Global Investor Programme (GIP)

EDB recognises three distinct investment routes under the GIP. The choice depends on the applicant's profile, capital structure, and intended business activity in Singapore. Each route carries its own qualifying conditions, Singapore-presence requirements, and renewal expectations.

• Option A · Direct investment of S$10M. Invest in a new business entity or in the expansion of an existing operating business in Singapore. Suits founders and principals who intend to run or significantly capitalise an operating business locally.
• Option B · S$25M into a GIP-Select Fund. Invest in a GIP-Select Fund — an EDB-approved fund that deploys into Singapore-based companies under the GIP framework. Suits investors who prefer a vehicle structure rather than direct operating exposure. Fund eligibility itself is an EDB-administered approval, separate from the investor's own GIP application.
• Option C · S$200M into a Single Family Office. Establish a Singapore-based family office with at least S$200M in assets under management, of which a defined portion must be deployed within Singapore. This route overlaps with — but is distinct from — the MAS Section 13O / 13U family office tax schemes. Many Option C engagements pair the GIP application with a parallel 13U structure on the investment vehicle.

EDB updates the qualifying thresholds and conditions periodically. The figures above reflect the framework current at the time of writing; we verify thresholds against EDB guidance at the start of every engagement.

This boundary is worth stating clearly. ALG is not an EDB-designated agent for the GIP. The GIP scheme requires the formal application to be submitted by an EDB-designated submitting agent. What ALG does:

• Diagnostic on which of the three routes fits — and whether GIP is even the right pathway versus a standard Singapore PR application with an EP-anchored employment record.
• End-to-end case preparation — financial substantiation, source-of-funds narrative, business plan or fund mandate articulation, family composition and dependants' pathway.
• Pre-submission interview preparation — the EDB interview is where most cases are decided in practice, not in the paper file. We rehearse the substance and the framing.
• Coordination with an EDB-designated submitting agent partner who handles the formal lodgement and EDB liaison from submission through decision.
• Post-approval execution — Singapore presence requirements, family office or operating company setup if applicable, renewal cadence.

Final approval rests with the Singapore Economic Development Board. No advisor — ALG, designated agent, or otherwise — can guarantee approval. What we offer is the highest probability case the facts of your situation will support.

1. Initial diagnostic — current investor profile, capital structure, family situation, intended Singapore activity. We confirm GIP fit before quoting an engagement.
2. Route selection — Option A, B, or C, with reasoning documented.
3. Source-of-funds narrative and supporting documentation review — the most-scrutinised element of any GIP file.
4. Business plan or fund mandate preparation, calibrated to EDB's actual evaluation criteria rather than templated narratives.
5. Family composition mapping — spouse, children, dependant parents, intended education and healthcare arrangements.
6. Pre-submission interview rehearsal — the questions EDB tends to ask, framing of answers, and the recoveries from common pitfalls.
7. Coordination with our EDB-designated agent partner for formal submission.
8. EDB liaison through the decision window — clarification responses, supplementary information requests.
9. Post-approval — Singapore presence setup, family office or operating company implementation, year-five renewal preparation, including the substance and presence evidence EDB reviews at that point.

From initial diagnostic to formal submission: typically four to eight months, driven primarily by source-of-funds documentation and (for Option C) family office structure preparation. From submission to EDB decision: nine to twelve months on the standard track, longer where supplementary information is requested. GIP approval grants Singapore PR status with an initial 5-year Re-Entry Permit; renewal at year five requires meeting Singapore presence and investment substance conditions.

Engagements that try to compress the pre-submission window below four months tend to surface gaps in EDB's clarification round that could have been pre-empted. The interview prep alone deserves three to four weeks.

ALG has advised on engagements that received GIP approval across investor profiles. We disclose specifics under engagement letter once we have established case fit and confidentiality terms — not on the public site, and not to inquiries that have not yet committed to a structured conversation.

What this means in practice: the questions EDB tends to ask in the interview, the documents the case officer scrutinises most closely, the common reasons cases are deferred or declined — these are things we have seen across real engagements, not inferred from the published rule book.

GIP is not a separate immigration channel from Singapore PR. It is one of several EDB-administered investor pathways into the Singapore PR system. Successful GIP applicants become Singapore Permanent Residents (SPRs), the same status conferred by the Professionals/Technical Personnel and Skilled Workers (PTS) Scheme — the route ICA uses to assess Employment Pass and S Pass holders applying for SPR. The pathway differs; the resulting status does not.

Option C and the Section 13O / 13U family office schemes overlap but are not identical. Option C is administered by EDB and is about residence eligibility; 13O / 13U are administered by MAS and are about tax incentive qualification. Many Option C engagements pursue both in parallel, but the two approvals are separate processes with different evaluators and different timelines.

Singapore PR via GIP does not bypass NS obligations for male children. First-generation male PRs are exempt from National Service in practice; second-generation male PRs (children granted PR through the principal applicant) are subject to NS under the same rules applied to other male SPRs. We map the household's exposure to this at the diagnostic stage.

For background on Singapore PR application timelines and approval patterns generally, see the article Singapore PR 2026: Timeline and Approval Patterns.

For Option C engagements where a 13O or 13U family office runs in parallel, see also Family Office Setup (13O / 13U).

GIP engagements always begin with a strategy call. The diagnostic on whether GIP is the right pathway, and which route is the right fit, is itself a substantial conversation — and one that should happen before any proposal is exchanged.

Schedule a Strategy Call → or send a detailed inquiry →