Dear All,
Kindly please advice. Here's the situation I'm in.
Company A offered me a job as Systems and Application Engineer which I graciously accepted. After giving my YES, they invited me over and had me log on to MOM using their singpass account to apply for my IPA. They then had me sign a contract and literally told me to go and to just give them update once I've figured out for myself what to do next and what needs to be accomplished to complete the processing of my pass. That was after ordering me to report for work the next day without pay pending the issuance of my actual pass supposedly to get the hang of things before I could officially start. Naturally, I objected saying I'd rather not start without my pass as I don't want violating anything as I'm not legally allowed to start working without a pass. Then all things got nasty. Their behavior changed from "friendly" to complete belligerence.
I got so upset by their behavior that as soon as I got home I fired them an email saying I will not be pursuing my employment with them anymore and that they can cancel my application for IPA.
A couple of days later, I had another job offer (which I accepted) from another company who then went on to apply for IPA. Turned out though that the IPA request submitted by Company A had been approved and it had not been canceled. Thus company B is now unable to put in an IPA application for me.
I then went on to do all sorts of begging and appealing to have company A cancel my IPA but to no avail. I emailed, called, and even went down to their office to beg but they refused to talk to me and shooed me away saying they'll cancel it when they have time probably next year. I did more begging and practically begged them on my knees but it seemed they didn't have any intention of canceling my IPA.
I went to MOM to appeal and spoke with an officer in the appeals/complaint division. I presented my case as best as I could, but the MOM offficer was completely apathetic and told me flatly that there's nothing he or I can do if the company refused to cancel the IPA. I asked if I had any other option and he told me I can try talking to company A again or I can just wait for the IPA to expire. I told him that the IPA doesn't expire until March 15 2011 but I got shrugged off.
My question is:
1. Can I go back to MOM and re-appeal? If I do, is there any chance I can get an officer who would actually offer to help and cancel my IPA, or is it MOM's official ruling/stand to refuse manual cancellation and leave applicants completely at the mercy of employers.
2. Is it true that it is possible/allowable to apply for another IPA if the current/approved IPA is not in the same pass category as the new IPA being applied for? For example, I can apply for IPA for E-PASS even if I have a current IPA as long as the current one is for S-PASS? I've read some people claim this on the net but I'm not sure if it's true.
My visit pass is nearing expiration and I'm now feeling so low and defeated.
Thank you so much in advance for your advice and/or opinions.
Yours Thankfully,
Pekto