Parliamentary reply by DPM Teo Chee Hean on rejection of SC applications

TWELFTH PARLIAMENT OF SINGAPORE
(FIRST SESSION)
WRITTEN ANSWER
MONDAY, 9 JANUARY 2012

CITIZENSHIP APPLICATIONS BY PERMANENT RESIDENTS WHO HAVE SERVED NATIONAL SERVICE

Ms Sylvia Lim: To ask the Prime Minister (a) how many and what percentage of Permanent Residents who had served National Service and applied for Singapore citizenship had their applications rejected in the last five years; and (b) what were the main reasons for the rejection of such applications.

Mr Teo Chee Hean (for the Prime Minister): From 2006 to 2010, about 3,000 second generation Permanent Residents who served National Service (NS) subsequently applied for Singapore citizenship.1 60 of the 3,000 citizenship applications (about 2%) were rejected. This was due to the applicant’s adverse record and/or because the applicant did not qualify for citizenship on his own merits.

_{¹A further ~3,200 second generation Permanent Residents became Singapore Citizens prior to serving NS during this period.}