What Is Singapore Employment Pass?

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The Employment Pass is Singapore’s the most beneficial employment visa developed for experienced and well-educated PME (professional, manager & executive) talents which has the best package of perks among all other work visas. The pass is often used for various business relocations as it perfectly fits both the foreign staff and company directors. Our migration team that is specialised in incorporation as well is able to cater your corporate needs and propose the most winning employment visa for any kind of staff.

Singapore has relied on foreign manpower for long years, but now the rejection record testifies a slump in this need. Getting a visa became more complex after the government had introduced new tougher rules that ought to maintain a balance between a foreign and a local manpower that should be winning for the latter. Three types of the Employment Pass help the government to endow more promising foreign talents with better benefits.

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Types of Employment Visa

The Employment Pass was divided into 3 subclasses in order to cater for needs of every category of foreigners more effectively as well as to distribute benefits more justly. The higher this subclass is, the more perks its package includes. Main factors of this division are the salary prescribed in the contract and the employee’s experience.

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P1 is for well-educated and talented foreign personalities who showcase intense working experience and valuable skills in the niche of their qualification and who landed a job in Singapore with a monthly salary above 8,000 SGD.

P2 is for talented and well-educated foreigners possessing an intense work experience combined with a suite of valuable skills and a monthly salary of at least 4,500 SGD.

Q1 is for young people graduated from respectable institutions who possess a modest working experience that is compensated by the suit of valuable skills. The lowest salary bar is 3,300 SGD.

A successful candidate must fit one of the above-mentioned categories. The rule is: the older foreigners are, the more skills and expertise are expected from them. 3,300 SGD is just the lowest salary, and it must correspond with other criteria.

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Eligibility Criteria and Requirements for EP
As a sponsored visa, EP can be processed only if there is a real offer from a Singapore-based company. This ultimate requirement implies that the following EP criteria refer to both a foreign employee and a Singaporean employer.

 

Requirements for the employer:

1. Employee must be offered a job by a well-established SG-based company (its paid-up capital must prove its ability to pay this foreign employee the declared salary).

2. Job position must be advertised on Singapore job market for at least 2 weeks to ensure that the Singaporeans are given a chance to be considered for this job before the employer prefers a foreign talent. The employer will have to substantiate this preference.

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Requirements for the employee:

1. Offered salary must match the suitable EP type (older employees must have higher salaries).

2. Foreigner holds a diploma or (and) a degree issued by a well-recognised university (college).

3. Employee must argue at least 3 years of occupation-related expertise.

4. Foreigner is expected to import valuable skills that are in demand on the Singapore job market.

5. Candidate’s international passport must be valid.

6. Nationality doesn’t play a crucial role in the EP success as soon as the candidate meets all other criteria, but it still can entail some additional paperwork (please, check your tailor-made list of documents at our visa experts).

 

Other factors such as company’s track record, employee’s impeccable employment profile and age also affect the EP application result. From our experience, education is inferior to skills. Brilliant educational papers don’t guarantee you a visa approval; the government is likely to prefer a less-educated guy but with unique skills (that are in demand in the country’s developing industries) to his brainy counterpart. Such situation says about the need to assess every case in complex and pull up weak points by preparing an exhaustive documentation.

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Features and Benefits of Singapore Employment Pass

1. Employment Pass fits all nationalities (no citizenship restrictions like, for example, for the Work Permit).

2. Employer hiring a foreigner on the Employment Pass isn’t required to meet the quota criterion and pay the levy for such worker.

3. Visa is bound to a specific hiring company; if the employee would like to swap jobs, a new work pass will be needed. Only the employer (or the accredited agency on the employer’s behalf) is authorised to lodge the EP application.

4. EP is granted for up to 2 years (the exact period is at the government’s discretion) after which it can be extended for 3 years under certain conditions.

5. Pass allows an overseas worker to bring their family to the country if the salary is at least 5,000 SGD (for taking along a spouse, children and other family members) or 10,000 SG (for bringing parents).

6. Holder of the EP has quite high chances for getting the PR status. Different types of the EP have their specific “due time” when the eligibility reaches its maximum.

7. Lack of professional experience isn’t an obstacle for a seeker of the EP as this visa has a special subclass for young people with modest experience – Q1.

8. EP is the only work visa that allows a foreigner to register a company in Singapore and act as a shareholder; however, the procedure of incorporation for such foreigner-owned company implies some special requirements.

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