A new “good conduct” condition for Permanent Residents (PRs) in Singapore will be introduced if proposed amendments to the Immigration Act are approved.
According to a Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) statement, the good conduct condition for PRs allows the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to cancel the PR’s re-entry permit (PER) if he “contravenes any law” or is “involved in any activity which threatens a breach of peace or is prejudicial to public order”.
If the PR travels out of Singapore or remains outside of Singapore without a valid REP, he will lose his PR status.
This amendment also gives the ICA the ability to “impose, vary, or set additional conditions for the validity of the REP”.
The other amendments proposed include:
1. Criminalising marriages of convenience to obtain an immigration facility (e.g. entry visa, permanent residency, long-term pass etc),
2. Criminalising the manufacture, trafficking and possession of paraphernalia for immigration forgeries, and
3. Allowing the ICA to obtain passenger/crew information on inbound persons prior to their arrival.
MHA introduced the amendment bill in Parliament on Monday, in order to “strengthen Singapore’s border security” and “facilitate the legal entry of bona fide foreigners into our country while keeping out undesirable persons, goods and conveyances.”
The Immigration Act regulates immigration facilities as well as the entry, stay, and exit of all foreigners. The last major amendment to the Act was in 2004.
The family of a US scientist found hanged last year in Singapore walked out of a coroner's inquiry into his death Tuesday, saying they had "lost faith" in the proceedings.