Employment Pass Rejected

Hi all ,
Im now in the terrible situation and need your advice ...Thank you so much for your sincere answers......Im holding an epass now with the salary is not epass 's salary . Last few day some one has reported to the MOM and The MOM has come to my company and has kept the passport of my 3 other colleges ( also holding E pass but salary is below epass 's salary )for investigation .They said they will keep the passport untill the expiry of the epass and we could not leave singapore untill that time . They did not ask me to submit the passport , just ask me to give phone number and IC number .  Now i want to resign and cancel my Epass to go back my country . Can you advice will the MOM willing to cancel  my epass ?

If i did not cancel the pass and just leaving singapore , can i reenter singapore in future?

Please help me out  and your advice is much much appreciated!!

And also If i did not cancel the pass and leaving singapore, will i get caught at the airport because the MOM suspect i did something wrong and want to escape here? ( actually i has planned to resigned because i didnot like the job however on the day i planned  to notify my manager , the MOM came so i didnt even have that chance:(
Sincerely appreciate your advices!!!

Only your employer or MoM can cancel your EP. The employer has to do it when your employment ends (e.g. because you resign) and MoM will certainly do that when they find out you or your employer cheated on the salary requirements.
You can leave Singapore at any time, with or without cancelling the EP. But the correct thing to do is of course to resign first (this can be done in writing!) and then leave. Keep a copy of your resignation letter, just in case they ask when you leave.
Cheating on the salary requirements (in which you colluded, I assume) is a serious offense and you will not be allowed to enter Singapore ever again! (The company will be punished even more severely.)

Hello Beppi,

You seem to be an expert on this blog. I need your input. I am an Australian citizen and I have accepted a job in Singapore for an American MNC and have signed the employment contract as Asian Procurement Manager. Monthly salary is SGD$8,300. On completion of the Employment Pass I note it has a requirement for Qualificiations. The highest qualificiation I have is Cert IV in Business so I am concerned this could have a bearing on the Employment Pass outcome. I have over 12 years experience in the same field and been with this same company for 7 1/2 years and have Asian sourcing experience so hence the company requested I relocate to the Singapore office. I have been lucky in my work experience to have been able to work myself up to Managerial level without the suitable qualificiations so I am hoping that MOM recognise this. I understand that MOM is forever tightening the screws on eligibilty so I have revisited further study options in my employment field regardless of outcome. In your honest opinion do you think this will be a problem? Any advice greatly appreciated.

MoM does not make exceptions and you cannot replace missing educational requirements by work experience.
Q1 and P2 EP requires a university degree. P1 EP can be had without (or at least that was the case so far, although the wording on http://www.mom.gov.sg/foreign-manpower/ … fault.aspx has been changed several months ago to be the same for all classes) and a minimum base salary of S$8000/month currently (which you are above) - this is expected to be raised in the near future, so you might not be able to renew the EP after its initial validity of two years.

HI
i am looking for a job in singapore,currently i am working in india as a software engineer having 4.5 yrs experience ,

i was trying to apply through thirdparty( employer) is it possible to get Epass or Spass plz tell me?

As has been pointed out on this forum before, the employer (not you) applies for the EP. So you have to find a job first.
Whether you get an EP depends on many factors, incl. your education, work experience, salary and the employer's track record and situation.
Looking for a job from abroad is basically useless in Singapore. If you are really serious, come here on a job finding trip (for as long as you can afford, minimum 1 - 3 months) to maximize your chances.
(And avoid recruitment agencies who want to charge you: They are all scams!)

Hi Beppi,

Thanks for responding ..



Regards,

Suresh.

Hi Guys, My SPASS was rejected last January 27 due to insufficient quota but the company made an appeal 2 days later. What are the chances that it will be approved? Can a company made an appeal about quota problem?

I am very sad and anxious right now because my SVP will already expire after 2 weeks and I can't stay here longer since it's my 3rd month already. I'm still pursuing my employment search and hoping that miracles will happen within 2 weeks, that I will get a job and pass approved.

There are only two possibilities for your appeal to be successful:
1. MoM did a mistake in the quota calculations - this is VERY unlikely (in fact, I haven't heard of any such case)
2. Your employer hires more locals (or fires another foreigner) to make space for you in their quota.
If none of these is true, the appeal is a waste of time and you should look for other opportunities.

Thank you very much beppi for the reply. So my chance of being approved is very little. Actually before they apply me to MOM the manager told me that he will check to the payroll if pass can already be applied for me, so when they decided to key-in me, I thought they were already sure that they have quota.

I am very sad of the result because the job is well fit in my qualifications and experience. I already imagined myself enjoying working there. Hayz!

For now, I will just continue to pray harder, maybe God has better plan for me.

Hello Beppi,

I'm from Malaysia, i'm 23 this year. my Epass has being rejected due to the reason that my salary offer is too low for my experiences. My company offer 3400 SGD for my position as a Customer Service Specialist , and it was rejected by MOM , cause the salary is too low to match my working experiences (I had 1.5 years of CX experiences), and now my company put on an appeal for me, and they really interested in me to work for them, they increase my salary from 3.4 k to 4 k for the appeal,  the position itself required Native Mandarin and Cantonese speaking skills and CX experiences, my dad is from Hong Kong, I can speak both Cantonese and Mandarin in a native level, which I believe I matched all the requirements.  I'm very nervous and I feel very sad, cause the company really adores me and I love them . One more thing I find it a bit weird is that , it was showing pending and under the Epass , but after it rejected, now the pass became a Spass and status rejected on the website. Do you think I'm in a good shape to get the pass ?

Best,
DW

This is a difficult question to answer.
You seem to have all the prerequisites for an EP, but MoM is VERY suspicious of re-applications with a higher salary, as it all too often comes with an (illegal) kickback scheme - i.e. you return some of the higher pay to them, so it exists only on paper to get the visa. I know a case where the applicant was rejected again just because the company did not give a very good explanation for the suddenly higher pay. Your employer should thus justfy this in very good detail and, if possible, seek a personal meeting with the officer in charge. You have a good chance if they can show unsuccessful efforts to fill the position with a local, and if not filling it will endanger their growth strategy and thus other jobs.
Good luck!

Hi Beppi,

Thank you so much for the reply. My company told me they will handle the appeal and do their best to keep me in. The thing is the raised of the salary is not something unreal and my Employer did not fake it just for the appeal, they do it because they really want me to be part of their company, so they increase it according to my experiences ( and also what it required by the MOM ). I believe not many companies will do that for real just to keep the employee, which I was very thankful and I really hope I can be part of their family.  Anyway , all I can do now is to keep waiting and pray for it. Thanks again Beppi.

Best,
DW

I hope they can convince MoM of this, as more commonly the salary is just raised in theory (i.e. with a kickback scheme) in order to get a visa.

Thanks

The Singapore authorities are very strict when it comes to drugs!
If you were convicted or fined, you must mention this in your application an it will probably be impossible to get an EP.
If the case was dismissed (and you considered innocent), you don't need to mention it.

i have been applied for a s pass 8 days ago with experience of two years??? some one says it gets late because yu going to rejected ...that may b the reason.what exactly the reason for the late processing...wil they going to reject? is my experience not good enough

loyalji wrote:

i have been applied for a s pass 8 days ago with experience of two years??? some one says it gets late because yu going to rejected ...that may b the reason.what exactly the reason for the late processing...wil they going to reject? is my experience not good enough

Processing of a work visa can take up to a month, or more in complicated cases.
Just wait - patience is a virtue (and there's nothing else you can do anyway).

The short answer is, you don't need to be a graduate to get a P1 pass.
They recognise some hugely successful people (Branson, Gates etc., and all the way down) are not graduates.
Try self-assessment via the MoM website.
I did just now, as a test, $10k salary, banking, no declared qualifications. Result?

'Based on the information you have provided, the individual is likely to qualify for both Employment Pass (EP) and S Pass.'

http://www.mom.gov.sg/foreign-manpower/ … /default.a

Beppi is German, and in Germany everyone who's anyone spends perhaps ten of their finest years becoming MSc's or PhD's, and so the idea, to a German, that you could make the leap here, *without going through all of that* is not ... plausible, possible, not to be mentioned.

Good luck.

Above S$8000/months basic salary an EP is possible without tertiary qualifications.
This, however, has nothing to do with me being German.

Yes, as I QED'd earlier.

But when you write 'Q1 and P2 EP requires a university degree. P1 EP can be had without (or at least that was the case so far, although the wording on http://www.mom.gov.sg/foreign-manpower/ … fault.aspx has been changed several months ago to be the same for all classes)'   ... it is misleading.

It was not misleading when I wrote it: The published rules clearly indicated that Q1 and P2 pass required tertiary education.
In the meantime the EP classes have been abolished and the internal rulings of MoM are less open now. But to my knowledge the salary threshold of S$8000/month for EP without tertiary degree is still used. It may be increased to S$12000 soon.

Hi Beppi

Good day to you.

I was on EP in Singapore before and later in 2012 i was transfered back to my country thus the EP was concelled.

Now i joined another company and want to work in Singpore. The new company has submit the EP application on the 11th April and today i went on line and check the status changed from "Pending" to "Pending inputs from vetting agencies. Expected outcome is 2 months from the Date of Application."

Please kindly advise what was going on ? and do i have to wait for 2 months for the EP ? Is there anything i can do ? or anything that the new company HR can do in order to make the EP issued sooner ?

Thank you and wish you have a nice day.

Brgds

LJ

"Pending inputs from vetting agencies" means that the authorities are verifying your credentials (e.g. education certificates, work references, etc.) with the originating organisations or appropriate other partners. Depending on how long these others need to reply, the decision on your EP will be delayed.
MoM's forecast of two months is probably based on their experience with similar cases in your home country. If your university, previous employers, etc. cooperate and reply faster, you will get your EP sooner.
Unfortunately there is nothing you can do, other than wait.

Hi Beppi

Thank you do much for you prompt reply.

As i have being here working before, means MOM should have checked the certs etc before. So i do not know why this time they need to do it again.

Anyway i have called the HR from the new company , they said they will contact MOM  on Monday and keep me updated.

Thank you.

LJ

They're checking you aren't lying.

Take it as a good sign though, it suggests they like what they see,  WAY better than a flat out rejection!

Thank you so much for the above comments.

Sure, i will not cheat as when i applied this job, the new company have already go through the checks on me, here comes again, ha ha ha , anyway , i will wait , thanks again.

Hi Beppi,
I am Master graduate (graduated in 2013) in IC Design ( Electronics Engineer) from TUM- Asia Singapore ( combined degree from NTU & TUM Germany). I studied masters under scholarship which is funded by company & EDB singapore & the scholarship requires 2 years of bond in the company. Last year the the company gave me contract job offer & the recruiting agency applied EP for me ( salary sgd 3500, fresh grad, no experience), it was rejected first, but after appeal EP was given for 1 year.
This year the company gave me permanent offer & applied EP (salary sgd 3800 experience 1 year) on 7th April, but it got rejected on 14th April, I assume MOM has all the records/data about me and I still have to complete 1 year of bond. I don't understand the reason of rejection as mom has all the records. My company is going to appeal same as last year. I am guessing rejection is because of my nationality Nepalese but not sure. Do have any knowledge about the chance of EP acceptance of those who has bond in Singapore. Your inputs will be great information & help for me. Thnks.

I cannot tell the reason of rejection from the information you posted.
Your company should contact MoM and arrange a personal meeting to find out more.
But having a bond and getting an EP are two completely separate issues. Bond holders not getting EP are getting more common now. At least, if your EP is finally rejected and you have to leave Singapore because of this, your bond id void and nobody can penalize you for not fulfilling it.

Hi Beepi,

Need your expert advice here.

I was a PR in Singapore from May 2004 till April 2009, unfortunately due to personal reasons i was not able to return to Singapore to pursue a job. It has been almost 5 years now and I am looking at migrating back to singapore and wanted to check if there is a possibility for me to get an EP. Will it make any difference if i am ready to pay my CPF back ?

Thanks for your time on this.

Thanks

G

iyertalks wrote:

I was a PR in Singapore from May 2004 till April 2009, unfortunately due to personal reasons i was not able to return to Singapore to pursue a job. It has been almost 5 years now and I am looking at migrating back to singapore and wanted to check if there is a possibility for me to get an EP.

Yes, it is possible to get an EP after cancelling the PR, but becoming PR again will be very difficult.
(Please note that EP requirements have been tightened considerably in the last few years - that you qualified before does not mean you still do!)

iyertalks wrote:

Will it make any difference if i am ready to pay my CPF back ?

EP holders are not required to re-pay CPF - in fact they cannot even open a CPF account and/or deposit into one.
But if you ever become PR again, you will have to return all CPF you withdrew, plus interest.

In any case, you should attach to your application a detailed (and convincing) explanation of the "personal reasons" that made you quit your job, cancel the PR and withdraw CPF.

Thanks Beepi much appreciate the response. I have reached out to ICA on an email but i have not heard back from them ( I doubt if they will respond )

I dont mind returning the Money with interest if they are ready to give me my PR back, had no choice except to return thr PR considering i held it for a year to see if i will be able to get back.

Cheers !!!

G

In my experience, ICA responds to all inquiries by email or other means. The responses are sometimes quite bureaucratically worded and thus not easy to understand.
Regarding your PR, it would have been better to keep the PR until the REP expires (5 years) and even then you could have left your CPF intact. Cancelling the PR and withdrawing the CPF showed that you are not interested in keeping ties with Singapore and will count heavily in your disfavour now!
That said, getting an EP will still be possible if your skill-set is needed in Singapore.

Yeah completely understand. The REP Expired in April 2009 and that is when i surrendered my PR. The CPF money was needed for getting myself settled into India after a period of 10 Years being away. Any which ways will take the EP route and see if i can get the PR if possible or else have to be content with the EP.

Thanks

G

Hi, im a filipino citizen and a former Singapore PR, my EP got rejected last thursday, it was pending for 4 days before it got rejected, 1 day before it was rejected,they changed the status pending Inputs from vetting agencies, expected outcome is 2 months from date of application. Then after that it got rejected and the reason for rejection is "we believe that the information you have provided in your application is questionable. Therefore we cannot approve your application. Any advice on this rejection and any chance of approval if we do the appeal. Pls help what is the best thing to do. Thank you so much...

Very obviously, they found that some of the information you provided in your application is incorrect. Did you submit everything in exactly the same way as for your previous PR application, and are all documents genuine (no forgeries)? If so, you can appeal, explaining the correct facts in more detail. If not, forget it!

Thanks for your reply. Yes, we submitted exactly the same, no forgeries, never changed anything, i have the appointment letters for my experiences to show to them that all my experiences are true and correct. My boss will call MOM on monday to ask which details are questionable before he decides on what to do with my application. Do you think MOM will answer my boss? I was also wondering why they still send my application to vetting agencies when they already did checked them before i became a PR. Thank you so much.

jamsbm wrote:

I was also wondering why they still send my application to vetting agencies when they already did checked them before i became a PR.

The vetting agencies found that something is questionable in the documents or information you provided.
The checks have been progressively becoming tougher in recent years, so it is well possible that they did not check the item that they found dubious now when you applied for PR in the past.

Not too sure about the background of your case. I had PR twice here in SG, and gave it up and returned back to the UK. However when I returned back to SG and replied I was rejected 5 times, finally MOM told me I had to pay back all my CPF if i wanted to have my EP or PR back! Hope this helps.