Singapore wants new citizens if they are educated, productive and without a criminal record.
An enterprising, self reliant guy who actually goes there, with just a little help (or a lot of trial and error) may get res or citizenship on his own. If you are not in a hurry and have the time, ”do it yourself” is viable there.
Non-corrupt and transparent places like Singapore are few and far between in this world…
But even in Singapore,you may need some help on your application to avoid putting foot in mouth or messing up on the application or in the interviews. It is very easy to do this by expressing the wrong views re religion, politics, sex, your inalienable rights, etc.
Once refused, you get the “kiss of death” in your passport which practically kills your chances of getting residence or even a visa, anywhere else.
The “kiss of death” is an innocuous looking stamp (from many countries) that just says something like */”*applicant seen on date- (stamp) XYZ Consulate at New York City” …/*
There is a work-around even for that, but it is time & small money consuming.
Thus, “kiss of death” is something to avoid… It is diplomatic code for “*This guy was investigated, smells bad & is a loser; we don’t want him.”
Even the esteemed Wall Street Journal & it’s staff was kicked out of Singapore a while ago for reporting what they considered indisputable facts. It is important to not “rock the boat” in Singapore!
Our Singapore contact offers complete hand holding process for a mostly contingent fee of 26,000$ us per person . This includes getting a local driving license, bank accounts, credit cards, etc. Everything totally legal. As English is an official language, you are lucky- you wont need to learn the lingua fraca à Chinese.
The “official rules” you may read are often different from the real way things get done.
Maybe not so much in Singapore, but certainly in places like Brazil or any ex-Spanish colony…
There, when you app for res or ctzshp your application won’t even be reviewed without “sponsorship.”
It stays at the bottom of the pile forever. You need a “fixer” who may or may not be a lawyer.
Many people chafe at the strict Singapore laws & harsh punishments (flogging for instance) for offences like graffiti, putting chewing gum on subway doors, not flushing public toilets, allowing mosquitoes to breed in your terrace watering cans or empty flower pots, over-charging customers more than the posted prices, etc.
However, for me personally, *I like /most/ of their rules very much–** & would have no trouble living with them.*
The 1st benevolent dictator transformed a really disorderly Asian country into a possibly (better than) 1st world model of discipline and prosperity.
I lived there in the bad old days, 45 yrs ago just after they became a country separate from Malaysia. Then you could buy the best and biggest mansion in town for $350,000…. Now try same property at 35 Million!
Real estate prices and rents are at high levels of Switzerland or California’s better neighborhoods. Servants are hard to find– and if legally employed, expensive. They will set you back $20 USA per hour. But food, appliances, bandwidth are as cheap as you will find anywhere. I found Singapore a great place to live. I love the tropical climate & Asian food there. It is as prosperous, clean and orderly as Switzerland. No slums! No beggars. No homeless. Other points: It is always hot and tropical. No winters. Don’t expect to be able to sound off freely & complain about government. You might end up in jail. There is military service for all those males of a certain age.(insert rule) There is no freedom of speech in many areas. Singapore is no place for what they perceive as troublemakers: chronic “protesters” or “activists” But you are free to make all the money you can –legally. To own car is roughly 5X as expensive as it would be state-side– However, public transport is excellent; Singapore is a small island & you really don’t need a car.
Living as a PT in Singapore was a good option for me. You can stay there and make visa runs by hopping on a bus to the border.
The vast majority of Singaporeans are Chinese . I have always gotten along with them & understood their unique “diaspora” mentality.
See “the Chinese/Jewish secret” in my PT & BBBB book.
Both groups have high self-esteem (as they think they are “The Chosen People”). They are self-reliant , honest and moral in their own special way, & above all, they value a higher education (MD., Ph. D, J.D., M.B.A.) for their kids– .
Both of these groups (Jews and Chinese) have excellent mentalities to set goals and pursue them successfully.
Once rich, they help their own people (not just relatives!) & are generous with charities in general.
By the way, there is a small Jewish community in Singapore, along with many Hindu Indians (from India), and Muslims primarily from Malaysia. Spreading race hate or disparagement is not tolerated. White English speaking Europeans tend to join the Chinese tycoons at the top of the economic pile, but Whites are probably under 2% of the local population. You don’t really need to be a registered “legal resident” to be able to live in Singapore. You need to really renounce your present citizenship. To get a Singapore passport you must produce a cancelled passport and maybe an irrevocable certificate of renunciation. If you get your old passport back by hook or crook, you may lose Singaporean. It is fraud to say you intend to reside there permanently, and then leave or revert to your prior citizenship. ..But as usual, there are “work-arounds” & sneaky ways to keep USA ctzshp if you want to. But I have my own ideas & secrets on that topic. Remind me to discuss- It may be best to keep the question in limbo as during the limbo period you don’t need to pay taxes or file paperwork in the USA. I add that it is always better to follow the letter of the law on such matters than to evade or circumvent. Women- Unlike most Asian women who tend to be more loyal & passive wives or girlfriends than Americans, the Singaporean girls in general can earn very good money. Thus, they are quite independent , like Americans & Europeans. They get divorces at about the same rate, and living together is more the norm now than getting married. As the
Singapore birth rate is very low, the government in recent years has put out the welcome mat for *educated foreigners who can contribute to the economy, pay taxes & who will move there and stay there.
* A big family (over 2 kids) is exceptionally welcome and the kids get more or less automatic citizenship if the parents are naturalized and they have been assimilated after attending school in Singapore..
If you live there, the American club is like a 1st class country club, great pool, restaurants, gyms for workouts, handball, tennis, etc. & great place to make high-level contacts too. I am not a club guy or joiner- but when I lived there, it was always my favourite hang-out. The one time fee for membership in the American club for Americans & Canadians is 24,000 sing dollars = (14,000 euros or 18,000$USA) – half that for missionaries, social workers & NGO employees. It is 100,000 for Singaporeans. If you use the facilities it is about 150 sing dols more per month . You can bring guests. So if you know a member you can go with a member as a guest -to a certain extent. Bottom Line: I would put Sing on my top 5 list of “playground” flags & maybe business flags too. It is a trading nation. Many goods to and from China pass through their excellent port or are processed there. I personally like Europe more– mainly because it is also so clean and civilized. In Europe, You can get in your car and within hours be in 25 other countries with different languages, customs, religions & cuisine. In Europe, you can have a lot of variety, yet as a white person, always blend in. Not in Asia. In rural Thailand and Philippines, for instance, young girls would sometimes come over and squeeze me because they had never seen a White Man except in Hollywood movies.. . It turned out I was considered something like, well almost, “God.” They wanted to tell their friends they pinched a white guy at the supermarket. Well, maybe it’s not so bad to be “exotic” when it comes to picking up girls … Also, they seemed to especially like the company of kind & generous, chubby, bald, old, geezers like me. On second thought, Asia for some dudes, is pretty great for half a year! I have gone to Asia every winter for 30 years .
Lately I wanted a change from Asia. So I spent recent winters in South America. For me being semi-retired , I don’t want to make deals & a lot more money. I think that is why I prefer places like France and Thailand where enjoying a stress free life, love and leisure are the highest priority. Of course you can do that very well in Brazil too. Others I know prefer Central & South America because among other things, it is cheaper. Most of the locals want to drink, dance & kick a ball around.
In general in the ex- Spanish colonies people are more lazy in matters of work or commerce (thus less competition). In general, they won’t show up on time, they ask for money before the job is done; & you have to watch out for scammers and bent cops. You can however, adjust to their ways. Many of my associates and clients have settled happily in places like Brazil, Paraguay, For Americans or I guess anyone with ambition and drive, Brazil is certainly the best place to go if you are young energetic & want to become a billionaire. The only way to know what you will like is to GO. Experiment before you commit time and money to getting legal residence or citizenship. In many cases, for a glorious PT Life, you may find you can live, earn an invisible income, and invest anywhere. You can stay anywhere as long as you want. With a few exceptions, you probably you don’t really need either legal residence or citizenship. In some cases, the best option is to get a passport in Country “A” and then because of treaty or otherwise, you get to stay & work in Country “B.” For instance, Panamanian & Italian citizenship by treaty, are almost interchangeable, as are Brazilian and Portuguese. It’s easy only if you know how.
Ask Grandpa how to do it.
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