Bringing our Finnish au pair to Singapore?

[The Finn]

Hi all,
I realise that local child minders are very affordable in Singapore, however as we are a family of native Finnish speakers we'd like to bring our Finnish au pair with us when we relocate to Singapore next autumn.
Can you please advise how this could be done in practice? What permits would be needed, and are we likely to get them? Can we apply before coming to Singapore - we have about one week to set up our life...
Any help much appreciated!

[Guest]

This is a very complicated matter, because there are no Au Pairs in Singapore. I compiled some info for you: cmpl@pacific.net.sg

[jpatokal]

An interesting and unusual question. You might want to start by taking a look at this page on The Other Site:

http://www.expatsingapore.com/startup/employ.shtml

Give the Ministy of Manpower (MOM) and Singapore Immigration (SIR) websites a browse and/or telephone, it's probably doable but you will have a large pile of paperwork ahead. Also consider carefully whether you really need a Finnish au-pair -- even at 1000e/mo, her salary is going to be over 10x what a "local" maid would cost.

[The Finn]

Many thanks for the info! Actually, looking at the info, things don't look too bad - if I can bring in a maid from the Philippines or Sri Lanka, why not Finland? It doesn't seem there are any restrictions on the countries where the maid can come from - but I'll find out.

The maid's levy, medical check etc seem quite straightforward. In fact, I think I may be able to save some money by this arrangement, as I will not need to pay any agency fees, and our 'maid' still thinks of herself as an au pair and won't expect anything more than her pocket money, logging and meals. We'll live in a Serviced Apartment anyway, so she'll only need to look after the kids and cook for them when they are not at school. She's saying she's so excited about going that she'll pay her own air tickets!

So keep your fingers crossed for me, and please let me know if you can see any problems with my optimistic thinking above! Thanks!

[Guest]

[quote="The Finn"]Many thanks for the info! Actually, looking at the info, things don't look too bad - if I can bring in a maid from the Philippines or Sri Lanka, why not Finland? It doesn't seem there are any restrictions on the countries where the maid can come from - but I'll find out.

I am very interested in this question, because I find it difficult to see through the rules. One thing is sure:

Can I employ a maid from any country?
No, you can only employ maid from MOM (Ministry of Manpower) approved source of countries for FDW (Foreign Domestic Workers). The countries are: Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh.

If you are successful please contact me: cmpl@pacific.net.sg