THE NUMBER of people asking for a document that is mainly used for permanent residency applications overseas has more than doubled in the past 10 years.

Some 12,707 applied for Certificates of No Criminal Conviction last year, compared to just 4,996 in 1998.

The document, which is issued by the police, certifies that a person does not have any criminal convictions in Singapore within a certain period of time.

About seven in 10 people who ask for it use it to apply for permanent residency overseas, but it also used for, among other reasons, further studies and employment overseas, and child adoption.

The figures, which reflect the growing number of Singaporeans heading out of the country to work, were revealed on Monday in a written reply by Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng.

Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong had asked for the numbers.