PRs could have half a year instead of one month to apply for re-entry permit after its expiry
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Currently, a PR who is overseas with an expired REP would automatically lose his PR status, and only has a one-month grace period to apply for reinstatement.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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SINGAPORE - Permanent residents (PRs) could have six months to apply for a re-entry permit after its expiry, up from the current one-month period, if new laws are passed.
This is one of the proposed changes in the Immigration (Amendment) Bill, which was introduced for first reading in Parliament by Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo on Wednesday.
Currently, all PRs here who go overseas need to have a valid re-entry permit (REP), which allows them to re-enter Singapore.
Under current laws, a PR who is overseas with an expired REP would automatically lose his PR status, and has only a one-month grace period to apply for reinstatement.
The proposed amendments could mean PRs will have six months to apply for a re-entry permit. If they are successful, they remain a PR.
Said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA): “This is intended to give PRs sufficient time to remedy the situation.
“We encourage all PRs to apply to renew their REP in a timely manner, before it expires.”
The Bill also proposes to remove the right to make statutory appeals to the Minister for Home Affairs for PR-related decisions.
A statutory appeal is one which is specifically prescribed by law.
The proposed amendment means if a person’s PR status is revoked or cancelled, he would not be able to lodge an appeal with the minister.
MHA said this move would mean PR-related decisions would be treated in the same way as decisions on other immigration passes, such as long-term visit passes and citizenship, which also have no statutory right of appeal.
MHA said: “Foreigners have no right to demand to enter or stay in Singapore; this must be the prerogative of the Government.”
It added that even without the statutory appeal, PR applicants and PRs may continue to seek the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority’s (ICA) consideration of its decisions, particularly if there are new facts not previously submitted to ICA.
The new laws will also allow ICA to impose or vary conditions on PRs’ entry or re-entry permits by simply notifying them.
Currently, ICA must first notify PRs of the intention to impose or vary such conditions, and allow them to give a written explanation, before the conditions can be introduced.
This makes it administratively challenging for ICA to change the conditions.
Said the MHA: “The aim of imposing such conditions is to ensure that PRs and pass holders comply with our laws and do not engage in undesirable behaviour.”
More power will also be given to ICA officers, under the proposed amendments, to detain people and vehicles involved in non-immigration offences, no matter where they occur.
Current laws allow ICA officers to arrest only those involved in immigration offences, or non-immigration offences committed within or around an authorised area, such as a checkpoint.
When it comes to non-immigration offences outside an authorised area, ICA officers need to rely on the police to make arrests.
This comes after ICA took over protective security functions
