Rejection of Applications of Spouses of Low-wage and Aged Singaporeans for Long-Term Visit Passes to Work and Fulfil Family Care Needs

13 Ms Carrie Tan asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what are the considerations when ICA rejects applications of the spouses of low-wage and aged Singaporeans for Long-Term Visit Passes to work and fulfil the care needs of their families in Singapore; (b) whether ICA will consider working with the Ministry of Manpower to create a special entry and work pass category for these foreign spouses to make it easier for them to stay and help with caregiving of our citizens.

The Minister of State for Home Affairs (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) applications for foreign spouses are assessed individually and holistically. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) will consider all relevant factors, including the length of marriage, whether there are children from the marriage, whether the sponsor is able to support the applicant and the family financially and if the sponsor or applicant has adverse records. ICA will also consider unique considerations, including caregiving needs. Foreign spouses are assessed on these criteria, taking into account their close relationship with Singapore Citizen families.

Mr Speaker: Ms Carrie Tan.

Ms Carrie Tan (Nee Soon): I thank the Minister of State for his answer. I have come across several and actually quite many cases where residents who are on ComCare financial assistance, meaning they are not independently able to sponsor their foreign spouse, in a very catch-22 situation. On one hand, they need the caregiving support of their spouse to be here physically with them; on the other hand, they also can benefit from the spouse having some part-time employment or income, which actually helps the Government to potentially save on some of these financial support expenses.

So, my question is: would ICA consider working with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to create a special category of entry or stay pass for such persons, given that the Government has been expending a lot of efforts to try and encourage ageing-in-place?

There is a real caregiving need amongst the lowest income segment and I would like to seek the Ministry's and the Minister of State's view on how we can tackle this particular problem that is faced by the residents.

Also, to add, many of them have come and tried to extend their short-term visit pass, for which every application costs $40, which, no doubt, they are taking from the financial assistance amounts that they have been given by the Government. So, I do not see how this is a constructive process going forward.

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Sir, I thank the Member for the supplementary question. Sir, as I mentioned in my reply, we assess such applications individually and holistically. Given that ICA also considers unique considerations, such as caregiving needs, we assess that there is no need for a separate facility for foreign spouses for now.

Just to share, marriage to a Singapore Citizen does not guarantee the non-resident spouse automatic right of entry into Singapore or approval for long-term stay in Singapore. So, we strongly encourage Singapore Citizen-non-resident couples who are interested in applying for an LTVP to submit the Pre-Marriage Long-Term Visit Pass assessment (PMLA) together, before the marriage. And PMLA is a free online assessment tool for couples to find out more about each other and if the prospective non-resident spouse is likely to qualify for LTVP after the marriage.

And, in fact, the Government provides support for Singapore Citizen-foreigner couples in areas, such as financial assistance for lower-income households, employment support and access to housing.

So, we keep track of the ground situation and you have seen how things have moved over the last few years with regard to financial assistance, employment support and housing. In fact, looking at the facility that we provide and as well as the accessibility, we have to look at the very broad perspective and factors of not only looking at talents, caregiving needs but also at the security of Singapore. So, I hope the Member will understand that we have very broad considerations with regard to such an issue.

Mr Speaker: Mr Dennis Tan.

Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Hougang): I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. I note that the Minister of State stated that married spouses and foreign spouses may not have an automatic right to come in and to stay in Singapore. Assuming that the Singaporean spouse or the Permanent Resident spouse is able to look after financially his foreign spouse, would the Minister of State be able to share what are some of the grounds of consideration that may militate against the granting of an LTVP, assuming, of course, that financial consideration is not an issue?

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: As I shared earlier, we look at various factors. We look at the individual considerations, the nature of the marriage and also, the circumstances as well as the identity of the people involved. But beyond that, we also look at it from the holistic perspective. So, each case is unique. I want to assure the Member that we will look at some of these cases. In fact, there are cases where we provide such a facility where the circumstances merit it.