I'll cut to the chase. Just over a year ago, my girlfriend and I met online for the first time. I'm 26, from the UK and she is 27 and a Singapore Citizen. We hit it off pretty well and in September of this year, I made the leap and visited Singapore for the first time to meet her in person.
Thankfully, and to both our reliefs, the entire two week trip went amazingly, and we're both confident we've found in each other, someone we can be with for a long term.
Unfortunately, there's the obvious issue of distance. We both knew it would be an obstacle that we'd have to deal with, but after long, late night discussions with each other, I've decided that relocating, from the UK to Singapore is something I'd like to do both for the sake of our relationship and, honestly, my own quality of life. I realised very quickly during my trip that Singapore is a place I find resonates with me very well.
Neither of us expects this to be a fast process, but I must say, having begun researching myself, looking into the various passes available, looking up job opportunities that might be available to me and even speaking to expats known to my family who either currently or have lived in SG, I still find myself at a loss as to where I should be starting and focusing my attention.
Some advice I've received already, is to look into signing up with a recruiting agency in Singapore, as this would likely be the most viable way of me having success in finding a job and being sponsored for a Long Term Visitation Pass? And failing that, looking into becoming a TEFL Instructor first, and then looking for a position in my actual field (Digital Art and Motion Graphics Design) while there.
I contacted the Singapore High Commission in London regarding this, and they very kindly explained that immigration is not what they deal with but forwarded me details on ContactSingapore and recommended I contact the Ministry of Manpower. I tried contacting both but found ContactSingpore is more focused on those seeking to open a business in SG; not what I'm aiming to do, and the MoM website doesn't seem to have a "General Enquiry" contact (As far as I can see at least).
So, essentially, to boil it down, I'm looking for advice or previous experiences that people, preferably from the UK, could share with me and perhaps help steer me in the correct direction, at least initially.
This is something very important to me and I'd like to approach it with a strong, well thought out plan, so any help is greatly appreciated
Also, apologies if this is in the wrong section or there's a whole thread dedicated to this sort of thing already. As I said, new to the forums and at a bit of a loss as to where to begin!
