Oral Reply to Parliamentary Question on Foreign Students Applying for PR by Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister, Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Home Affairs

Question:

Mr Saktiandi Supaat: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how is the trend among foreign students applying for permanent residency in the last ten years; (b) what is the percentage of success; (c) how many stayed on and continued to work in Singapore and subsequently take on citizenship.

Answer:

1. From 2008 to 2017, 7,251 foreign students have applied for Permanent Residency (PR) on their own merits. Close to 82% or 5,932 have been granted PR.

2. Of these PRs, 1,072 or 18% have subsequently taken up citizenship as at the end 2017.

3. 85 or around 1% have renounced their PR.