EP Processing time Mar 2021

Meaaat wrote:

if i verified documents first before required by mom for employer to submit, will this improve my chance?

I don't believe so. But it might speed things up a bit.

Meaaat: Education certs verified pro-actively for universities not showing up in the MoM application drop down, would certainly be helpful. It’s a good investment to make but that’s just my advice, you may beg to differ or wait and react if asked by MoM.

If you mean pre verification of education certificate and submit the verification results along with application. Then yes. Will be best practice. Even if employer decides to not submit if asked by MOM you can immediately provide saving weeks and months to processing time.

Thank you so much for all your help here,  i was wondering to verify the one obtained overseas albeit the institution are all available in the drop down menu. I understand that it does not affect approval chance, but more of processing speed.

Correct

Hi wanted to share my experience in this forum

got two job offers simultaneously with almost same salary just the bonus component was extra in other one roughly the hike was 1650$ from my last job but then it is the minimum for my EP eligibility.

i accepted one offer and my EP applied on 23 april then rejected after 2 weeks(reason-salary jump is too high) and mom asked for some docs
again appeal is filed with all the necessary details and after 6 weeks i got the rejection again.

now my employer is not ready to file a second appeal so unfortunately they have asked me to look somewhere else.

so now my question should i ask for less salary ? and go on Spass ?
what should i do ?
looking at my credentials all employers are ready to pay the salary i am asking.

It is so sad that my Time ,money,experience everything is wasted ,if they have to reject already they should have done it earlier as well ,I am so disappointed right now.
It feels like they will never gonna approve my EP.

This kind of rejection is currently common, and seems to be related to a lack of justification (by the employer) why the salary is justified for the job role.
It is unfortunate that job-seekers depend on (sometimes inexperienced) employers or their HR personnel for this, but of course (as the company said) you are welcome to try again elsewhere.
Good luck!

@Sanchita you lost due pure HR incompetence

HR incompetence is at a Pandemic level many of the problems are because of ignorance/ incompetence of HR.

My take on this. It has been so easy to attract talent at least asian talent that HR have become lethargic and incompetent .

Biggest stumbling blocks of EP application is below in exactly this order
1. Our prospective company HR competence
2. Our HR knowledge
3. Our education institution inability to streamline verification process
4. vetting agencies are paid upfront and as far as I understand MOM does not track their performance or make them publish performance indicators

MOM maybe straitjacketed but is NOT a stumbling block or even a speed breaker

And don?t worry you will have successful EP outcome. If no option for now take the S pass route as temporary and reapply for EP in a year time maybe just a thought

Thanks ! May be better opportunities are waiting
will share here

My EP was initially rejected due to high salary on 22 May. Later , EP was reapplied with slightly  less salary and it got approved today.

All the best for those of you are waiting👍🏻

aryanshi89 wrote:

My EP was initially rejected due to high salary on 22 May. Later , EP was reapplied with slightly  less salary and it got approved today.

All the best for those of you are waiting👍🏻

Congratulations! Aryanshi

Hi all,

I am still with this Mar 2021 as my application was since 26 March! I would like to share the great news that finally my EP is approved!!!  received the IPA today! I will officially resign from my current employer tomorrow.

A background and sequence of my EP for everyone's reference too:
From Financial Industry
Salary above 200k
Received 2 offers in Jan 2021. Accepted offer 1, EP approved within 10 working days.
Offer 2 came in early Feb right after offer 1 EP approval. I accepted offer 2 so offer 1 EP will need to be withdrawn.
Offer 2 submitted EP 1 days after offer 1 EP withdrawal. on 4 Feb.
Until 15 Mar, offer 2 EP is still pending. My current EP is up for renewal in Apr. I need to serve 2 months notice. So offer 2 need to withdraw so I can renewal my EP with my current employer.
EP renewal approved within 10 working days.
Offer 2 re-submit the application on the 26 March... My offer 2 EP finally approve today on the 29 Jun (3 months, as shared by the agent).

My take on this: Be patient, communicate and  check in with the HR and the agent who submit your application. They should usually have an idea or know the waiting time. The waiting time can be varied depending on the employer. ie in my case, my renewal and offer 1 were so quick while offer 2 took me so long but fortunately, they have set my expectation the wait is going to be around 3 months.

I hope the above help! I am so super duper happy that my EP is approved after a series of anxiousness since Feb 2021. I am now looking forward to start a new chapter of my working life in SIngapore GOod luck everyone!

Congratulations!

Thanks Beppi and shekhz ! Appreciate your support whenever questions are posted.

Hi everyone,

Am dealing with a situation similar to that shared by some of you. Have been working in Singapore for many years, most recently on LOC. When LOC became unavailable I applied for EP. Took ~2 months to hear back and it was a rejection, claiming salary too high (though qualifications justify salary).

Adjusted salary down to minimum following the MOM calculator, submitted appeal, & it's been over a month, & still no reply.

The long delay has been very frustrating, and current pass will expire in few weeks, making me increasingly anxious. My case seems straightforward, but processing is so slow. Very taxing emotionally.

Venting aside, a question--has anyone tried contacting MOM asking to speed up the atypically slow process. If so, has it helped?

Congratulations!

HeshNosaff: You are not facing an "atypically slow process". The average process time is 6 - 8 weeks - and appeals aren't faster. Patience is a virtue here, but your employer could of course contact MoM to make sure there isn't anything within their influence that holds it up.
Also, you should prepare a Plan B in case the appeal is rejected again (which is then final).

beppi wrote:

HeshNosaff: You are not facing an "atypically slow process". The average process time is 6 - 8 weeks - and appeals aren't faster. Patience is a virtue here, but your employer could of course contact MoM to make sure there isn't anything within their influence that holds it up.
Also, you should prepare a Plan B in case the appeal is rejected again (which is then final).

Thanks for the very helpful reply!

Do you know if they provide a reasonably explanation when they reject again? My one experience with this was that they provided a brief one when they rejected first.

Rejections most certainly come with a reason, if you are keen on details, like for example- ‘salary is high and not commensurate’, I don’t think MoM would write a thesis here. However, your submitter could make a follow-up request to get additional information from MoM to strengthen your application/ appeal with a justification (a stronger and better one).

Hello GuestPoster310 - I’m in the similar boat but a little less complicated compared to yours. My current pass is expiring and the new employer had to cancel their ongoing application so my current employer can apply for my extension so I can serve 3 months notice.

May I check with you - have you received your new EP from the company C at the end?

Hi Everyone.

I would like to share my story.
I started working in Singapore since Sept 2017.
But since then I am SPASS holder.

Then there's  a new opportunity comes, US based company which is interested on me to be part of their team.

I have gone through 5 rounds of interview , and chosen for the position.

from 4070 salary, it become 7200 salary per month (EP)

I have all the certifications and educations to support as I am working in IT industry.
Base on my SAT exam, I need to have atleast 7K to be qualified as EP which is ok on my 7200 offer.

They applied my EP last June 14 and as of today, July 7, it is still pending.

Patiently waiting everyday for the approval.

I just saw on the story regarding been rejected because of High increase in salary.

Hopefully it will be approved this week.

leanne0214 wrote:

Hi Everyone.

I would like to share my story.
I started working in Singapore since Sept 2017.
But since then I am SPASS holder.

Then there's  a new opportunity comes, US based company which is interested on me to be part of their team.

I have gone through 5 rounds of interview , and chosen for the position.

from 4070 salary, it become 7200 salary per month (EP)

I have all the certifications and educations to support as I am working in IT industry.
Base on my SAT exam, I need to have atleast 7K to be qualified as EP which is ok on my 7200 offer.

They applied my EP last June 14 and as of today, July 7, it is still pending.

Patiently waiting everyday for the approval.

I just saw on the story regarding been rejected because of High increase in salary.

Hopefully it will be approved this week.

Good luck with that! My friend got his EP approved within a month and the new company pays him double the salary. 💪🏻

leanne0214 wrote:

Hi Everyone.

I would like to share my story.
I started working in Singapore since Sept 2017.
But since then I am SPASS holder.

Then there's  a new opportunity comes, US based company which is interested on me to be part of their team.

I have gone through 5 rounds of interview , and chosen for the position.

from 4070 salary, it become 7200 salary per month (EP)

I have all the certifications and educations to support as I am working in IT industry.
Base on my SAT exam, I need to have atleast 7K to be qualified as EP which is ok on my 7200 offer.

They applied my EP last June 14 and as of today, July 7, it is still pending.

Patiently waiting everyday for the approval.

I just saw on the story regarding been rejected because of High increase in salary.

Hopefully it will be approved this week.

Hi there friend, we have a similar case, mine was applied on June 15, and still pending for three weeks now. Hope to hear a good news for you

Hope you have read through other posts and threads on the forum, 3 weeks or even 4 is not ‘long’. In most cases, average is 5-8 weeks.

Shekhz wrote:

Hope you have read through other posts and threads on the forum, 3 weeks or even 4 is not ‘long’. In most cases, average is 5-8 weeks.

Yeah, it seems like it is the "new norm" at this stage. My colleagues also advised me not to worry since their passes were approved within 6 weeks. But yeah, it was an uneasy feeling to wait.

Do you happen to have an idea of the passing rate of applications pending for 4  weeks? does it tend to be more likely to be approved than rejected? Thanks.

Thank you so much! Looking forward to get it approved as well in this coming days. Will give an update here for the reference of others.🙏

Yeah, it is also encouraging to read the updates from the others. 🙏  will also update here if have any updates. 🙏

journotest wrote:

Shekhz wrote:

Hope you have read through other posts and threads on the forum, 3 weeks or even 4 is not ‘long’. In most cases, average is 5-8 weeks.

Yeah, it seems like it is the "new norm" at this stage. My colleagues also advised me not to worry since their passes were approved within 6 weeks. But yeah, it was an uneasy feeling to wait.

Do you happen to have an idea of the passing rate of applications pending for 4  weeks? does it tend to be more likely to be approved than rejected? Thanks.

Trust me, nobody knows the outcome except MoM. If someone tells you, there is a pattern, no there isn’t.

Understand this is frustrating and equally worrying but for now, be patient and the FOUR letter word, HOPE works best.

Brighter side, your application is under review and has not been rejected, so as an optimist, yes there are high chances of approval.

Hei what about your EP application status?

For me still pending, but I just found out that my new employer made a typo error and MOM asked them to send a new application 😔

1st application sent mid-April, in June MOM asked to send new application, and 4weeks pending, but in total more than 3months already 😓

Hello...
My EP renewal application was submitted 25th May until now two months still Pending? is this normal?
nothing has change same salary, education etc,.

Do a follow up with MoM (your application submitter can do so). 2 months for renewal is too long.

Sumjop: Two months for a renewal is indeed long. Your employer should contact MoM to find out what is holding it up!

.. when i checked it was REJECTED now ? It was pending until today morning ....

Could I ask about the education verification. The employer was using the Dataflow to verify my education, the result is ok, but they said dataflow will automation submit the result to MOM for EP application. Is it correct ?

Yup, that’s accurate. Good luck with the approval

what is dataflow? 1st time heard ..

Sumjop, read this: https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=932754

hr came back and said my renewal application was rejected due to i am did not meet the qualifying criteria salary, qualification, experience,

they said they'll puch with S Pass .. is there possibilities S Pass will get approved ? my pass expiring 15/09 . before my EP end ?

Sumjop: S-Pass has lower criteria for salary, qualification, experience, but may or may not be deemed suitable for your profile. Why don't they, instead, find out what exactly caused the rejection and then adjust that (e.g. salary)?
In any case, there is no guarantee you will get that S-Pass or any other work visa - so it is prudent to think about a plan B.