Singapore Global Investor Program for Permanent Residency

Qualifying criteria:

Applicants must be an executive or board member of a business with an annual turnover of at least $200M SGD for each of the past three years. They must also be at least a 30% shareholder of the business.

• You can include your spouse as well as your dependent children on the application.
• You will also be required to spend 183 days per year in Singapore to maintain the residency.

You have 3 different options for the investment:

1. Invest at least $10M SGD in an new or existing operating business in Singapore
2. Invest at least $25M SGD into an investment fund approved by Singaporean Economic Development Board. These will be Singapore-based companies.
3. Establish and invest in a family office that manages assets of at least $200M SGD.

How long does it take to process my application and what does it cost?

Application fee: $20,000 SGD governement fee + legal fees depending on complexity.

Processing time depends on your individual case. It can be as little as three months but in some cases may take up to one year.

Once you are approved, you have up to six months to make the required investment.

But nothing is guaranteed in Singapore

The approval process for the Global Investor Program is totally discretionary. Even if you demonstrate an ability to fulfill all of the criteria, your application is not entitled to approval, and the final word lies with the authorities. If you are rejected, there is no opportunity to appeal. The same is true when you apply for citizenship

The rejection rate for this program is not published, but there is a substantial quantity of known rejections, and known approvals amount to fewer than 200-300 people annually.

This is why it is important to use a knowledgeable, experienced agent like Philippe.

Philippe is based in Singapore and has helped his clients obtain this residency with success. His expertise can increase your odds of getting approved versus going it alone.

Transcript of “Singapore Global Investor program for permanent residency“

LADISLAS MAURICE: Hello, everyone. Ladislas Maurice from The Wandering Investor. Today, we are in Singapore with Philippe, and we shall be discussing the Singaporean Permanent Residency by Investment, which is very niche. Philippe, how are you?

PHILIPPE: Very good, thank you. Happy to have you here in Singapore.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Fantastic. Philippe, you are originally from Switzerland, and you naturalized Singaporean, correct?

PHILIPPE: That’s correct. I became a permanent resident in Singapore, and two years later, I became a citizen on my own application.

Getting permanent residency in Singapore by investment

LADISLAS MAURICE: We won’t talk about the normal path to permanent residency, but we’ll be talking about the one where you can get it essentially immediately through investment.

PHILIPPE: Correct.

LADISLAS MAURICE: And just so that we don’t waste people’s time, what’s the minimum investment?

PHILIPPE: If you apply for a permanent residency as an investor under the so-called Global Investor Program, you have two minimum amounts. One is the qualifying criteria. You must have an operating business with an annual turnover of S$200 million, which is roughly $140 million, in most cases. There is some other categories, if you’re a second-generation business owner, but the amount is still about the same. Minimum amount for operating company that you own in order to be qualified for the program, about $140 million US.

And then investment, three options. One is invest in an operating business that’s S$10 million, roughly, $7 million, or you invest in investment funds that are approved by the Singapore government, S$25 million, or you invest in a family office, manage your assets of no less than S$200 million. So quite substantial amounts, but it gives you a PR directly. You don’t need to get an employment pass first, like most other people are doing it.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Obviously, it’s a lot of people with families that opt for such an option because of the quality of education, healthcare, safety, etc., tax rates, blah, blah.

Singapore Global Investor Visa processing time

What is the processing time, roughly?

PHILIPPE: The processing time depends individually. It can be as little as maybe three months, but can go up to one year. Remember, the approval for these applications is purely discretionary, so you cannot say, like in the case of other programs, “Oh, I fulfilled the criteria and I’m entitled to it.” You are not entitled to anything in Singapore. You can apply, but whether you are granted or not depends ultimately on the authorities here in Singapore. And even if you meet all the criteria, they may still reject you, and you basically don’t have a chance to appeal that, so you have to be prepared. And the same later on at the citizenship stage.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool, so it’s not a right?

PHILIPPE: It’s not a right, absolutely.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Okay.

PHILIPPE: You cannot force your way into Singapore, like in some other countries.

LADISLAS MAURICE: Cool. All right, so it’s a privilege?

PHILIPPE: That’s right, it’s a privilege. Other countries, if you have a clean criminal record, you meet all the criteria, you make the investments properly, you can sue the government if they don’t issue, like in Portugal. But here in Singapore, there is no such thing. And the rejection rate, we don’t know how high or how low it is, because no statistics are public. But from what I hear in the market, there is a substantial number of applications which gets rejected. And also, the number, the total number of applications approved under the Global Investor Program tends to be relatively low. We are talking about less than 200, 300 people a year.

How to contact Philippe

LADISLAS MAURICE: Fantastic. Philippe has a firm here in Singapore helping people obtain citizenships and residencies by investment. If you’re interested in exploring the Singaporean permanent residency by investment, there’s a link below with more information, and you can also contact Philippe this way. Philippe, thank you very much.

PHILIPPE: Thank you, Ladislas.