EP Approval Chances Asking

Wow, yours really is a special case - we never had something similar on this forum, and thus can only offer some educated guesses:

• There used to be a high salary threshold, above which the EP reuirements are waived and people with no qualifications could get an EP. If this still exists, the threshold is probably above S$20k/month now. Ask a professional service provider!
• However, as you suspected, getting an EP in one's own company is doubly difficult - for exactly the reasons you mentioned. If anyone, a professional service provider (choose a good one, not a cheap one!) could possibly do the trick.
• The EntrePass or an investor visa are the visa types intended for your situation. Why don't you consider those? (Again, ask the service provider whether this would work!)
• And, last not least, in the murky world of Singapore immigration, with its many unpublished rules, bringing what Singapore needs and wants is crucial. You did not mention the nature of your business, but being in a declared strategic investment area is a definitive asset and could open doors that won't exist for others.

Good luck - you'll need some of that, too!

Hi @beppi, thank you for the super quick response! I did check the Entrepass however my case doesn't seem to fall under any eligibility as the numbers for those are really high, and my company is not a VC-backed, just a small-mid sized privately owned business.

My business is not in the list of "wanted" industries by SG, which is what made it tougher, I went through most of the docs on MOM site already

Anything else that would potentially help in my case?

Thank you again for the speedy reply!

@eziop Well, what you found is that your business (small and uninteresting in their eyes) is not what Singapore wants to attract. Thus you will fight an uphill battle!

The best chance I see is expanding it to employ as many citizens and PRs (not other foreigners!) as possible - and then submitting a convincing business plan that shows the expected creation of more jobs for locals. That way, your business might become interesting to the Singapore authorities again.

@beppi That is actually what I've been planning, though it might be a multi-month process and not a quick one

Thank you for your insight though! Much appreciated.