Singapore citizenship is the most desirable status for foreigners planning to stay in the country for the rest of their life, because of the many benefits that it comes hand in hand with! About 15,000 to 25,000 new citizenships are granted to individuals who have stayed, worked in the country for a sustained period, or who have family ties to Singaporeans. Thinking about whether you should apply for Singapore citizenship? Here, we share the 7 greatest benefits of Singapore citizenship to help you make a quicker decision.
1. Greater employment opportunities
Some employers in Singapore prefer to hire local citizens compared to permanent residents (PR) or work pass holders. Plus, foreign employees who are work permit or S pass holders are susceptible to unpredictable quota cuts by the government that are not beneficial to companies. Thus, as a citizen, you certainly have greater opportunities for employment in the country!
2. Buy or rent Housing Development Board (HDB) flats
Getting to buy subsidised HDB flats is one of your exclusive perks as a Singapore citizen. Only citizens over the age of 21 (not even PRs) are eligible to apply for Built-To-Order (BTO) HDB flats or subsidised HDB flats including 2-room, 3-room, 4-room, 5-room, and executive apartments. Executive condos and studio apartments developed by the HDB are also available for your purchase at subsidised rates, provided you fit the requirements. Singapore Citizens can also rent out whole HDB flats, while PRs are not allowed to do so.
Singapore citizen first time buyers of new HDB flats get to enjoy housing subsidies, like the Central Provident Fund (CPF) housing grant that enables them to be subsidised up to S$80,000, according to their average gross monthly household income. There are also other types of housing grants available to buyers of HDB flats, like second-timer applicants, first-timer and second-timer couple applicants, and more. All in all, you get to enjoy exclusive housing subsidies as a Singapore citizen!
3. Be supported by the Central Provident Fund (CPF)
CPF is a social security savings account in which both employer and employee have to contribute additional 20% and 17% respectively of your monthly salary into your CPF account to save for your retirement. Your CPF benefits you in many other ways besides retirement too. Divided into three categories, your Ordinary Account, Special Account, and Medisave account, your CPF allows you to tap into a certain amount of your savings to pay for things like housing, insurance, investment, education, or healthcare, even before you retire.
The money in your CPF also appreciates at a high 2.5% per annum (for Ordinary account) and 4% per annum (for Special and Medisave accounts) so you get to reap great financial benefits over your lifetime!
4. Enjoy education subsidies and contributions
Heard of the Edusave account? This account is automatically created for all Singapore Citizens students (only) through which monthly contributions from the government will be provided to students. The money in the account can be used to cover enrichment programmes or miscellaneous education fees. Singapore citizens studying in MOE-funded schools will receive S$230 and S$290 during each of their primary and secondary school years respectively.
Better still, as a Singapore citizen, you get to receive significant subsidies for school fees – much more than any PR or foreign student. For government schools at the primary level, you only have to pay S$5 while PRs have to pay S$180, and for foreign students it will cost around S$500 – S$800. Government education subsidies also apply to:
- Secondary and tertiary levels for government schools
- Institute of Technological Education (ITE)
- Polytechnics
- Local universities including the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Management University (SMU)
You can certainly rest assured that your education in Singapore will be heavily subsidised and a lot more affordable for Singapore citizens.
5. Get healthcare coverage
Like with school fees, Singapore citizens also enjoy more subsidies on their medical fees. Did you know? A Singapore citizen gets 10% more subsidy than a PR of the same income tier, if applying for the same class of hospital ward.
Let’s say that you, a Singapore citizen, are staying in a Class B2 ward and your income level falls in the range of $3,201 and $3,350. You will enjoy a 64% subsidy, 10% more than a PR who earns the same amount and staying also in a Class B2 ward. Singapore PRs will receive a 54% subsidy instead.
Lower-income Singapore citizens can also use their Medisave account (part of their CPF) to pay for their medical treatment. Surely, with such high medical costs in Singapore, it’s a huge benefit to be covered by these healthcare schemes and subsidies!
6. Parenthood leave benefits and incentives
Parenthood is made a little easier with the parenthood benefits given to you as a Singapore citizen. Maternity, paternity, enhanced childcare, new infant care leaves, baby bonus schemes, parenthood tax rebates and many more incentives are available to you to support you building a family.
You can find out more about the many parenthood incentives Singapore citizens are eligible for, at the government’s Made for Families website.
7. Right to vote
Ahh, that’s right – you will have the right to vote when you become a Singapore citizen. When election season comes around every five years, beyond participating in national conversations about important issues in the country, you get to make your voice heard with your vote!
Apply for Singapore Citizenship
For anyone who has been a Permanent Resident (PR) of Singapore for more than two years, depending on the fulfilment of certain criteria, Singapore citizenship application is open to you! If you’re planning on sinking roots in Singapore, it is surely better that you do so as a Singapore citizen than as a Permanent Resident. You get to enjoy an abundance of benefits and rights that you don’t have access to as a PR or work permit holder. Plus, once your citizenship is approved, you will be a Singapore citizen forever – and won’t have to go into the extra hassle of renewing your PR status or work passes every 2 to 5 years.
Do note that all male Singapore citizens have to perform National Service (NS) once they reach the age of 18. This means that if you have a young son below the age of 18, he will have to serve in NS once he turns the right age. It is also not possible for Singapore citizens 22 years of age and above to hold dual citizenship – or in other words, another foreign citizenship. Should you have attained Singapore citizenship, you will be required to renounce your foreign citizenship.
Altogether, once you’ve checked that you are eligible for application, you can immediately proceed to apply for your Singapore citizenship. Not every application gets approved, however. To increase your chances and enjoy a hassle-free application process, we recommend that you use a reliable immigration consultancy firm like Singapore Top Immigration. Get your citizenship application moving along today!
Singapore Top Immigration is a reliable immigration consultancy firm in Singapore, providing trusted solutions to individuals aspiring to get Singapore PR or Citizenship. Want to find out more? Read other blogs available on our website, or get in touch with us to arrange a free consultation, here.
