Can you leave Singapore for a temporary period?

Last activity 15 May 2021 by OTWF6038

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OTWF6038Member15 May 2021 02:47:46

Hi,

I wanted to see if anyone else is thinking of leaving Singapore for a limited period of time due to risk of another lockdown and if this is even possible?

My EP is valid for 2 more years and my residential lease expires in August 2021. I am thinking of returning back to my home country with my family for a limited period of time as we've not been home (UK) since January 2020 and my wife is pregnant with our second child, whilst our families have still not met our first child due to the travel restrictions and quarantine requirements. I will still be able to do my job from out of Singapore so this is really geared towards seeing our families so if it stay in Singapore its likely that won't be until 2022 all things been considered.

Does anyone know if you need to hold a valid residential address in Singapore throughout the period of your EP, does it impact your EP? i.e if we chose not to renew our lease and then find another condo when we return back to Singapore.

Or can you use your office address or a friends address temporarily until you return to Singapore?

Ideal situation would be we don't renew our lease, return home once vaccinated in Singapore (or get vaccinated back home), put all our belongings in storage and return home for 3-6 months pending lockdown measures here and then return back to Singapore to have the baby at the end of the year.

My concern is do you legally need a valid residential address of your own?

If anyone has done this or thinking of doing this, it would be great to get any insight if this is even a possible consideration.

Thank you!

EP12MarMember15 May 2021 03:13:24

Hi,

Based on my experience of working in Singapore since 2010, your official contact address for MoM tends to be your office address and the residential address does not matter.

The main issue for such cases normally tends to be company policies and whether they have any tax or other implications from allowing you to work from another country. As long as your company has clearly allowed you to work from India, there should not be an issue.

Another issue could be your tax status which for most countries depends on number of days you are in the country. I have experienced this while travelling to HK for consulting purposes. I had to pay tax in both countries. Since back then I was required to go to HK for official reasons, the company managed the calculation and payment of tax in HK. But I would think you would have to manage this yourself.

Finally when and if you change your job in the future and your profession is subject to background checks or if you apply for PR, then for this period you won’t be able to show a SG address and hence background check could get complicated.

Overall your thinking makes sense as long as your are aware of these considerations.

Regards,

shyncoolMember15 May 2021 03:13:50

Many people are working from India as their company has provided permission. In Your case your company is allowing to work from your country. so no worries.
The residential address update is required only when you apply/ Renew for a EP pass. You can end the house contract and after returning back in to Singapore, you can update new house address in the portal. Hope it helps

OTWF6038Member15 May 2021 03:45:22

THANK YOU!! The return country in consideration (home) would be UK.

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