Fortan wrote:I have Singaporeans in my team that are split into two groups. The ones that have always been living in Singapore and the ones that have either studied abroad or have spent parts of their career working abroad. There is a distinct difference in their mentality. If I had to hire someone today and two applicants turned up with similar qualifications, I would hire the Singaporean who has spent time outside the red dot any time. Not sure whether that is politically correct but that is how I feel.
I know many people in hiring roles who think exactly the same. The gulf between Singaporeans with and without foreign experience is massive especially in terms of communication skills. This is true even if the person studied at a local university and just went abroad for a short time during their studies.
I don't think it's that politically incorrect an opinion, there's a reason why the local universities have so many study abroad programs, there are so many government scholarships for foreign study, etc.
Hannieroo wrote:I believe that the first 100k is now tax free and housing can be tax deductible.
This has always been the case, it's just that the tax deductible amount goes up every year and it just now is getting to be over 100k.
Hope they aren't buying
property though, unless they fancy paying capital gains tax every time the USD-MYR exchange rate moves around.
On the other hand Americans don't have to pay ABSD if we buy property here, also we are the only foreign nationality allowed to buy property in Thailand, so there :p
Also, I have no idea if the OP is still reading, but the US has a special H1-B visa for Singaporeans with a separate quota than the regular H1-B and looser requirements. It's one of the best visa programs that the US has and is better than what Canadians get under NAFTA, for example.
I would guess that this program explains why I have never heard of an American having EP issues here..