Splitting time between UK and SG

[AuntieMabel]

My employer have offered me a transfer to Singapore for a year to 18 months. My husband was previously up for it as he's freelance and was having a slow patch work-wise. But in the time it's taken for my employer to get their act together, various projects he's working on have come to fruition and he's reluctant to leave it all behind.

One of the options we're looking at is for him to split his time between here (London) and there. Work pay for regular return flights business class, but will swap these for cash - so we could use this for much more regular premium or economy tickets, such that he could come over for 2-3 weeks every couple of months - possibly more depending on work (he works from home, but needs to do face to face meetings in the UK).

Has anyone done this? Did it work for you?

Would he require a dependant visa, or could he come in and out on a visitor's one? Is there anything else that we'd need to be aware of?

[AuntieMabel]

For clarity - in case it makes a difference - we are mid-late 30s and I'll have an employment pass.

He is self-employed in the UK, so he can work anywhere with an internet connection.

Just realised there might be an additional complication: Would he need to get an entrepreneur visa to do his freelance work there? (for UK clients, via his own UK ltd company?). Or will a dependent pass/LTV pass do?

[singapore eagle]

I've done this before - albeit for more like 6-9 months rather than 12-18 months. I just came in on a regular social visit pass (i.e. visa on arrival) each time.

[JR8]

re: ‘2-3 weeks/couple of months’. Do you own your own home? If you both did a ‘full relo’, would you let it out? Perhaps consider the cost/benefit of the situation re: UK housing. ‘12-18 months’ being posted can quite possibly become three years, or more, sometimes much more.

AFAIUI, you can work from SG, for clients in foreign countries without too much complication, as long as your payment/fee is not remitted to Singapore.

A concern for me would be that at say 2-3wks per 2 months, there might come a point at which he arrives at Changi and they say ‘You’re pretty clearly not a tourist’. I had similar happen with travel to the US, and it wasn’t fun, I was almost deported, and then had to go and get a ‘proper visa’ to continue travelling there. Better you get the proper visa from the outset. Better still you get your employer to get it for you!

I think the DP might be the way to go. Get your employer to apply for it for him. Then (IMHO/E&EO) he can work here, get paid back home, and travel pretty much as he wishes.

--- I believe DP is the way to go in your circumstances. I doubt (but note I not reckecking the latest rules right now) he’s entitled to an LTVP. And an Entre-Pass is for people seeking to set up business here (and hire locals, and pay taxes etc).

[AuntieMabel]

Thanks - that's really helpful. We do own our own home, and yes, it would make sense financially to rent it out. But we have to balance that with the hassle of packing up our stuff and putting it in storage, plus the potential long-term damage to his career if he can't keep it going.

We're both set on it not turning in to three years as we want to come back to the UK to start a family.

[TPS56]

all great comments guys

I'm a Brit and working here. The biggest issue is that long weekend are literally not possible even with a Fri off and or a Monday, the jetlag and time difference will really push your relationship.

Trev

[AuntieMabel]

That's what worries me. I think if we can work it so he's over for relatively chunky visits (2-3 weeks out of every 6-8, as his work allows) rather than just a few days it might be ok. Has anyone else done this?

Just trying to work out how to balance the need to keep his freelance work ticking over into the UK with the opportunity this gives me, in my career, and for both of us to try living somewhere else.

He generally works two weeks each month, so It guess we'll have to see how we can work around that.

[singapore eagle]

I think if we can work it so he's over for relatively chunky visits (2-3 weeks out of every 6-8, as his work allows) rather than just a few days it might be ok. Has anyone else done this?

I've done this quite successfully in the past. Now I do it the other way round - i.e. I live in Singapore and make short visits to the UK every 4-6 weeks to meet my clients.

The things I have learned are:

- avoid, if at, all possible telling your UK clients that you are overseas. Somehow, the knowledge that you are abroad creates a mental block on clients' part when it comes to your availability to work.
- don't agree to calls after, say, 8pm Singapore time.
- switch off the phone and don't check emails from that same cut-off time.

Unless your husband is expected to work physically from clients' offices or otherwise be on call from 8am to 6pm UK time, I don't think you'll find working from Singapore home much different from working from UK home. At least I don't.