Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Singaporeans Under 21 Years of Age with a Foreign Parent who has Not Been Given PR Status, by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law

Question:

Ms Anthea Ong : To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how many Singaporeans who are under 21 years of age reside in Singapore currently with a foreign parent who has not been given PR status; and (b) since 2016, how many of these non-PR foreign parents are (i) women (ii) sole supporters of their Singaporean child, having been separated, divorced or widowed from their citizen spouse and (iii) persons who have left Singapore with their Singaporean child to reside elsewhere following the expiry of their Long-Term Visit Pass or other visit passes.

Answer:

1. As at 31 Dec 2019, about 13,400 Singapore Citizen (SC) children under the age of 21 had foreign parents who were residing in Singapore on either a Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) or a Work Pass.

2. Based on ICA's records from 2016 to 2019, there were around 14,400 unique non-PR foreign parents with SC children under the age of 21 who applied for LTVPs.

3. Of these 14,400 parents, around 12,100 of them were female. Among this group, only 1.5% or 177 of them were widowed, divorced or separated. Seven did not eventually qualify for long-term stay through an immigration or employment facility. As at 24 Feb 2020, the SC children of these seven were still residing in Singapore.