Global Investor Programme (GIP): Four Applicant Profiles, Three Investment Options and Renewal Criteria

The Global Investor Programme (GIP) is Singapore's permanent residence (PR) route for business owners and investors, managed by Contact Singapore under the Economic Development Board (EDB). Unlike the "Employment Pass first, PR later" route, GIP applicants qualify on the strength of their business track record or investable assets and apply for PR by investing in Singapore; once approved, they arrive as PRs. All figures below are taken from the EDB GIP Factsheet (version dated 2025-05-05), and EDB's latest documents prevail. The factsheet states at the outset that its contents are not a commitment that the programme will continue, that an application will be approved or that a Re-Entry Permit will be renewed.

What the GIP is and who is involved

EDB assesses GIP applications and the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) grants approval. Applicants first submit the application forms and supporting documents to EDB and attend an interview. If EDB's assessment is favourable, ICA issues Approval-in-Principle (AIP). Once the applicant has made the investment and EDB has verified it, ICA issues Final Approval. ICA's PR application page also lists "foreign investors applying through EDB's GIP" as a separate category (ICA, 2026-03-13).

The GIP differs from the other routes in three key ways:

• Thresholds are measured by business or asset size, not personal salary;
• The investment is part of the approval conditions: it must be made within a set period after AIP and then maintained;
• PR renewal is linked to economic contribution and residence: renewal criteria apply in the fifth year, as set out below.

At the aggregate level, 35,352 people were granted Singapore PR in 2025 (Population in Brief 2026, data from ICA). The GIP is only one of the categories, and the authorities do not publish the number of GIP approvals separately.

Eligibility for the four applicant profiles

For the first three profiles, the company must be in one of the industries listed in Annex B of the factsheet, and established business owners may combine up to 2 companies to meet the turnover threshold. For family office principals, the factsheet defines "net investable assets" as all financial assets, including bank deposits, capital markets products, collective investment schemes, premiums paid on life insurance policies and other investment products, but excluding real estate, and EDB reserves the right to judge whether assets are acceptable.

The three investment options

Note that the factsheet states GIP-select funds have been assessed but this does not amount to an endorsement of any fund, and investment decisions and risks rest with the applicant. Under Option C, assets held outside Singapore can count towards the S$200 million in assets under management, but the S$50 million must actually be brought into Singapore.

Application process and timeline

1. Submit the application: upload application Forms A, B and C online, pay the non-refundable application fee of S$20,000, and send hard copies of the supporting documents to EDB within 1 month of payment.
2. Interview: EDB invites the applicant to an interview to assess the business plan and the applicant's role.
3. Approval-in-Principle: eligible applicants receive AIP from ICA, valid for 6 months.
4. Make the investment: within 6 months of AIP, invest under the chosen option and submit documents such as the investment undertaking, statutory declaration and bank evidence.
5. Final Approval: after EDB verifies the investment, ICA issues Final Approval.
6. Finalise PR: complete PR formalities within 12 months of the date of Final Approval; a 5-year Re-Entry Permit is then issued.

The factsheet notes that the whole process takes about 12 months, provided complete documents are submitted in one go and due diligence is passed. Documents in other languages need an official English translation notarised by a notary public in Singapore or in the country of issue, dated within one year before submission. For applications based on a mainland Chinese company, the audited accounts must be issued by one of the top 50 accounting firms ranked by the Chinese Institute of Certified Public Accountants, together with shareholding evidence such as the enterprise credit information disclosure report. Incomplete documentation may lead to the application not being accepted.

Dependants, parents and National Service

Dependants who can be included in the application are the spouse and unmarried children under 21 on the date of submission. Parents and unmarried children aged 21 and above cannot be included as dependants, but they can apply for a Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) whose validity is tied to the main applicant's Re-Entry Permit.

National Service is something families with sons must assess early. The factsheet states that sons who obtain PR as dependants must fulfil National Service obligations, and that a male spouse included as a dependant may also be liable where his wife is the main applicant. ICA's Re-Entry Permit notes add that first-generation main applicants who obtained PR under an investor scheme are exempt from National Service, but sons who obtain PR through their parents must serve; renouncing or losing PR without serving, or before completing full-time National Service, will seriously affect later applications to work or study in Singapore. See Maintaining PR for the rules, and check individual cases with the Central Manpower Base (CMPB) or ICA.

Renewing the Re-Entry Permit in year five

Whether the 5-year Re-Entry Permit of a GIP-route PR can be renewed depends on how the conditions have been met by the fifth year. The renewal window opens 3 months before the permit expires, and a late application will cause the permit to lapse.

The factsheet adds that the 5 family office professionals must hold adviser or director roles in legal, tax, investment or philanthropy functions, and that where the investment is in an existing Singapore company or family office, only hires made after the application was submitted count.

Option C and single family offices: the immigration conditions only

Option C requires a single family office (SFO) to be set up, but the GIP's immigration conditions, family office tax incentives and regulatory requirements are three separate sets of rules:

• Immigration conditions: the asset size, specified investment, hiring and residence requirements above, administered by EDB and ICA;
• Fund tax incentives (such as the arrangements under sections 13O and 13U of the Income Tax Act): administered by MAS and IRAS under separate conditions; for structuring, see the sister site's hnwsolution.sg family office section;
• Regulatory framework: MAS announced that a revised framework for single family offices' licensing exemption takes effect on 15 June 2026. Eligible SFOs must notify MAS, hold an account with an MAS-licensed bank and file an annual return, and existing SFOs have a transition period until 15 June 2027 (MAS, published 2026-06-11).

Common misconceptions include "investing the money gets you PR" (the investment is only one condition; applications go through an interview, due diligence and a holistic assessment), "once you have PR through the GIP you don't need to live in Singapore" (renewal expressly includes a residence condition) and "setting up a family office brings tax benefits automatically" (tax incentives must be applied for separately and their conditions met). The GIP involves moving large sums across borders, so source of funds and source of wealth must stand up to due diligence, and mainland Chinese residents must also comply with the rules on outbound investment and foreign-exchange administration. To assess whether the GIP suits your family and business, you can register an enquiry through the contact details on this site; this site does not file immigration applications and makes no commitment about approval outcomes.