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

It is correct: Distant learning degrees are generally not recogniesd by MoM. You will be treated as if you do not have that degree.
Aswe wrote many times before (please read the forum before posting!), appealing without a substantial change to the issues that caused the rejection - just asking MoM to look at it again will give another rejection!

Sarvesh1988: Please do not double-post the same message!
It is not possible to tell the rejection reason from your message, but it is not your travel history. An appeal only has a chance if the rejection reason has been adressed.

Goldy_sam01 which industry are you in?

Financial Technology

Dear all,

I'd like to share my work pass application experience. Hope it brings you some positivity during this uncertain time.

- 17/3: Applied
- 24/3: Employer informed my edu degree needs to be verified, as it's not recognized by MOM. The verification would take 2-3 weeks. Then, it's another 3 weeks at MOM. So, the total wait could be up to 6 weeks.
- Today (1/4): My pass is Approved! (It's not an April's fool day joke)

The total process took 2 weeks, including the degree's certificate verification.
The employer intended to apply for an EPass, but my approved pass is SPass.

My position was in education, with the salary of 6.3K for 6 years of experience.
Hope you all will get good news soon!

Congrats Thuylive.
Are you located in Singapore?

Does anyone has recently travelled to Singapore with IPA letter, or anyone who got Epass but IPA not released due to the current virus situation?

Sid1988 wrote:

Does anyone has recently travelled to Singapore with IPA letter, or anyone who got Epass but IPA not released due to the current virus situation?

You currently cannot travel to Singapore with an IPA only.
You first need to apply for permission to travel, see https://www.ica.gov.sg/covid-19
As far as I heard, permission will only be given for workers in essential functions (e.g. medical), all others should delay their trip until the situation improves.
But things can change quickly now (for better or worse), so keep yourself informed!

Wow congratulations on the rapid approval! 

As for me this is my timeline:

24/3 - Applied - Up until now it is pending

Hopefully I'll add to the list of good news on this thread!

may i know how long is your Spass IPA expiry ??
is it 2 months or 3months ??

thanks

hi @ydkm, my IPA is valid 2 months. As far as I know it can be extended if cannot enter Singapore within its validity.

Thank you, @Sid1988. I'm not in Singapore at the moment. This is my first time applying for the work pass there. My employer sent me the IPA letter right after my pass was approved. They will try to apply for the entry approval, though the chance of success is pretty low.

@ Zharif178, Good luck to you! I have a Vietnamese friend whose pass was applied on Mar 13 with some mistakes. It was re-applied on Mar 23 and approved on the same day with me (Apr 1).

Thuylive wrote:

Dear all,

I'd like to share my work pass application experience. Hope it brings you some positivity during this uncertain time.

- 17/3: Applied
- 24/3: Employer informed my edu degree needs to be verified, as it's not recognized by MOM. The verification would take 2-3 weeks. Then, it's another 3 weeks at MOM. So, the total wait could be up to 6 weeks.
- Today (1/4): My pass is Approved! (It's not an April's fool day joke)

The total process took 2 weeks, including the degree's certificate verification.
The employer intended to apply for an EPass, but my approved pass is SPass.

My position was in education, with the salary of 6.3K for 6 years of experience.
Hope you all will get good news soon!

Hi,

Can you please tell me in detail how the Degree Verification Carried out

Is MOM did by themselves or your Employer did via Dataflow or RMI

For degree verification did you gave any letter for NOC or something like that

Regards,

Energy123 wrote:

Energy123 wrote:

Hi Everyone! Sharing my EP Application experience

EP application submitted: 3-Feb-2020
Query date:  28-Feb-2020
Query: Asking for a copy of JD
Query response sent date- 29-Feb-2020
Query response sent as  - Sent Copy of JD

Until now my EP is still on "Pending" Status

I really do hope my EP gets green light soon.

Best of luck to everyone!

Hi Everyone!

My EP got approved today. Last night I checked, it was still on pending status. Today it got approved!

I'm a Filipino and will work for the best energy simulation software company.

Good luck to everyone! This thread has helped me a lot

Hi,

Can you please share your experience on the Approval timeline, what are the things MOM did Verification and why it tooks long time

Because if you see many people got there Approval in 2 weeks or even less

hi @vigneshcoke, I understand that it's a nerve-wracking experience, but don't stress you out by overthinking about things that you can't control.

Like beppi and surya2k said many times, every case is different. Here's my very detailed experience, hope it helps. Other than what's written below, I had no other information.

My whole work pass application took 2 weeks, including the degree's verification. Initially, the employer said it could take at least 6 weeks (3 weeks at MOM, 3 weeks at RMI).

- A week after submitting the application, MOM asked my employer to verify my bachelor's degree. The university I went to is not recognized my MOM. The verification has to be done by MOM's appointed agencies (RMI or Dataflow). My employer chose RMI probably because it's based in Singapore. Dataflow is based in India as far as I know.
- Through my employer, RMI requested a letter of authorization in which I allowed them to check and use my information for the WP application purpose. I wasn't explained how the process is carried out. But through some self-research, you'll know that RMI/Dataflow will contact your educational institution to check the record of your degree. They also check whether the institution is accredited.
- A week later, my pass was approved.

Apart from my employer, I had no contact with both MOM and RMI. I was lucky that it was exceptionally fast. I guess it was because every stakeholder involved was very efficient, and my case didn't have many hard decisions for MOM to make.

Though the pass approval criteria could be complicated, the process is very logical. Your employer is your only point of contact. Consider reaching out to them at some point to enquire the status. But be considerate that they might not be able to answer all the questions you want.
My employer has never had an employee from a non-recognized institution, so it was also the first time they went through the verification process. Understanding that, all we tried to do was waiting in peace and following for MOM's instructions.

Good luck! Do let us know when you have any updates.

Thuylive wrote:

hi @vigneshcoke, I understand that it's a nerve-wracking experience, but don't stress you out by overthinking about things that you can't control.

Like beppi and surya2k said many times, every case is different. Here's my very detailed experience, hope it helps. Other than what's written below, I had no other information.

My whole work pass application took 2 weeks, including the degree's verification. Initially, the employer said it could take at least 6 weeks (3 weeks at MOM, 3 weeks at RMI).

- A week after submitting the application, MOM asked my employer to verify my bachelor's degree. The university I went to is not recognized my MOM. The verification has to be done by MOM's appointed agencies (RMI or Dataflow). My employer chose RMI probably because it's based in Singapore. Dataflow is based in India as far as I know.
- Through my employer, RMI requested a letter of authorization in which I allowed them to check and use my information for the WP application purpose. I wasn't explained how the process is carried out. But through some self-research, you'll know that RMI/Dataflow will contact your educational institution to check the record of your degree. They also check whether the institution is accredited.
- A week later, my pass was approved.

Apart from my employer, I had no contact with both MOM and RMI. I was lucky that it was exceptionally fast. I guess it was because every stakeholder involved was very efficient, and my case didn't have many hard decisions for MOM to make.

Though the pass approval criteria could be complicated, the process is very logical. Your employer is your only point of contact. Consider reaching out to them at some point to enquire the status. But be considerate that they might not be able to answer all the questions you want.
My employer has never had an employee from a non-recognized institution, so it was also the first time they went through the verification process. Understanding that, all we tried to do was waiting in peace and following for MOM's instructions.

Good luck! Do let us know when you have any updates.

Hi

Really Thanks for the very detailed explanation, is worth for many upcoming like me

So I understand “Pending Input from vetting agency” or Pending Input doesn’t mean that it is degree Certificate Verification, it is some kind of their internal verification

Today I read a news that singapore lockdown for a month from 7-Apr, it is going to affect the travels of New Pass Approvers as well

Also not sure MOM going Work in this one month lockdown or not

It’s really a rough time for New Entries

Keep posting when you going to Travel

venzz wrote:

Hi everyone,

Sharing my EP experience here.

IT field
12 yrs exp
From Coimbatore, India
Applied on 2nd March 2020
EP Approved on 16th March 2020

Booked flight on 21st March 2020 but as per new rule (dated 18th March), need to get approval for entry before arrival which got rejected asking to apply at a later date.

Entry Rejection reason:
There is a need to stagger foreigners entry to better manage visitor flow. You should plan the next arrival date for the pass holder and submit a new application. You must get approval before confirming the flight arrangement. The pass holder is not allowed to commence journey without the approval.

My employer is going to try again for April 1st week, hopefully COVID does not make it worse. Waiting to go even after pass approval is crazy!

Hi

Hope you are doing well

Any Update toy can share with us about your Entry Approval?

Today i heard a News that singapore will be lockdown for one month from 7-Apr

Is going to impact further entry or travel

Please share your status it will be really helpful

@vigneshcoke,

Even when my degree was being verified, the status showed Pending. Try not to interpret what the status means. It will stress you out. If your degree needs to be verified, the employer will inform you to get the letter of authorization. It’s for RMI. Dataflow might work differently. I’m not sure.

Keep yourself grounded during this time! The result will come out sooner or later. Good luck again!

Vigneshcoke: Imagine what you would do if you are govering a country, want the best for your citizens and you are facing an epidemic imported from abroad and an econoic crisis with lots of your citizens expected to lose their jobs.
If you are a reasonable governor, you would slow of stop people coming in from abroad and reserve all possible jobs for your own citizens.
Singapore has a reasonable government, so that is exactly what they are doing - and you can expect it to get stricter in the coming weeks and months.
You should be reasonable, too, and prepare for the (almost inevitable) news that you will not be able to work in Singapore until the health situation and economy improves.

beppi wrote:

Vigneshcoke: Imagine what you would do if you are govering a country, want the best for your citizens and you are facing an epidemic imported from abroad and an econoic crisis with lots of your citizens expected to lose their jobs.
If you are a reasonable governor, you would slow of stop people coming in from abroad and reserve allpossible jobs for your own citizens.
Singapore has a reasonable government, so that is exactly what they are doing - and you can expect it to get stricter in the coming weeks and months.
You should be reasonable, too, and prepare for the (almost inevitable) news that you will not be able to work in Singapore until the health situation and economy improves.

Hi Beppi,

I don’t understand why you write this Message and how it is relate with my replies, i didnot force or blame for allow the new entries

Your message is highly  irrelevant to quote my replies, please avoid wasting your time by writing these kind of irrelevant replies

On controlling the corona virus singapore set an example to the entire world until now without any lockdown, having this much less number of infected persons shows singapore efficiency in control the virus

Your message ultimately to show your negativity among the peoples getting new employment, Please Stop spreading the negativity it is more worst than the virus

There is  famous saying i remember, “Pain or Gain you shall have to feel it,

Singapore is the most friendly country in the world and the doors are always open to the real talent person

I request you to be please kind and reasonable in replies with the useful messages and try to givesome positive energy, Singapore is not only for you, we just coming later than you

Regards,

Regarding the newest update from prime minister, work from home starting april 7, is anyone here knows if MOM will still work during this time and still process pending application?

Sapphire17 wrote:

Regarding the newest update from prime minister, work from home starting april 7, is anyone here knows if MOM will still work during this time and still process pending application?

Me myself am asking the question. The best bet is to call them on Monday morning.

Regards,
Zharif

Hi Beppi,,

I am new to this forum. I am already in EP. Recently I got new offer, but my new EP application got rejected due to salary gap.
Then my new employer post new job opening for 14 days. It also over last month end.  Suddenly my new employer told MOM approved for S PASS. but I told no.. they told they appealed to MOM..Wher can I find the status. How long will it take. Any advice on this.?

Hi..

The approved pass is EP or S PASS..

Vigneshcoke: I was only stating the obvious, and I think it is relevant to your posts showing undue anxiety about your pass status. Of course you are welcome to have a differing opinion and then ignore my posts if you want - but you cannot tell me what to post on this open forum and how to make use of my time (even if you think I waste it).
Oh, and if the number of foreigners working in Singapore does NOT decrease substantially in the next few months, please contact me again and we agree that you were right and I was wrong - but I see very little chance for that.

beppi wrote:

Vigneshcoke: I was only stating the obvious, and I think it is relevant to your posts showing undue anxiety about your pass status. Of course you are welcome to have a differing opinion and then ignore my posts if you want - but you cannot tell me what to post on this open forum and how to make use of my time (even if you think I waste it).
Oh, and if the number of foreigners working in Singapore does NOT decrease substantially in the next few months, please contact me again and we agree that you were right and I was wrong - but I see very little chance for that.

Beppi,

Open your eyes and read all the post, even Today many of them posting the same subject about lockdown, it’s not showing anxiety it is about sharing the useful information, obviously can’t except such from you, rather than Negativity

As you mentioned it is a public forum anybody can share their relevant post,
in Future you also just answer the query don’t judge other mindset of posting whether it is anxious or overwhelming or etc, show your talent in Clarify the Query to the needed peoples rather than controlling others

I already request you to don’t waste your time by these kind of irrelevant post, Now you are inviting me to do the same, i am not interested in any useless debates to waste my time, i will ignore

I know i am right and No need to prove to you, if you felt your message creates Negativity and want to prove to others, instead of inviting for debates please change your way of reply to spread more positivity

I really want to Thank you for your active participation in this forum to help others, but just do it with more positivity

Zharif178 wrote:

Sapphire17 wrote:

Regarding the newest update from prime minister, work from home starting april 7, is anyone here knows if MOM will still work during this time and still process pending application?

Me myself am asking the question. The best bet is to call them on Monday morning.

Regards,
Zharif

Hi Zharif178,

Have you found the answer from MOM side?

Thanks!

Hi,

I called mom, they will still process pending applications as per usual for foreigners, those WHO ARE ALREADY IN SINGAPORE otherwise very limited.
Also can still submit new applications during this time subjected to approval.
Mom will not work from home of course.

Zharif178 wrote:

Wow congratulations on the rapid approval! 

As for me this is my timeline:

24/3 - Applied - Up until now it is pending

Hopefully I'll add to the list of good news on this thread!

Hye all,

Just to update:

6th April - Employment pass application show "Approved". Total days required: 13 calendar days.

Background: Engineering, 3 years work exp with Fortune 500 company.

Position applied for: Engineering, 6500 SGD/month, European MNC.

Good luck to everyone waiting for your pass!

Regards

Congrats to you @Zharif178

@All: You can read MOM's changes to work pass services on their website
https://www.mom.gov.sg/covid-19/adjustm … s-services
At the end of the page, they say:
Approvals for any new applications will be very limited. You may continue to apply passes for foreigners who are already in Singapore.

Good luck to all of you who are still waiting for the approval.

How would MOM know if someone who has a pending application is in Singapore already?

Sapphire17 wrote:

How would MOM know if someone who has a pending application is in Singapore already?

The Singapore authorities have all your records available at the click of a mouse - including every visa you ever held and all entries and exits to the country. Of course they know where you currently are!

Hi,

Just to share my renewal application was approved in 1 day.

Submit 8th April.
Approved 9th April.

For those in SG already, MOM processing as per normal.

Hi soulsoy09,
Background? What’s ur industry and is it EP?

Hi guys, it’s Sapphire17 again, just want to share my timeline for my spass.

- Feb 5 Spass applied
- Feb 17 Rejected due to quota
- Feb 20 Spass applied for their sister company (same boss owner)
- March 26 Rejected again due to additional docs not approved by mom (small and new company, first spass, must tell why hire foreigner)
- March 31 Submitted appeal for sister company
- April 9 Appeal approved!


PS: My social pass is about to expire this April 15 but got extended by ica for 1 month May 15.

Waited 2 months for this. Good thing i have employer who’s willing to fight!
Guys, keep the faith!

Sapphire17 wrote:

Hi guys, it’s Sapphire17 again, just want to share my timeline for my spass.

- Feb 5 Spass applied
- Feb 17 Rejected due to quota
- Feb 20 Spass applied for their sister company (same boss owner)
- March 26 Rejected again due to additional docs not approved by mom (small and new company, first spass, must tell why hire foreigner)
- March 31 Submitted appeal for sister company
- April 9 Appeal approved!


PS: My social pass is about to expire this April 15 but got extended by ica for 1 month May 15.

Waited 2 months for this. Good thing i have employer who’s willing to fight!
Guys, keep the faith!

Congrats bro ..

Hi miss. Can I ask what are the steps you did to got an ICA extension? My pass will get expired until April 30 but I also have an IPA from my new company.

https://www.ica.gov.sg/visitor/visitor_extendyourstay


You can apply here online. Just state your purpose in the remarks section, you need to pay $30 upon approval. Goodluck!

Oh thank you!🙂

Hi,

Industry is financial investment operating as call center.

Position: Manager
Salary: 6k base + commission
Pass: S pass

Decided to stick with S pass renewal instead of new EP application. EP to they will look into more factors I’m guessing.

Congrats to you too.

Hi Sapphire, may I know did ICA ask you to pay that $30? I already apply for extension and receive an approval slip which stated that my social visit pass will extend to 16 May. However I didn't receive any notification that require me to make a payment?