Long Term Visit Pass

There are a total of 14,694 foreigners married to Singapore Citizens who are living in Singapore on the Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) and Long-Term Visit Pass-Plus (LTVP+) schemes as of December 2014. Many foreigners newly married to Singapore citizens are not eligibile for permanent residence or citizenship. Instead, they are issued with LTVP by the Immigration and Customs Authority (ICA) which allows them to stay in Singapore on a long term basis to be with their spouse as long as they stay married.

There is another type of Long Term Visit Pass (LTVP) issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). These LTVPs are issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for a common-law spouse, step-child or handicapped child of an Employment Pass (EP) or S Pass (SP) holder. A letter or report from a medical practitioner on the child’s condition is required for handicapped child application. The common-law spouse must be recognized in the country from which the foreign nationals came from before the application can be submitted for consideration.

The sponsoring EP/SP holder needs to have a minimum income of SGD5,000 per month. This qualifies him/her to sponsor the Common-law spouse, unmarried handicapped children above 21 years old, or unmarried step-children under 21 years old. The immediate parents of the pass holder can also qualify for Long Term Visit Pass (LTVP) if the sponsoring person is earning a fixed monthly salary of at least SGD10,000 a month. The duration of the LTVP issued by MOM is tied to the sponsor ie either the Employer Pass or S Pass holders. The LTVP is automatically cancelled or lapses when the sponsor’s pass is cancelled or expires.

The LTVP issued by the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority allows the holder to work in Singapore subject to an application for a work permit by the employer from the Ministry of Manpower. Special concession is made for the employer of LTVP holder issued by ICA where no foreign worker levy or quota requirements are imposed. There is also no salary restrictions and academic qualification requirements for the application. This makes it easier for the LTVP holders to find jobs in Singapore and for employers to hire them.

However, for LTVP issued by MOM , the requirements on working are more stringent. Holders of LTVP issued by MOM are required to meet the same qualifying and eligibility criteria just like any other foreigners in order to work in Singapore. In other words, LTVP holders from MOM is required to apply for Employment Pass, S Pass or work permit on their own merits and employers are also required to meet the same qualifying criteria as if they are employing any other foreigners.