Title: Renouncing Singapore Citizenship and Absolving from National Service Obligations Date: 17 November 2012 Abstract This

document contains experience from two forum contributors on how to renounce Singapore citizenship without the need to fulfill national service obligation for male Singapore citizens. The document serves as a guide to parents of males who are born Singapore citizens and the male citizens themselves. The procedures outlines in this document is applicable to males who 1) are Singapore citizens, 2) are citizens (or permanent resident who are definitely able to obtain citizenship) of another country other than Singapore 3) are 21 years of age and above (during renunciation) 4) have left Singapore and have lived permanently outside of Singapore since age 10-11 5) did not make any attempt to try to be a Singapore citizen (examples: apply for Singapore passport or identity card, apply for a place in public institutions) Experience and Advice #1 Those with boys migrating and who leave Singapore before their boys reach the age of 11 years are not obliged to do NS but have to follow the necessary procedures to get exemption. Passports expire at the age of 11 (at time of writing, the new Singapore biometric passport is valid only for 5 years so the expiry age should be 5, if citizen from the adopted country is not yet available, it may be possible to make a new 5 year Singapore passport without impact on NS liabilities, please check this out with Singapore Embassy and the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority. Do be prepared to not get a clear answer from the civil servants as they may be tight lipped about NS liabilities) and that should be an indicator.

Once you have left, do not renew the passport, do not apply for NRIC etc as by doing so, your son may have been deemed to have enjoyed the privileges of citizenship and NS become mandatory.

At age 13, apply to CMPB for exit visa stating that your family has migrated and the boys are enrolled in a school in the new country. No bond is required. CMPB uses an outsourced agency to handle call centre matters and they have no clue about migrant cases. Go directly to CMPB.

At age 16.5, you need to register for NS (an interesting term as you are actually seeking deferment). You can do it by post to CMPB again citing that you have migrated, acquired new citizenship and the kids is schooling. You will be given deferment until the age of 21 where the kid must decide if they want to hold on their

Singapore citizenship. If they do, than NS must be served. If they choose to give up Singapore citizenship, the NS obligation is no longer required.

All Singaporeans, male and female cannot renounce their citizenship until age 21, and if they have acquired new citizenship before they turn 21, they will have dual citizenship status. In the meantime, one can travel in and out of Singapore without bond using the passport of their new country.

Unfortunately for those who left after 11 years of age, they are obliged to perform National Service.

Note: If your childs Singapore passport expires at the age of 11 and the family is not eligible for new citizenship, the kid will not be able to travel anywhere outside of your new adopted country due to absence of a valid passport. Make your best effort to obtain citizenship in your new adopted country. Do resist the pain of not visiting Singapore unless you want him to serve NS. Do not let friends and extended family members make decisions for your kids. Whatever it is, do be careful so in the future, your sons can travel in and out of Singapore and not be prosecuted for being a NS defaulter or having your sons impose on themselves a banned on travelling to Singapore to avoid prosecution. Experience and Advice #2 This section pertains to Singaporeans leaving for the United States of America and is narrated in point form. The steps can be followed if you have obtain citizenship (or permanently residency in other countries and have no intentions of returning to Singapore permanently). 1) The cutoff date used to be 11 and now 12/13 (this has been a moving target, to be certain, make sure your sons leave Singapore by 11). 2) Send an email and snail mail (with return address) to CMPB and Mindef when you get your green card and tell them the following - when you left and that your family have migrated to the US - they will need a copy of your green card and the passport page showing date of entry to the US / date of green card - ask all the questions that you need. - provide your address and contact details as the replies are always in the mail except

3) exit permit is required when your son reaches 13 years of age. Since you provided the contact details they will notify you as reminder 4) the exit permit will allow your son to remain outside until the time for NS registration which is 16.5. Again reminder will be sent.

5) No need to provide bond. Some clerk will sometimes might get it wrong but for migrants there is no bond. Always insist on no bond since you and family have migrated and have no intention of returning.

6) In the meantime, DO NOT do the following: - renew his passport - apply for NRIC - enroll for a place in a school in Singapore even if the parents have been posted by the company here etc - in essence he cannot enjoy the privileges of this state

7) At 16.5 years old, register online for NS, they will send you a form and they will now give your son deferment until the age of 21.

8) By this time, I suppose you guys will be US citizens. Your son is now a dual citizen and there is no issue as it not illegal.

9) He still cannot renounce his citizenship until he reaches age 21 (this is a law in Singapore, no one can renounce his/her citizenship until they turn 21. Parents cannot renounce Singapore citizenship for their children).

10) At 21, Mindef will send reminder about 2 month before his 21 birthday and ask him to decide if he wants to keep his Singapore citizenship and if so he must turn up for NS. Or else apply to renounce. If he chooses the latter, Mindef will provide contact details on who contact in ICA to renounce, Send email to that person and they will send the relevant forms which is quite tedious to fill. ICA will take 3 months to give the renunciation letter which must then be furbished to Mindef,

11) During all these years, he can visit Singapore with no issues. There is gap between the expired Singapore passport and getting the US passport after naturalisation. Do no renew the Singapore passport. Ask your relatives to fly to the US or a nearby country to meet. For family emergencies, Green card holders can apply to the US authorities for a travel paper which are temporary which are used for such purposes and for those who are stateless.

Enjoy your new life in a great new (and much bigger) world. Very best to you and family. Disclaimer: All rules are set by the relevant government agencies in Singapore and are subject to change either by the agencies themselves or by the Laws of Singapore. Do use this document only as a guide and find out about all the actual formalities and condition directly from the relevant government agencies. If you and your family have been living outside of Singapore for many years and have acquired citizenship from your adopted country, you have to act like and foreigner when dealing with the agencies and tell them that you are doing the right thing by choosing to respect Singapores stand on no dual citizenship for Singaporeans.