrin Amin: There are many factors and they include also whether there are any adverse records of the person applying for an LTVP and, as I have mentioned, it includes the ability to support as well as the stability of the marriage. So, there are various factors.

Mr Seah Kian Peng (Marine Parade): Just a couple of supplementary questions for the Parliamentary Secretary. I understand that one of the criteria for granting an LTVP+ is whether the marriage is stable. That is a sound criterion. I would like to ask whether we can be more transparent and more definitive in terms of what is considered "stable marriage". Is it three years or two years? If that could be spelt out, it would provide a lot of certainty to the entire family.

My other question is a suggestion for the Parliamentary Secretary to consider: if there is such a criterion, whether attempts could be made so that for those who have met that criterion are automatically upgraded from LTVP to LTVP+, without the need to apply. So, I hope to get the Parliamentary Secretary's clarification.

Mr Amrin Amin: I thank the Member for the question. There are no plans at this stage to define what a stable marriage is. It is not a very easy thing to define how stable the marriage is. One of the factors we look at is the length of years of the marriage. But there are also various factors including the record of the applicant who is applying, in terms of how many times he or she had been married. It is not easy to put out a set of criteria and say "This is the set of the criteria and this is it". But the suggestion is taken; the need for transparency is something we will take very seriously.

As for the second question, it is currently in the same process. It is considered in the same way. When you apply for an LTVP, as I mentioned during my reply just now, that is the same process for LTVP and LTVP+. So, if they qualify for LTVP+, they will be given LTVP+.

Mdm Speaker: Mr Louis Ng. Last question.

Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang (Nee Soon): I thank the Parliamentary Secretary for clarifying the factors for consideration when people submit their applications. I just wonder if the Ministry could share this with the applicants as well because I have seen the rejection letter and it just says, "The application is rejected." For example, if it is a financial consideration, then maybe that is something that the applicant's spouse can do to increase the salary. When we just say, "It is rejected", it is hard for us to write the appeal letter and hard for the applicants as well.

Mr Amrin Amin: I thank the Member for the suggestion. I will take it up with the Ministry.