Married a Work Permit Holder

[Pared]

Asta Mao;

I cannot help you with advice on getting married, or getting a PR, but I can tell you a little about moving to Singapore and housekeeping together because I just relocated from LA to Singapore less than six months ago. I hold an EP.

I have over 10 years’ experience as an admin, so I was offered a salary roughly the same as I made back in the LA. I do almost the same job. They also offered $5000 USD and a one-way airline ticket to me, and each of my dependents (being single, that means only me). They also offered a moving company, but the moving company was a scam. I ended up shipping one box of personal goods via UPS myself, and the rest was in my baggage. My out of pocket cost was very little.

When you arrive, you have to find a flat (apartment). The agency fee, and stamp fee are pretty high. My rent is 2700 Singapore dollars a month for a fully furnished flat, with hot water, AC, and a washing machine. It cost me about 3x that to move in (agency fee, stamp fee, utility deposit, rent deposit, first month’s rent, insurance, internet). It cost me just over 7000 Singapore dollars to get moved into my flat. That was before my first paycheck.

Good luck;

[the lynx]

Hi!

My boyfriend and I have been together for almost 8 years now and he's finally making the move to Singapore. Initially I thought it would be quite straightforward, he get a job and we can get married but he did some research and found out that WP holders must get permission before marrying!

I've browsed through some of the past replies here and this has been confirmed. He has not applied for any jobs in Singapore yet and does not have or ever had a WP.

So he is a Malaysian and you're a Singaporean?

We're a bit lost now as to what would be the next best steps because his highest qualification is SPM so likely his work pass would be a WP. I'm a graduate from NUS holding a stable job $40k per annum, not sure if this would be sustainable to support a family in the eyes of the govt.

Only if he HOLDS the WP that he should apply for permission. He can still marry you as a foreigner. He can come on visitor pass, do ROM here with you and either return to Malaysia once his visitor pass is up, or remain here on LTVP if he can score it. Putting LTVP aside, he can still try to apply jobs as a married man registered in Singapore but his status as Malaysian will still remain.

If we were to get married before he got a WP, would that have any hidden implications? I read that it doesn't guarantee PR. How about any implications on him getting a pass or job in the future or somehow breaking the rules of WP if he gets one in the future?

Married before given a WP? Usually it is the other way round that the permission needs to be sought. Not sure about this case though. Needs others to give input about this.

Another question about the passes, if we were to get married and as he won't be able to apply for PR yet (or no guarantee to get PR) I'm guessing LTVP would be the way to go. I would think LTVP and WP are two separate things and he would still require a WP at the very least to continue working in Singapore?

Only if he gets to secure an employment. Until then LTVP is the way to go. But the challenge of whether his LTVP application will be approved is still there. By the way, LTVP holders cannot work. So if he wants to work, he'd better secure his own employment.

He wants to go down personally to MOM and ICA to clarify some of the doubts and questions we have, would that be the best way to go? MOM in particular has a few service centres, not sure if we'd get any answers just by going down like that!

The website is good enough. Maybe the office will be willing to help if you come in person to ask.

Thanks.

[sundaymorningstaple]

It is find to get married to a foreigner who has never had a Work Permit. You need not get permission to marry from MOM.

However, he may or may not get an LTVP. It shouldn't be a real problem as your salary is sufficient for you to act as his sponsor. The only problem I can see is that ICA may view it suspiciously if he doesn't have high qualifications, because it could be seen, in the eyes of a myopic ICA officer, as a ploy by the guy to gain long term admission to Singapore.

You are correct that marriage does NOT give him any additional points in securing employment here. In fact, they tell you that up front. Many years ago, a male foreigner marrying a local girl had to sign a letter to that effect with the ROM so there was no way to claim ignorance of the fact. I know. I signed one of them 30 years ago.

If he should get an LTVP, and later receives a job offer, he will be issued with a WP/EP. At that point, the LTVP will be automatically canceled by MOM and the WP issued. If his employment ceases, he will have to reapply for a new LTVP as he will be given an SVP at the termination of the WP/EP.

sms

[JR8]

You are correct that marriage does NOT give him any additional points in securing employment here.

There was a similar notice from ROM when we got married 3-odd years ago. That marriage would not enhance any chances of PR. I remember finding it rather distastefully presumptuous.

[AstaMao]

Hi guys thanks for the replies, gives us a much clearer idea of what we should do.

So I understand that if we were to marry in Spore (I'm Singaporean and he's Malaysian), in the same way that our marriage does not increase his chances of getting a job, it also does not reduce his chances of getting a job. And we wouldn't be breaking any rules as long as he doesn't have a WP.

I guess the part about them telling you upfront that the marriage doesn't increase chances of a job/pr is like telling you it's a risk that you have to take going into this marriage.

Do you know typically how long does the LTVP take to process? If in the future he has or had an LTVP, it shouldn't affect his chances of getting PR?

Thanks!

[offshoreoildude]

Hi guys thanks for the replies, gives us a much clearer idea of what we should do.

So I understand that if we were to marry in Singapore (I'm Singaporean and he's Malaysian), in the same way that our marriage does not increase his chances of getting a job, it also does not reduce his chances of getting a job. And we wouldn't be breaking any rules as long as he doesn't have a WP.

I guess the part about them telling you upfront that the marriage doesn't increase chances of a job/pr is like telling you it's a risk that you have to take going into this marriage.

Do you know typically how long does the LTVP take to process? If in the future he has or had an LTVP, it shouldn't affect his chances of getting PR?

Thanks!

LTVP takes a few weeks in my experience. It can all be done online except the final stage. There's a fair bit of paperwork involved.

[AstaMao]

I just called MOM and it seems it's really not as straightforward as I thought. Apparently if we marry first, he would definitely need to apply and obtain an LTVP before he can apply for jobs Or get a WP. Something about employer's quota and not needing to be responsible for his levy.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I think you are confused by what the MOM person told you. If you marry first, he doesn't need to apply for an LTVP to look for work. He can come here initially on a normal SVP and start his job search while applying for the LTVP (you would be the sponsor so a lot is dependent on your income - 3K is about the absolute minimum so it will be dicey). For him to get a WP he would have to a) find somebody willing to employ him; and b) hope the company has quota to hire foreigners on WPs. (tricky sometimes - depending on the industries - some have higher quotas than others). The levy is ALWAYS paid for by the employer, not the employee. Any company that tries to do that is shafting the employee and all doing something highly illegal.

It's always possible that he could find something before his SVP runs out.

[AstaMao]

I think you are confused by what the MOM person told you. If you marry first, he doesn't need to apply for an LTVP to look for work. He can come here initially on a normal SVP and start his job search while applying for the LTVP (you would be the sponsor so a lot is dependent on your income - 3K is about the absolute minimum so it will be dicey). For him to get a WP he would have to a) find somebody willing to employ him; and b) hope the company has quota to hire foreigners on WPs. (tricky sometimes - depending on the industries - some have higher quotas than others). The levy is ALWAYS paid for by the employer, not the employee. Any company that tries to do that is shafting the employee and all doing something highly illegal.

It's always possible that he could find something before his SVP runs out.

I did ask the Officer that if he was married to a Singaporean, couldn't he just look for a job and get a WP as a visitor. He said no and that he must have an LTVP. I then asked so if he doesn't get an LTVP he can never get a job here and he said Yes. Either this officer has misinformed me or my ears are playing tricks on me. This is getting very confusing

[sundaymorningstaple]

It's been know to call MOM three times and get three different officers on the phone and three completely different answers. This has been documented in some of our threads over the last three years regarding working on dependent's passes and other things as well. Try calling them again and if you get a different officer ask them again. I see nowhere where they need an LTVP to do a job search as they don't even have to be in Singapore to apply for a job. Once they find an offer and get an IPA (In principle approval) the come to Singapore and get the WP issued. The fact that you are married to a Singaporean is no relevant to my knowledge unless you are trying to work on a Letter of Consent which can only be done after 3 years of marriage on an LTVP+. Otherwise, I don't think you got a proper answer from the person.

[the lynx]

Maybe the officer thinks that your husband will be living in Singapore to look for job, and that's the reason why he insists on him having the LTVP?

[AstaMao]

I posted the same question to them via the website and an officer called me back yesterday. She said that he would not require an LTVP to apply for a work permit and the only difference if he did have an LTVP when applying for a WP is that the employer would not be placing him under the foreign quota and would not need to pay levy.

Anyhow it doesn't affect the person applying for the job so all's good I guess!

Now we'll just have to wait for some wedding bells!

[offshoreoildude]

I posted the same question to them via the website and an officer called me back yesterday. She said that he would not require an LTVP to apply for a work permit and the only difference if he did have an LTVP when applying for a WP is that the employer would not be placing him under the foreign quota and would not need to pay levy.

Anyhow it doesn't affect the person applying for the job so all's good I guess!

Now we'll just have to wait for some wedding bells!

That' a real win as it means he will not be part of his employers quota! Make sure he tells prospective employers this!

[sundaymorningstaple]

Told you the first officer wasn't correct.

[bluetan1989]

hi, my cousin and his wife are holding work permit and just ROM in malaysia....should they register or submit ROM cert to MOM??