Employment Pass Rejected

Hi All,

   My EP application has just been rejected and according to the company's HR, MOM said it is because they have already reached the foreign employee quota but they are still appealing the decision. Is there a possibility of reversing the decision of MOM if the problem is the company quota?

can i contact MOM directly? i was of the opinion that only the prospective employer could do that. They (the employers ie) are understandably wary right now as they have never recieved a response like this.
If i can contact mom directly can you please advise what the best way to go about it is (call, f2f visit, email?)

You can contact MoM regarding your application, but in most cases they won't tell you anything.
If your company cannot hire you due to quota reasons, they can
- hire more locals until the quota can accommodate you
- fire another foreigner and hoire you instead
- petition to MoM for a exemption from their quota (very unlikely)
- apply for an EP for you instead (no quota applies, but various other requirements)
Just appealing against your rejection will not work.

HI Beppi,

One of the company applied SPASS for me two days ago and today i check from MOM's website, they mentioned the Status: Pending inputs from vetting agencies. Expected outcome is 2 months from the Date of Application.

Does it mean i need to wait for another 2 month to get approval from MOM?

Thanks

Annie

It means they are checking the correctness of your credentials with the issuing organisation (e.g. your degree with your university) and they expect this to take 2 months. If the contacted organisations respond earlier or later, this can take shorter or longer.
MoM will only make the final decision on approving/rejecting your application after receiving the replies.
But you can already count it as good sign that you got to this stage (and quite fast) - applications that are obviouly without merit do not get this far!

Thank you for reply me. I am so worried that the company can wait for the next 1-2 months or not because they quite urgent for the position that I applied.

Regards,

Annie

The company can explain this to MoM and ask for expedited processing. It is very rare that MoM makes an exception, but probably worth a try if the company really needs you that urgently.

Okay thank you Hope can get approve soon.

Dear all ,
I am newbie here and would like to ask for advices reagarding my e pass rejected.

I am holding a degree in Electrical Electronic Enginerring . However, through the job agency, i managed to find the job but in different major. i am now holding an EP Q1 working in the restaurant for 3 months. I want to switch the job to be an engineer and found one employer is willing to offer me the position . We have tried to applied for EP also for my new job but it was rejected. May i know what will possibly be a reason for the rejection so that i can submit appeal letter to MOM , Please help me out .

Thank you so much!

Without knowing further details, it is difficult to guess the reason for rejection:
Is your engineering degree recognised by MoM?
How much work experience as engineer do you have?
What exactly did the rejection letter say?
Did your new company ask MoM for the reason for rejection?
What did you tell in the application for your current pass?
It is very unusual for an engineer with no F&B experience to get an EP for a restaurant job. I hope you were honest in your application then, because MoM dislikes people who give false or incomplete information and might never give you a visa again if they find out.
In addition, MoM dislikes job-hoppers and might reject you just because of the short time in the first job. You should stay at least a year in a job before changing!

It has been 12 days I still get the same result, I'm so worried about it. I heard from some friends nowadays Singapore's Gov is encourage companies to hire locals instead of foreigner.

12 days is not 2 months. You need to be patient!

The government of course encourages companies to hire locals first, and in fact requires them to post any job opening on a locals-only job market first. Only if no suitable candidate is available there, can they hire a foreigner.
Your job obviously made it past that barrier already, otherwise they would have rejected your application immediately.

Hi Beppi,

My employer applied an epass for me for only 1500 salary. I told them that it's impossible with my salary. They said they will take care of it. The next day of application, it got rejected due to salary. The appealed it for 4000 salary but it's almost 2 months now. I check online from time to time but the status shows "rejected". Will it show "appeal"/"pending" if they applied for an appeal or will it stay the same status as rejected before online.

I doubt my employer sometimes so I want to make sure they're doing what they told me.

Rejected means just that.
The application has been rejected and no appeal pending.
Contact your employer and ask exactly what is going on.

hi stumpy,

i called them they said it should appear rejected online even after they appealed it already. so it doesnt update the status while the appeal is being processed.

do you think it's true?

The system is not always up to date or accurate, but if an appeal is filed, it should change back to pending.
This employer doesn't know what they are doing, so you better look for other opportunities. Applying for a pass with a low salary (the minimum to get S-Pass is S$2200) and on rejection increasing it is a sure way to get rejected again: MoM in such cases automatically assumes a kick-back scheme (i.e. you return a part of the higher salary back to the employer every month, thus the higher number exists only in theory) and that of course is illegal.

they actually asked me to pay 500 sgd, do i have the right to refund it?

Who asked you to pay S$500, and for what?
Do you have evidence of the payment (e.g. a receipt) that also says what you paid for?

For the "Key In" they said for the MOM. They sent an email with S$70 charge they paid for MOM, that's the only thing they sent me as an receipt, but actually asked me to pay 500 dollars. Where can I complain about this issue?

Complain to MoM.
The visa fee is to be paid by the emplyer, who applies for it. If the employer chooses to outsource the data entry to a third party (here the agency), they of course have to pay for it themselves.

Hi Beppi- you doing a great job!!
My friend is a singapore PR, since past 8 yrs and her parents are singapore citizens.
she was out of singapore last 3 yrs and come back and contributing to CPF since past 4 months now,she got married 7 months back & staying with her husband in singapore now living in a house on rent.
He is a non-singaporean,has a short term visit pass & he too has managed to get a job with the salary qualifying the P-2 bracket-$4700 dollars,also he is a post graduate with experience of 6 yrs and degrees with B level grades.are the marksheets enough to apply for EP.
Do spouses of PR have higher chances of EP approval?
will he get a EP approval if his employee for his P1-EP ?

For EP approval, being married to a PR spouse has small or no influence, especially if they were only married for such a short time. But of course he can qualify on his own merits.
The minimum salary for a P2 pass is S$4500/month for a fresh graduate, and higher with experience (but exactly how much higher is not publicised). I guess with 6 years experience he will only get a Q1 pass at this salary. (P1 EP, with a minimum salary of S$8000/month, is out of the question anyway.)

Hi!!
Does approval of LTVP on the basis, being a spouse of SPR.
help in getting a work pass approval quicker or easier , if i qualify for all mentioned EP eligibilities.

As far as I know (by circumstantial evidence, as the exact inner workings of MoM are not publicised), it has no influence.

It's almost 3 months waiting for E-Pass? Do you thinkg it's normal for appeal to wait more than 3 months? They appealed it but status is still the same rejected, is it normal?

I think you have been cheated and no appeal was filed, or the appeal was rejected, too.
But you can call MoM to find out for sure.
In any case you better look for another employer (maybe in another country) now.

Hi

I am indian working in singapore 5 years i got my renewal rejection same companies i am working in 4 years. i have got another company to apply EP 3.5 mill turnover but still i got rejection reason below given :

we have noted a significant increase i your candidate's salary compared to her previous employment and we would like to know why. If your are still keen to employ this candidate please give us the job description, employment contract, and her latest notice of assessment from the IRAS.

My previous salary : sgd 3500
Job description : Administrative Accounts Executive.

Applied Salary : SGD 4600
Job : Senior shipping Co-ordinator

Please any one tell me can i appeal or not.

Your previous salary was probably too low to qualify for an EP renewal under the new rules (somebody with over 5 years experience is expected to earn more).
According to the wording of MoM's letter, it is not a rejection, but a request for further information. They are suspicious of sudden salary increses after EP rejection for too low salary, because some unscrupulous employers and employees cheat MoM by agreeing a so-called "kick-back" schemes, where some of that salary exists only on paper or is immediately returned to the employer. That, of course, is illegal.
I believe your company should just supply the requested information and explain why you are worth more to them than to your previous employer - and you should be fine then.

Thank u very much for your reply

Can i go by appeal or re apply ?

You can't do anything, only your employer can.
If it's not a rejection, but a request for information, then they should just supply that information.

i mean i am not going to do anything my employer will do but after 8 days we have got this your recent application is not successful because.....

So employer must appeal only is it.

Hi Beppi,
I am just new to this side and really like your support and answers. I have one query as well. I got a job offer from an MNC (more than 1000 employees) with above 10k per month as salary. They applied for my EP application on 19th Dec. I am still waiting for an outcome of this application as per my employer its still showing under processing. I am getting little worried as per MOM website 80% of applications will be decided within 7 days and in my case its more than that now. Do you think we have an issue here. i am really getting panicked now.

Processing takes as long as it takes, and there is nothing you can do but wait.
I have heard of one or even two months in some cases, especially if MoM needs to verify your documents and your home country authorities or schools do not cooperate or take long to reply - yes, they do contact your school or university!

Hi All,

Recently My Company Applied for an EP. It has been only four days but I started getting nervous. Just want to make sure whether MOM will approve my pass or not.

My Profile:

1. I have 2+ experience in User Experience field.
2. Masters Degree from NTU, Singapore
3. Bachelors Degree from Anna Univ - Chennai, India
4. Pay - 5000SGD
5. Employing company is a Singapore start - up company

I contacted the MOM authorities and they said there will be a background check on my profile. What type of background check will they do?. What do you think will be the outcome of my application?.
Thanks in advance!!

An EP application can take a month (and success is not correlated processing duration in any way), so do not worry yet!
Background check means they are verifying the documents and information you sent. Since your highest degree is from Singapore (and NTU presumably already verified your Indian degree), this should not take more than a few days - unless you have included other courses or certificates.
They also check if your employer is allowed to hire foreigners (not all start-ups can!) and whether they have gone through the prescribed procedure of trying to find a suitable local first (which takes at least two weeks and they can only hire you if none is available).

Hi Beppi,

Thank you , your explanation was really helpful. My only worry is that during the initial stages of my career I did some virtual volunteer work; I do not have certificates to authorize it. It's been a year and I do not believe the employers will recognize me now. I have only e-mail conversations and project documents to support it. So will it anyway affect the out come of the application. I am currently working in Oracle India and provided the same details to them as a proof of my previous work. should I tell MOM on this issue beforehand?. In my CV also I have stated the experience as Virtual Volunteer work - Freelance.

Between the hiring process went on for a month. Initially I was given an assignment and they offered the job only after careful assessment of the output.

Thanks you once again!!!

Volunteer work has no influence on your EP application, but if it was freelance (i.e. paid) and done while you were in Singapore, it may have been illegal or unauthorized (by your visa status). If in doubt, don't tell MoM about it!

Hi Beppi,

I have a candidate  from a Local University (SIM), and has a working experience in singapore of 1 years with a HR company on S pass

Currently the company(SME company) wants to hire her in a similar role, and willing to pay her initially 4k (EP), as she is able to speak Bahasa frequently, and we think she could value add to the company. Her EP was rejected. (I think the reason given was that applicant's qualification does not justified the salary)

The company thus lowered the salary to 3k with her consent. , it was rejected again. (the reason given was that the salary was to low for her qualification and work experience)

Can we appeal again? will she risks the chance of being black listed?
what are the criterias might need to change in order to approve, or what can we do?

Regards

I think you should in this case talk to MoM to get an idea what the appropriate salary should be in this case. Call MoM and ask for a personal appointment with the officer in charge. Tell them that hiring this applicant is of high importance to your organisation and ask them for suggestions on how to get the EP approved.
The applicant cannot get blacklisted just because you file multiple applications and appeals.