Renewal of S Pass rejected

[sundaymorningstaple]

I just feel its unfair that good people tryn to make an honest living getting the door slammed in our face..

I'm curious why you think it's "unfair"? Do you think that Singapore owes you, a foreigner, a job? Strange concept that! In time of economic crisis, like that which is happening now, you are going to see more and more of this as this government does not owe you a living, but it does owe it's citizens the ability to have a better chance of a job. If that means tightening the point allocation (of which we have no knowledge other that the fact that it does exist) then they will do so and rightly so.

If you feel it's unfair for a country to put it's citizens first then maybe you should head back to your country of origin and get a job there. You will be a lot more secure (albeit, maybe poorer though). The Government of Singapore does NOT owe you a living. Again, the poster before, had a job for a couple of years already, so it's still most probably a quota problem as it's easy to get a renewal with the same company (virtually automatic). All they have to do it pay the $60 for the renewal fee once the new S pass it issued. As I said, I lost to this month, I'm losing 3 more in November. As there is no way that I can get my local staff strength up high enough to boost the average 3 month quota base. It sucks, but that's life.

[bsxghz]

I am in the same position here. I hold a P2 pass and hold a degree in accounting & finance from London School of Economics. Lived in London for 7years and currently even pursuing my MBA with a reputable UK business school. I also hold an African passport, although I am a different race. I have 6 years of experience and have been in Singapore for 1year now.

My renewal application and appeal have both been rejected. The same company wants to keep me, in fact needs to keep me as I have started-up several projects for them in Middle-East and East Africa and they have invested heavily in those areas. We have committed to supply contracts that depend on these projects and no-one else in our company has an indepth knowledge of these markets and their cultures. They have no other foreign employees and in fact they have recruited local ones over the year.

The company is now stranded and I am confused as to why they are rejecting my renewal. Any ideas or advice as to what we should do?

[sundaymorningstaple]

'fraid I can't help you there. I don't have a clue as we are steering into uncharted waters at the moment. The current recession is not going to be like anything this country has seen in the last 30 years (I've been here for 26 of 'em). There are going to be lots of changes behind closed doors that us mere mortals will have no clues as to the whys or wherefores.

I'm puzzled over a couple of your statements though. "I also hold an African passport, although I am a different race."

What's that supposed to mean? Are you South African? What race is a South African? Black (Negro), Brown (Indian), Yellow (Chinese) or White (Caucasian)? They're all Africans. I believe Gandhi was from S. Africa as well wasn't he?

Oh, nobody is irreplaceable. What would the company do if you keeled over one afternoon or got hit by a SBS Bus? Inconvenienced maybe but not irreplaceable.

Like SE mentioned in an earlier post you could always go to see an 'immigration familiar' attorney (but MOM frowns heavily upon that - word to the wise - also never use a lawyer to file for PR).

Other than that, I'd say it's bad news as I don't have a clue if it's not a quota problem. If it is a quota problem, then both you and the company are out of luck as it will take several months to get their local staffing strength back up to average numbers to support the quota.

[bsxghz]

My statement on holding an African passport and being a different race is simply making a connection to polarbear99 hence my including ' I also hold......'

Plus I simply requested for advise on what we should do, not on whether i am replaceable or not as i dont believe anyone outside our company is in a position to comment on which employee is replaceable or not. Even if it is just an inconvenience, I dont believe that any company would be happy with the inconvenience of losing a few million dollars. Without knowing the history of a company, its strategy, its culture and its structure it would indeed be difficult to comment on its individual employees' importance.

But thank you anyway. Much appreciated.

[sundaymorningstaple]

If you went into the appeal with the attitude just displayed here, I have a pretty good guess why the appeal wasn't successful. The initial rejection I don't know if it wasn't for quota or counterfeit documents.

I just lost two employees who have been with me for 8 months. Out of the clear blue sky MOM called them down to the Foreign Workers depart opposite Great World City as they suspect that their "original" degrees aren't! (Eight months later!). I'll be going back down there in the morning as they have been jerking these two guys around for almost 3 weeks now. It sucks but there is nothing I can do but watch as Singapore starts becoming very inward looking trying to keep it's citizens employed. Had to happen sooner or later I suppose.

[bsxghz]

Clearly it is not a quota issue with us as all employees in our company are Singaporean except me. Also the counterfeit issue does not even deserve a thought as it is clearly out of the question in my case.

Anyway, it is what it is now. Thank you for your input.

[banker]

bsxghz, I'm sorry to hear that your Employment Pass (EP) application has been rejected.

In my experience we can come up with 1001 theories why ICA/MOM has rejected an EP. 1) Your Company's Profile 2) Your Profile 3) Country of Origin/Race 4) Age blah blah.

Since you have landed in this thread, you easily associated with country of origin. Else where there are rumors all the Burmese were asked to leave the country at the expiry of their work passes.

So we can speculate 101 things as the reason. But eventually you see none of them right. When you see another African's (not race) application is successful in the near future, you think you were wrong on your theory.

At this point time, the recession could be the main reason. However, we see few approval cases. That could be those application could come on top in the scoring don't know.

In Tamil , there is a saying, "Kandavar vindilar; Vindavar kandilar". It means that, one who has realized [God], never talks about it and one who proclaims never realized [God].

Similarly, whoever know the reason for rejection, never talks about it and one who claims this is the reason, never knew it.

Wish you all the best. Hope you have enjoyed your stay in Singapore.

SMS,

Gandhi from India not from S.Africa lah. Veetla Kelungala (this is Tamil)

[sundaymorningstaple]

I stand corrected. I miscontrued his 22 years in S.Africa in the legal profession after he finished Uni in England as his having come originally from S.Africa and later in 1915 returning to India.

[kenthaufiq]

Hello there,

I wanna know, on what all cases the MOM will not mention any reasons for rejections? and the HR stated there is no reason given for my S pass rejection !!!! I am aware mostly the reason for rejections will be communicated to the employer and according to her guess ! it is due to my work experience ( I have 3y in India +8m in Sing), the application they processed b4 for the same post had minimum 5 yrs of experience.....when they know 5 yrs is the required exp level or something, how they thought they can process mine?

They have sent an appeal n its still in process, but if the rejection is about my Work exp, how they are gonna make it processed and what type of documents they can produce??? when i asked her, she said they have written something good about me to convence MOM!

Can any HR in the room explain me as how its done? can u guys really convence the MOM by writing some good ect??? and on the MOM Self Assessment tool, only when i increase my salary i am eligible !!!!

please share your knowledge, thank you all.

[Strong Eagle]

Hello there,

I wanna know, on what all cases the MOM will not mention any reasons for rejections? and the HR stated there is no reason given for my S pass rejection !!!! I am aware mostly the reason for rejections will be communicated to the employer and according to her guess ! it is due to my work experience ( I have 3y in India +8m in Sing), the application they processed b4 for the same post had minimum 5 yrs of experience.....when they know 5 yrs is the required exp level or something, how they thought they can process mine?

They have sent an appeal n its still in process, but if the rejection is about my Work exp, how they are gonna make it processed and what type of documents they can produce??? when i asked her, she said they have written something good about me to convence MOM!

Can any HR in the room explain me as how its done? can u guys really convence the MOM by writing some good ect??? and on the MOM Self Assessment tool, only when i increase my salary i am eligible !!!!

please share your knowledge, thank you all.

MOM never tells why they have rejected an application, except in the most general of terms, otherwise, everyone would try to appeal to overcome the reasons. Deal with it.

There is no point in you making an appeal unless:
a) You have had a significant salary increase
b) You have a significant change in your circumstances, like a new degree, enough money to buy a flat, etc.
c) Your rejection may be because your company does not have enough Singaporeans or PR's and thus the quota is not met. If they have hired more locals, they need to submit that.

You need to be a realist. Read recent threads... many people are being rejected that would probably have been accepted a year ago.

There is no point in just asking for them to look at it again. Your application is scored in a number of areas, and you must meet a minimum number to get the pass. No change, no new numbers, no appeal.

[ksl]

Yup. My HR manager is shocked also. Coz I have been with the same company from day 1 here. The one time I tried to change company it got rejected, so I stuck to my company and then the renewal got rejected.

As for the degree mills, this is why the MOM has a list of recognized universities. If they recognize them, am sure they have a way of verifying authenticity of degrees.

It sucks man, not because it got rejected, but by the fact that it wasn't supposed to, at least by comparison to other applicants.

Could it be that, some Singaporeans have left your company since you joined them 2 years ago? If so then maybe the company doesn't meet the quota requirement, for your S pass to be renewed. Just a thought!

[sundaymorningstaple]

Happens to us with great regularity. Had to let 4 S pass holders go last week. Tried to transfer two of the to a new company. Rejected. So have left them where they are until their current pass expires as they cannot be renewed for whatever reason. (Academic standards probably not up to snuff under the current more stringent criteria I guess).

It's getting rough. I've just downsized our company from 205 staff to 175 in the past 3 weeks. (lost a 6M contract).

[ksl]

SMS said:It's getting rough. I've just downsized our company from 205 staff to 175 in the past 3 weeks. (lost a 6M contract).

I have been tracking the sales revenue at the exhibition and spending power is down 50% year on year, this is all areas of FMG products. From May to November sales are down 20 to 30% in most areas so recovery is going to be slow, I can imagine.