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> cannot marry Singaporeans I thought we had left this back in the Middle Ages. It always surprises me how come some journalists still praise Singapore.
by paganel 5y ago
> cannot marry Singaporeans
I thought we had left this back in the Middle Ages. It always surprises me how come some journalists still praise Singapore.
- dendriti 5y agoDon't worry, it's not actually true.
- refurb 5y agoThey do need permission. "If you are a current or former Work Permit holder who wishes to marry a Singapore citizen or PR, you must apply for approval from MOM." https://www.mom.gov.sg/faq/foreign-worker/as-a-work-permit-holder-how-do-i-apply-for-approval-to-marry-a-singaporean-or-permanent-resident https://www.mom.gov.sg/faq/foreign-worker/as-a-work-permit-h...
- Yeri 5y agoIs there an idea on how often these are approved or denied?
- skc 5y agoMan, that acronym is just...absurdly perfect.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- dendriti 5y agoNearly every jurisdiction on earth has rules about who can marry whom. Especially when it comes to immigration. My best friend's fiance had to return to her home country from their shared second for 8 months while she applied for another visa to allow them to legally change her status when she married. I feel like it's really strange that HN commenters hate on Singapore for having standards for immigrants. To the point of lying and saying that Work Permit holders aren't allowed to marry citizens in order to drum up outrage, and only backtracking when called out on it.
- lookACamel 5y agoIt's not a lie. They're not allowed, and it's not just about marriage. They're also prohibited from getting pregnant and are routinely tested. https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/work-permit-for-foreign-worker/sector-specific-rules/work-permit-conditions https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/work-permit-for-fo... Work permit conditions: >Not marry a Singapore citizen or permanent resident in or outside Singapore without MOM's approval. This applies even after their Work Permits have expired, been cancelled or revoked. >Not get pregnant or deliver a child in Singapore during the validity of their Work Permit unless they are already married to a Singapore citizen or permanent resident with MOM's approval. This applies even after their Work Permits have expired, been cancelled or revoked. https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/work-permit-for-foreign-worker/sector-specific-rules/six-monthly-medical-examination https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/work-permit-for-fo... >As an employer, you must send your female Work Permit holders for medical screening every 6 months. This medical examination screens for pregnancy and infectious diseases such as syphilis, HIV and tuberculosis. Note how they prohibit marriage outside Singapore even after the permit expires. It's clear what it means. If you've ever had a work permit, you're marked as unfit until proven otherwise.
- lanbanger 5y ago"Nearly every jurisdiction on earth" - citation please. Or did you not learn to provide references at NUS?
- thriftwy 5y agoThat'd basically what Stalin did in 1946, prohibiting Soviet citizens marrying foreigners. Bow we can see this matrimonial novation alive and feeling well in Singapore. I wonder what happens if you go to Thailand and marry there. I'm also not sure how it is going to work since citizen/PRs seem to be able to bring spouses in. Is it "unless they are already in Singapore and of low caste"?
- allarm 5y agoGosh that is bs. A friend of mine, a resident, married an ep holder 2 weeks ago. Singapore has not been very foreigner friendly lately, but this marriage thing is just not true.
- midasuni 5y agoThere’s a big difference between EP and WP
- Yeri 5y agoYes, as an EP holder I married a SC -- no problem. It's the Workpasses that are very restrictive. You are maybe confused by the multiple different types (and subtypes) of work-visas in Singapore.
- allarm 5y agoI am aware. They were talking about work passes though. Work passes include work permit, ep, pep, etc: https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits
- asiachick 5y agoVS where? I'll praise Singapore. It's clean, safe, has great food, fun clubs, cheap and plentiful taxis, wonderful public transportation, late night food options. Compare to SF. SF I think there are 5 restaurants in the entire city open past 2am (5 might be wrong but the number is small. SF clubs have a curfew. SF has homeless everywhere. Just got the pleasure of having one squat and defecate in front of me in front of the local market. SF has car breakins and garage breakins all over. I'm not saying Singapore doesn't have problems but if any other city is worthy of praise so is Singapore. All cities have problems, they're just different problems.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- croes 5y agoYou mean for whom. Most places are great if you are wealthy, powerful or both.
- ekianjo 5y agono there some cities which are absolutely horrible to live in even if you are rich. Its not because you can afford to live in a nice quarter that it makes up for the city at large.
- eklavya 5y ago"Most"
- jazzyjackson 5y ago"[Mars] must be a great place to live" "Sure, if you're rich" "Then I'm sure we will be quite happy." - Cowboy Bebop EP1, Asteroid Blues
- baybal2 5y agoSingapore clubs are boring
- 5y ago
- thirdvect0r 5y agoIsrael prohibits interfaith marriages.
- lozenge 5y agoCouples in Israel can marry abroad (often in Cyprus) and Israel recognises their marriage for the purpose of immigration, inheritance etc (nearly every purpose).
- riffraff 5y agoI think this is slightly incorrect: The Israel state does not regulate marriages, it leaves them to religious courts, which in turn make them impossible. The end result is similar, but the state _will_ recognize a marriage performed abroad (i.e. go to Cyprus, get married, come back), same as same-sex unions. (I am somewhat confused as to why a christian catholic court won't celebrate an interfaith marriage in Israel, since they are allowed by the church, and there are even specific protocols for jewish/catholic and muslim/catholic marriages, AFAIK)
- nivertech 5y agoThe GP is either misinformed or ... (lets hope it's the former). > (I am somewhat confused as to why a christian catholic court won't celebrate an interfaith marriage in Israel, since they are allowed by the church, and there are even specific protocols for jewish/catholic and muslim/catholic marriages, AFAIK) The problem is that usually the audience for the mixed marriages are non-halachic Jews, not Christians or Muslims, nor they see themselves as half-Christians. Another reason is that the Christian churches don't want to intervene into affair of the Jews, even non-halachic ones. The situation in Israel is nothing comparing to what happens in Lebanon [1]. People there converting for various reasons: from divorce, inheritance to emigration to the Gulf countries! In a phone interview with Archbishop George Saliba from the Syriac Orthdox Church, he said that they stopped converting other Christian sects into their own sect about 3 years ago, stating that “each person should solve his own problems in his own church”. -- [1] Converting One’s Religion in Lebanon https://medium.com/@zubaidajamal/converting-ones-religion-in-lebanon-f92c8c314a8a https://medium.com/@zubaidajamal/converting-ones-religion-in...
- skissane 5y agoIf you are a British citizen, and you want to get a spouse visa for your spouse to move to the UK with you, expect to pay over 3000 GBP (over 4000 USD). Australia is even worse – the standard fee is AUD 7850 (over 5600 USD). Sure, you can marry anybody you want, but you may not be able to afford the necessary visa so that they can live with you. The worst thing about the UK – pre-Brexit, any EEA (EU+Norway+Iceland+Liechtenstein) or Swiss national could work in the UK, and get working rights for their spouse too, by applying for a free EEA Family Permit. So citizens of 30 countries could bring their spouses to the UK for free, but UK citizens had to pay over 3000 pounds. There was a workaround, the so-called Surinder Singh route, named after the court decision which established it – a UK citizen could move to an EEA state and accept a job there, and after working there for three months, move back to the UK, and then they were eligible for an EEA Family Permit for their spouse. But it seems heartless to make your own citizens to jump through such loopholes just to have a common life with their spouse, when you'd let citizens of 30 other countries do it for free.
- logicchains 5y agoTo be fair, the Australian/UK case is mostly just driven by greed. The Singaporean rules were created to prevent maids "breaking up families" by getting into romantic relationships with male citizens.
- skissane 5y agoIn the UK case, is it just greed, or is there more to it than that? In 2011, David Cameron gave a "hard line speech on immigration" [0]; to quote an article from the time describing it: > The Government is planning to increase significantly the minimum amount that UK nationals must earn before being allowed to bring a dependent foreign spouse to live in Britain. > In a hard line speech on immigration today David Cameron will also announce plans to lengthen the time that couples have to be together before they can settle in this country. > The Prime Minister hopes the measures will reduce the 50,000 visas granted to family members of British citizens every year. Sounds like there is more to their motivations than simply extracting money from prospective immigrants. [0] https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron-if-you-want-your-foreign-spouse-to-live-in-uk-earn-more-28667454.html https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-camer...
- hestefisk 5y agoIt’s also illegal to be homosexual in Singapore, let alone “spreading gay propaganda”. Government has very tight grip of journalism, so the journalists that Singapore are usually the ones who are bound to be oppressed by the government if they do otherwise.