Singapore PR applications, prepared for how ICA actually decides.

ICA accepts applications from Employment Pass and S Pass holders, spouses and unmarried children under 21 of citizens or Permanent Residents, aged parents of citizens, students resident for several years, and investors under the Global Investor Programme. Being eligible to apply and being likely to be approved are different questions, and we assess the second candidly at consultation.

There is no official points system or published checklist. ICA assesses each application holistically: employment and salary, qualifications, length of stay, age, family ties to Singapore, and evidence of integration. Our role is to present those factors clearly, consistently and with strong supporting documentation.

ICA advises applicants to allow around six months and notes that some cases take longer. In practice applicants report a range of four to twelve months. There is no expedited processing, and ICA gives no interim status updates: you are notified by letter when a decision is made.

ICA charges S$100 per applicant on submission and a further S$120 per approved applicant for the Entry Permit, Re-Entry Permit and identity card. Consultancy fees across this market run from roughly S$1,400 to around S$5,000. Ours are set out in full at the consultation, and the assessment itself is complimentary.

No consultancy is able to guarantee an outcome, and we would be cautious of any firm that claims otherwise. Applications are decided solely by ICA. What we are able to offer is thorough preparation, a candid assessment of your profile before you commit to anything, and our honest view of whether this is the right moment to apply.

It depends on what has changed. A stronger salary, a new qualification, a marriage or a longer period of residence may each alter the picture. Resubmitting an unchanged profile seldom does. We would review what is likely to have held the application back and share our honest view on whether, and when, a further application would be worthwhile.

Yes. ICA's e-Service is open to any eligible applicant and nothing requires you to engage a firm. What a consultancy buys you is preparation: a candid read of whether your profile is ready, a submission that is internally consistent, and someone who has seen how the pieces usually fit together. If your case is straightforward and your documents are in order, applying yourself is a perfectly reasonable choice, and we would say so at the consultation rather than talk you out of it.

Not in the sense the question usually implies. ICA decides, and no firm has any influence over that. What preparation changes is what a reviewing officer actually sees: a complete and consistent file, with the weak points addressed rather than left to be inferred. We will not attach a number to that, because no consultancy is able to substantiate one.

ICA's own checklist governs and it varies by scheme, so treat that as the authority rather than any list on a consultancy's website. In practice most applications turn on the same material: identity and travel documents, educational certificates, employment and salary history, CPF and IRAS records, and marriage or birth certificates where family is included. We set out exactly which apply to your case at the consultation.