Three routes into Permanent Residence, from a S$10 million Singapore business to a S$200 million family office, and not one of them running through a property purchase.
Singapore's Global Investor Programme (GIP) grants Permanent Residence directly through one of three options: S$10 million in a new or expanded Singapore business (Option A), S$25 million in a GIP-select fund (Option B), or Family Office Principals with S$200 million in assets under management and S$50 million deployed in Singapore (Option C) (EDB). Real estate does not qualify under any option.
That last point is where most confusion starts. Our 2026 residency-by-investment overview covers programs where a property purchase is the qualifying investment, among them the UAE's 2 million AED threshold. GIP is not built the same way. This guide takes Singapore's programme on its own terms: what the three options actually require, why a Sentosa Cove estate does not get you Permanent Residence, and what the process looks like end to end.
What does Singapore's Global Investor Programme cost to qualify?
GIP has three entry points, and each is a business or fund position, not a home. Option A asks for S$10 million in a new or expanded Singapore business; Option B for S$25 million in a GIP-select fund; Option C, for Family Office Principals, requires S$200 million in assets under management with S$50 million deployed in Singapore (EDB GIP Factsheet, 2025).
The options are not interchangeable tiers of the same product, they are three different applicant profiles. Option A is scored against a business track record: applicants need roughly three years running a company with turnover of at least S$200 million in the latest year, or averaging that over three years, and the business itself must sit in an EDB-approved industry such as aerospace, healthcare, biotech, or financial services (EDB). Option B is closer to a passive capital commitment, paid from the applicant's own Singapore bank account within six months of Approval-in-Principle. Option C is built for principals who already run a family office rather than an operating business, with an applicant-level net investible assets test of at least S$200 million. On top of any of the three, there is a S$20,000 non-refundable application fee plus a S$100 ICA processing fee per applicant (EDB).
Can I qualify for GIP by buying property in Singapore?
No. The EDB factsheet excludes real estate from Net Investible Assets, the eligibility test behind Option C, and none of the three options accepts a residential or commercial property purchase as the qualifying investment (EDB). A high-value purchase on Sentosa Cove or a Good Class Bungalow does not, on its own, buy Permanent Residence.
This is the honest correction worth stating plainly, because it is a common assumption among buyers arriving from property-led golden visa markets. Programs like Qatar's title-deed route or the UAE's threshold let a real estate purchase carry the residency application. GIP does not. Foreign buyers of Singapore residential property also pay a flat 60% Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty on top of the standard duty, in force since 27 April 2023 (IRAS), a cost structure that signals Singapore treats residential property as a taxed asset class, not a residency mechanism. A property purchase can sit alongside a GIP application as a lifestyle decision. It cannot substitute for one.
How does GIP grant residency, and how is that different from other golden visas?
GIP accords Permanent Resident status directly, not a temporary visa that later converts. Many residency-by-investment programs elsewhere issue renewable temporary residence first, with a separate step, or years of holding, before anything resembling permanent status follows. GIP skips that intermediate stage (EDB).
The practical effect is that a successful GIP applicant is a Permanent Resident from Final Approval, holding a Re-Entry Permit rather than a renewable temporary pass. PR status is durable while the underlying business, fund position, or family office deployment stays in place, but it is not unconditional, and letting that investment lapse is the most direct way to put it at risk.
What does the GIP process and timeline actually look like?
The sequence runs through EDB and the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in a fixed order: application and interview, Approval-in-Principle (AIP), completion of the chosen investment, verification, Final Approval, then formalising PR. A complete application takes roughly 12 months from submission to outcome (EDB, factsheet footnote 7).
A Re-Entry Permit follows Final Approval, valid five years and renewable against the same conditions that qualified the application. The 12-month estimate assumes the investment step itself does not stall, since that stage, unlike the EDB interview or ICA approvals, sits within the applicant's own control.
Can I include my family on a GIP application?
Yes, within limits. A spouse and unmarried children under 21 are eligible dependents on the same application (EDB). Parents and unmarried children over 21 are not covered as GIP dependents, though they may separately apply for a Long-Term Visit Pass tied to the REP's validity.
One detail worth flagging for families with sons: a son who obtains PR as a dependant may become liable for National Service, a consideration that sits outside the investment decision but belongs in the same conversation with counsel. Family inclusion under GIP is narrower than some other residency-by-investment programmes that sponsor a wider circle of relatives, so principals planning around parents or adult children should size that expectation correctly from the outset.
Does the Global Investor Programme lead to Singapore citizenship?
Not automatically, and not through GIP itself. Citizenship runs on a separate track under the general Singapore Citizenship Act: a Permanent Resident aged 21 or older who has held PR for at least two years may apply, and approval is discretionary, weighing economic contribution, family ties, and length of residency (ICA).
GIP's own commitment ends at Permanent Residence and its renewal conditions. There is no GIP-specific fast lane to a passport, and the two-year figure is a minimum eligibility window, not a guarantee of approval at that point. Buyers whose objective is citizenship on a defined timeline should treat that as a materially different, and less certain, question from the residency decision itself.
The three options, side by side
| Option | Threshold | Vehicle | What counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| A · Business | S$10 million | New Singapore business or expansion of an existing one | ≥30% shareholding plus a management role; business in an EDB-approved industry; 5-year business plan |
| B · GIP-select fund | S$25 million | A GIP-select fund investing in Singapore-based companies | Capital paid from the applicant's personal Singapore bank account within 6 months of AIP |
| C · Family Office | S$200 million AUM (S$50 million deployed) | Singapore-based Single Family Office | Net investible assets ≥S$200 million, excluding real estate; ≥S$50 million transferred into Singapore and deployed in EDB-specified investments |
Real estate is excluded from the qualifying test in all three columns (EDB). Treat the table as a structural map of who each option suits, not a menu to shop by price.
The bottom line
Singapore's Global Investor Programme is the outlier in this cluster because it asks for a business, a fund position, or a family office, never a home. S$10 million is the lowest of the three thresholds and it buys equity and operating responsibility in a Singapore company, not a deed. That distinction should shape expectations before a single document is filed: a GIP applicant is underwriting a business plan or an investment mandate, and the residency approval follows the strength of that underwriting, not a valuation report.
Who it suits is narrower than the property-led routes elsewhere in this cluster. GIP fits a principal with a genuine operating business, fund-scale capital, or an existing family office, who wants Permanent Residence granted directly rather than earned through years of renewal. It does not fit a buyer whose plan was to purchase a residence and have the paperwork follow, an approach that works on the UAE's property threshold or Qatar's title-deed tier but not here.
The Brightwill view
We read GIP the way we read any threshold, as an entry test rather than the whole decision. Clearing S$10 million, S$25 million, or S$200 million in AUM tells you an applicant meets EDB's bar. It says nothing about whether the underlying business plan is sound, whether the GIP-select fund's Singapore mandate performs, or whether the family office structure behind Option C is built to last past the first REP renewal. The investment case and the residency case are two separate questions, and the first is the one that protects capital.
Brightwill Luxury is a curated access platform, not a brokerage, law firm, or immigration adviser. Where clients weigh a Singapore business, fund, or family office structure alongside a residency plan, we work from the eligibility rules as EDB has published them and defer the business, tax, and immigration judgment to qualified counsel who represent you, not the fund manager or the developer.
Discuss a Singapore residency and family office strategy with our advisory team →
Brightwill Luxury is a curated access platform, not a brokerage, law firm, or immigration adviser. Singapore's Global Investor Programme criteria are set by the Economic Development Board and reviewed periodically; confirm current thresholds, eligible industries, and processing timelines with qualified counsel before any commitment.
BUYER QUESTIONS
Frequently Asked Questions
Buyer questions answered by Brightwill Luxury, the discovery platform connecting buyers with vetted luxury listings worldwide.
Three options: S$10 million in a new or expanded Singapore business (Option A), S$25 million in a GIP-select fund (Option B), or, for Family Office Principals, S$200 million in assets under management with at least S$50 million deployed in Singapore (Option C) (EDB GIP Factsheet, 2025). A S$20,000 application fee and S$100 ICA processing fee also apply.
No. The EDB factsheet explicitly excludes real estate from the Net Investible Assets test, and none of GIP's three options accepts a residential or commercial property purchase as the qualifying investment (EDB). Property can be a separate lifestyle purchase, but it cannot carry a GIP application on its own.
GIP accords Permanent Resident status directly on Final Approval, not a temporary visa that converts later (EDB). Successful applicants receive a Re-Entry Permit, valid five years and renewable, rather than a renewable short-term pass.
Roughly 12 months for a complete application, covering the interview, Approval-in-Principle, completion of the chosen investment, verification, and Final Approval (EDB, factsheet footnote 7). The investment itself must be completed within six months of AIP, so the applicant's own timeline for deploying capital is often the variable that moves the total.
A spouse and unmarried children under 21 are eligible dependents on the same application (EDB). Parents and unmarried children over 21 are not covered as GIP dependents, though they may apply separately for a Long-Term Visit Pass tied to the principal's Re-Entry Permit.
Not directly. Citizenship runs on a separate track under the Singapore Citizenship Act: a Permanent Resident aged 21 or older who has held PR for at least two years may apply, with approval discretionary and not automatic (ICA). GIP itself grants and renews Permanent Residence, not a passport.
The UAE and Qatar both let a property purchase serve as the qualifying investment, at 2 million AED and from $200,000 respectively. Singapore's GIP excludes real estate entirely and requires a S$10 million business, a S$25 million fund position, or a S$200 million family office structure instead (EDB), which makes it a materially different, higher-capital, and non-property route.
