Question:
Mr Png Eng Huat: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs from 2001 to 2014, what was (i) the number of foreign students who were offered and who had accepted permanent residency when they reached Secondary 1 or later; (ii) the number of such student PRs who had gone on to become citizens; and (iii) the number of such students who had renounced their PR or citizenship.
Oral reply by Mr S. Iswaran, Second Minister for Home Affairs and Second Minister for Trade and Industry
1. Between 2001 and 2014, around 7,000 foreign students at secondary and Junior College levels have been granted PR on their own merits. About 840 or 12% of these PRs have subsequently taken up citizenship. 1% of those granted PR have renounced PR, while none has renounced their citizenship.
