Singapore Expats

EP -> SPASS

Relocating, travelling or planning to make Singapore home? Discuss the criterias, passes or visa that is required.
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therat
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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by therat » Mon, 21 Aug 2023 10:28 am

jalanjalan wrote:
Sun, 20 Aug 2023 10:35 am
When I first moved here my salary was $1500 and I felt so rich lol. As I recall, EP those days was mostly based on whether got degree or not. Oh how times have changed.

read this yesterday, which I suppose explains it:
"Last year, 36.2 per cent of Singaporean residents aged 25 and over were university graduates, up from 4.5 per cent in 1990."
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/cna-ins ... nt-3707871
1990, Singapore only have 2 U
Now Singapore have 6 U.

1990, very expensive to go oversea study.. either your family can pay or thru scholarship and scholarship is very limited
Now, is much more easy

I start work on 1991. I never forget my 1st job salary - $2.80 per hour. That time, Mcd Set meal is $4.50
I have to work for 2 hrs for 1 Mcd Set meal

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malcontent
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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by malcontent » Mon, 21 Aug 2023 1:02 pm

I started working part time during high school in the US, this was back in 1989 and I was paid minimum wage of $3.35/hr. I worked 3 hours on weekdays plus 8 hours on Saturdays. It was enough to cover my car payments ($2,000 1980 Chevy Camaro) plus gas (as little as 99¢ per gallon back then), and a little extra left over.

I took the vocational track in high school (like ITE here) which cost nothing. After HS, I continued working and commuted to community college for 2 years (like Polytechnic here) which cost maybe around $1,000 per year, then I went to University for 3 years, which cost a few thousand for tuition, plus another few thousand for room and board.

I was fortunate to meet my wife at University, it definitely changed my outlook on life and caused me to buckle down and get serious about my studies. After we graduated she got a job in a bank and I got a job with a subsidiary of my current employer here in Singapore, starting pay for both of us was just north of US$20,000 annually. About a year later in 1996 we moved to SG. When I was hired here, my initial pay was around S$30,000 - similar to what I had been making in the US (at least before Asian crisis hit and the SGD plummeted), but I was happy to just have a job and an EP. Having to rent a room was annoying, but the only option here on that kind of salary.

It is definitely tough at the entry level here, it’s why you are expected to live with your parents (if they live here). It is far better, if you have the opportunity, to start out entry level in a lower cost highly developed country, get some experience under your belt, and only come to Singapore mid-career, if desired, IMO.
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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by jalanjalan » Mon, 21 Aug 2023 1:25 pm

malcontent wrote:
Mon, 21 Aug 2023 1:02 pm
It is definitely tough at the entry level here, it’s why you are expected to live with your parents (if they live here). It is far better, if you have the opportunity, to start out entry level in a lower cost highly developed country, get some experience under your belt, and only come to Singapore mid-career, if desired, IMO.
We lived with my spouse's parents for a couple of years, til we were more established in our jobs (also to pay off student loans). It would have been pretty tough to have to pay our own rental then, frankly we couldn't do it. We arrived with literally $900 in our pockets and a return ticket to Canada. it took us fully 4 years to save up for our HDB flat.

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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by Wd40 » Sat, 02 Sep 2023 12:44 pm

So just to update, our S Pass/DP got approved and we received the IPA letters. I had to go and do medical which is wierd, because I had never done it before in 14 years on EP. If that was not enough, my wife also has to go and do medical.

Singapore was known for its super efficiency. But now it seems, they want to undo it a bit and cause some inconveniences to people :(

Although compared to other countries, Singapore is still relatively much easier to get a work pass. So that is the only solace we can take.

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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by jalanjalan » Sat, 02 Sep 2023 1:43 pm

Wd40 wrote:
Sat, 02 Sep 2023 12:44 pm
So just to update, our S Pass/DP got approved and we received the IPA letters. I had to go and do medical which is wierd, because I had never done it before in 14 years on EP. If that was not enough, my wife also has to go and do medical.

Singapore was known for its super efficiency. But now it seems, they want to undo it a bit and cause some inconveniences to people :(

Although compared to other countries, Singapore is still relatively much easier to get a work pass. So that is the only solace we can take.
Hm, maybe you were grandfathered in all this time then with the pass change there was a reset?

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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by Wd40 » Sat, 02 Sep 2023 1:51 pm

jalanjalan wrote:
Sat, 02 Sep 2023 1:43 pm
Wd40 wrote:
Sat, 02 Sep 2023 12:44 pm
So just to update, our S Pass/DP got approved and we received the IPA letters. I had to go and do medical which is wierd, because I had never done it before in 14 years on EP. If that was not enough, my wife also has to go and do medical.

Singapore was known for its super efficiency. But now it seems, they want to undo it a bit and cause some inconveniences to people :(

Although compared to other countries, Singapore is still relatively much easier to get a work pass. So that is the only solace we can take.
Hm, maybe you were grandfathered in all this time then with the pass change there was a reset?
I believe EP and DPs of EP don't have to do medical. Maybe their logic is; EP is given to high flying PMETs, so they don't want to inconvenience them and the risk is low.

But S Pass is given mostly to blue collar workers and the risk is higher, so the medical is enforced?

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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by smoulder » Sat, 02 Sep 2023 2:40 pm

The first time that you apply for an EP, they make you do a medical screening. Likewise when you have been approved for PR. I don't recall them doing that for citizenship approval, unless I have just forgotten about it.

But yes, the logic for the SP and WP is probably something to do with them believing that along with lower socio economic status (historically associated with SP and WP) comes higher risk to contract illnesses that must be screened periodically.

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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by Wd40 » Sat, 02 Sep 2023 3:15 pm

smoulder wrote:
Sat, 02 Sep 2023 2:40 pm
The first time that you apply for an EP, they make you do a medical screening. Likewise when you have been approved for PR. I don't recall them doing that for citizenship approval, unless I have just forgotten about it.

But yes, the logic for the SP and WP is probably something to do with them believing that along with lower socio economic status (historically associated with SP and WP) comes higher risk to contract illnesses that must be screened periodically.
No, my EP was applied in 2009 1st time and I have renewed/applied for new EPs with 5 companies and I have never had to go for medical check as a requirement for the pass issuance.

One of the banks I worked for, asked me to go for medical check, but that was their internal requirement, not MoM requirement. This is the 1st time I have experienced this due to S Pass application. When I went to do the medical I met a colleague who came for his pass renewal and he had to do medical. So it seems S Pass has a specific requirement for medical for every renewal and it is not a 1 time thing.

Anyways cannot complain as it is not a big deal.
Last edited by Wd40 on Sat, 02 Sep 2023 3:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by smoulder » Sat, 02 Sep 2023 3:17 pm

Wd40 wrote:
Sat, 02 Sep 2023 3:15 pm
smoulder wrote:
Sat, 02 Sep 2023 2:40 pm
The first time that you apply for an EP, they make you do a medical screening. Likewise when you have been approved for PR. I don't recall them doing that for citizenship approval, unless I have just forgotten about it.

But yes, the logic for the SP and WP is probably something to do with them believing that along with lower socio economic status (historically associated with SP and WP) comes higher risk to contract illnesses that must be screened periodically.
No, my EP was applied in 2009 1st time and I have renewed/applied for new EPs with 4 companies and I have never had to go for medical check as a requirement for the pass issuance.
Then it probably started a bit later. I came here in 2013 - for my first EP I had to go for a medical check prior to the pass issuance.

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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by MOCHS » Sat, 02 Sep 2023 3:45 pm

Hubby’s initial LTVP needed medical, subsequent two renewals didn’t need medical, but needed medical when his PR was approved in principle.

I think the medical has a validity for X years before it is requested again?

Anyway I think first issuance of any pass needs medical nowadays.

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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by jalanjalan » Sat, 02 Sep 2023 5:08 pm

I didn't have to do for PR or SC. Can't recall for EP as it was so long ago, but I don't think so. I know some people did have to do for PR. Not really sure what the criteria is.. maybe it depends where you came from and the childhood vaccines that are commonly given? That's the only reason I can guess for the difference.

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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by Wd40 » Sat, 02 Sep 2023 5:26 pm

jalanjalan wrote:
Sat, 02 Sep 2023 5:08 pm
I didn't have to do for PR or SC. Can't recall for EP as it was so long ago, but I don't think so. I know some people did have to do for PR. Not really sure what the criteria is.. maybe it depends where you came from and the childhood vaccines that are commonly given? That's the only reason I can guess for the difference.
The tests required is Chest Xray and HIV test. I am not sure if we can make out anything from this, why they are doing this.

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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by MOCHS » Sat, 02 Sep 2023 7:26 pm

Chest X-Ray is for TB which is a considered a public health threat here. Anyone who contracts TB in SG has their treatment closely monitored (by CDC I think) and if they skip one treatment, CDC is alerted.

HIV is self-explanatory. Even with the advancement of drugs that can make the viral load be undetectable, it’s still a disease with no cure as the viral load resurges if they stop taking the drug.

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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by therat » Sat, 02 Sep 2023 10:43 pm

TB is an air-borne disease.

Why a country would want to let a foreigner with health threat to "test" their health system.

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Re: EP -> SPASS

Post by malcontent » Sun, 03 Sep 2023 2:35 am

therat wrote:
Sat, 02 Sep 2023 10:43 pm
TB is an air-borne disease.

Why a country would want to let a foreigner with health threat to "test" their health system.
I suspect it’s just carryover regulations that never got updated. Just like the ban on US beef over the mad cow scare 20 years ago — it’s still in effect, with a few narrow exceptions. If nothing triggers a review, the tendency here is to remain on autopilot.

In the past, TB was more of a threat. Both of our kids were still given the TB vaccine at birth, but nowadays I believe it’s no longer given. Fortunately neither of my kids had a bad reaction (nasty scar), since it’s now deemed unnecessary.
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