How long will my work pass (EP, S-Pass, WP) application take

Hi IsIam699,

Mine is still pending....... May all of us waiting for approval a good luck.

Hi guys, I got an offer from a company in Singapore in cybersecurity. I have 2.7 years of experience. Salary offer is more than what is required. My ep was applied 2 weeks back. I know it generally takes a month for the reply but just wanted to know what are my chances of approval?

You can read various threads including the main thread talks about various yardsticks at MoM to go through before it approves any work pass. You can judge yourself where your application stands.

With little information that you have mentioned here, nobody can tell you what would be your chances.

People are getting pass approval in weeks time and also cases are there which take in months. Each application has its merits and can’t compare with other application. Good luck

Dear Friends,

I have been a keen reader of this forum, and while I am going through the same 'delay in EP' pain, I wanted to post my timelines to check if anyone is having a similar experience, especially in the face of the coronavirus issue.

My Education - Electronics Engineer, Full Time MBA from a premier institute. 16 years work-ex, last 11 years in Singapore. Have previously changed job twice in Singapore, all previous jobs in Top 10 IT Service and Software companies in various Technology Sales and Industry Consultant roles.

Resigned from last job mid-Jan (a global top IT company where I was a Sales Principal) and left for my home country to attend family events back home. My new Company (which is also a global IT giant) applied for EP on 23-Dec-2019.

New job Position - Technical Director, Salary 250k SGD +

EP applied - 23-Dec
First Query from MOM came in - around 10 Jan [Query was regarding "Why this candidate over others" type]
Query resolved by New Company - around 14/15 Jan. After that no communication from MoM.

Till now status has been 'Pending', in fact status was 'Pending' with no change since 23-Dec itself.. I am in 8th week of waiting..

Can this delay have something to do with the recent coronavirus alert or something? Or are people experiencing this kind of delay on average...

Any recent experience would help me with some piece of mind...

Guys, Want to share with you my experience.

Applied for renew: 19th Nov 2019
Status 1: Pending (from 19th Nov to 16th Dec)
Status 2:  We need inputs from other...... ( from 16th Dec to 12 Feb 2020)
Status 3: Approved on 13th Feb 2020 between 4-6 pm

My company applied for 3 years renewal but MOM approved for 1 year. Do anyone have any idea what could be the possible reason?

I have already responded to your same query in another thread. Don’t write duplicate query in multiple threads, it’s unnecessarily creating additional work for me and Beppi to read and respond.

To answer your query, see below:
Your employer can’t say how many years an employee should get renewal of his or her work pass. MoM does that after reviewing each case on its merit then renew accordingly.

Prior to 1yr expiry, your employer can apply for renewal again.

I find this community very helpful. Thanks, @beppi, and @surya2k!

Origin: India
Salary: $7000
Role: Senior Software Engineer
Relevant Experience: 8.4 Years
Qualification: B.E. CSE
Applied for EP by Company: 14th Feb 2020
Status on 19th Feb 2020: Pending

I will keep you guys posted on further updates.

Wish me luck!

I got my EP approved today. Surprisingly, It took less than 10 days.

I have not got any intimation from the company yet. But I hope the IPA will be valid for 6 months. My notice period in India is for 2 months.

You will get an IPA letter (your employer will share with you) which must have clearly stated the validity period.

Thanks, Surya. You are right. I received the IPA from the employer. My IPA is valid till 21st Aug (6 months).

Looking forward to moving in very soon 

My EP also approved today and waiting for the IPA letter from the employer.

Thank you.

congrat!
how long it took?

Around 3 months.

Guys just need bit clarity, does mom check with previous employers we worked with during EP application process ?

I’m wondering also...

Please read existing forum discussions before posting the same questions again. The keyword here is „vetting“.
But I wonder why you are asking this? It is NOT a good idea to give false information when dealing with Singapore officials!

Any update Shiva ? Got any change in status ? I see no updates or news of rejection or approval after 24-2-2020.

Thanks for the support guys , today my visa got approved,
Date of application 19-2-2020,
Approved on 4-3-2020,
Profile: developer,
Exp :6 years
Salary 6.5
Company : Leader in healthcare in SG
Good luck for them who are waiting.

Hi everyone,

Been following this forum for a while. Thanks a lot for all the information! Thought I'd share my experience while waiting.

Profile: Maketing. MBA from a local Singaporean uni. Worked at one company for the past 8 years (during which time I held EP, which has been renewed a couple of times).

EP application submitted: 28-Feb-2020
Status change to Pending: 04-Mar-2020
Status change to "Awaiting input from other agencies... in most cases, outcome available in 4 weeks etc": 05-Mar-2020

Now waiting to see what happens next. Current job really sucks right now so I'm really hoping this comes soon.

And wishing lot of luck to anyone who is in the same boat!

On a separate note, has anyone here given notice at their Singapore job while waiting for the EP for the next job? I was told not to do so, but wondering what the consensus is.

Quitting your current job before the new EP is approved involves the risk of not having one (and probably leaving Singapore) if the new EP is rejected.
Read related forum posts!

Today's update: EP got rejected 7 days after application.

I have asked the employer to check the reason. But quite shocked that the rejection was so fast. Is this common?

There is a very wide range of pricessing times before an approval or rejection. Yours was in the qucker end of this range. Read related forum posts!
Count yourself lucky that you still have a job and EP,  but do hope that your employer doesn‘t fire you when they find out you have been trying to leave (the new EP application is visible to them in MoM‘s system!).

westsidegirl wrote:

Today's update: EP got rejected 7 days after application.

I have asked the employer to check the reason. But quite shocked that the rejection was so fast. Is this common?

So lucky you are that u got rejection in 7 days only... so u have pleanty of time and options to do.

I got my rejection after 66 days .

What time mom usually posts results?

Usually between 0:00 and 24:00 on all weekdays.
In other words: There is no rule, the database may be updated at any time. Why does it matter?

Even mom closes at 5:30pm?

You are very persistent with your questions, but I am afraid it won't help you.
MoM's official opening hours might be until 5:30pm, but that does not mean the officers stop working then. Overtime work exists even in public service!
Furthermore, the intervals in which data is (autromatically) uploaded into the EPOnline web server are probably ranbdom and not restricted to certain hours or days.

Good evening.

I find this forum very useful. I have a question regarding the process.

My company have applied for EP recently and after status turned into "need inputs from other agencies". Since it changed, it remains 1 week plus like that and nothing changes, even though my employer uploaded documents that were required from his side.

Is there is a possibility that my employer can call them and ask which information is required? and will they give an information to my employer regarding to where they made an inquiry?

Thank you.

The answer to both of your questions is „No“. Read existing forum posts about the „vetting“ stage.

So far, we still haven't received any reason from MOM. But I'm wondering if it has anything to do with tax. When they applied for the EP, we submitted my 2018 tax returns because my 2019 tax returns/tax bill were not yet processed by IRAS. Today morning, I checked and saw that it's processed, and the bill is due by 26 May. Is it possible this was a factor?

Either way, just paid off my 2019 taxes now lol.

If it was just the course of normal processing at IRAS, it has no negative influence.
But if there was some problem (e.g. why did you submit the 2018 tax declaration only now?), then it might.

Any update this Monday?

Hi,
My spass was applied nearly 3weeks ago and just today, mom asked for additional docs from employer since it is the first time they applied for spass. Tomorrow my employer will submit the docs and will call mom. Questions:

1. Is my waiting time reset to zero after submitting addtl docs?
2. Can i return to singapore and if immig asked why i return in short time, can i say that my spass is pending?

Read my long first post in this thread to understand what is done when and how long it might take.
Current processing times are usually 1-2 months, but can be longer or shorter in certain cases.
Leaving and returning after a short time is NOT a good idea under any circumstances. If ICA or MoM does not renew your current visa, stay outside of the country until your work pass is approved.

Hi, im also worried if i stay longer outside SG because of the increasing cases of ncov and will soon have travel ban and cannot enter SG anymore..

Life sometimes involves risks and difficult decisions.
You should not have resigned from your previous job before the new work pass is approved!

Hi @beppi ..it took 66 days for EP pass rejection ...employer reappealed on rejection date..its been 53 days since rejection ,still waiting for the outcome. However employer is connecting MoM in between 2 weeks interval period..no reply
Please suggest

sandyexpat wrote:

Hi @beppi ..it took 66 days for EP pass rejection ...employer reappealed on rejection date..its been 53 days since rejection ,still waiting for the outcome. However employer is connecting MoM in between 2 weeks interval period..no reply
Please suggest

Hi Sandy,
Did your employer knew about the rejection cause? Appealing without proper resolution of the rejection cause will not give fruitful result. You can ask your employer to contact MOM and to check the reason for such delay.

Thanks...

Indestructible007 wrote:

sandyexpat wrote:

Hi @beppi ..it took 66 days for EP pass rejection ...employer reappealed on rejection date..its been 53 days since rejection ,still waiting for the outcome. However employer is connecting MoM in between 2 weeks interval period..no reply
Please suggest

Hi Sandy,
Did your employer knew about the rejection cause? Appealing without proper resolution of the rejection cause will not give fruitful result. You can ask your employer to contact MOM and to check the reason for such delay.

Thanks...

Yes ...Employer told there was some policy change  ..not telling exact what policy..so they reappealed with new policy as per MoM.