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Is Singapore for me ?

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cedros699
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Is Singapore for me ?

Post by cedros699 » Tue, 22 Sep 2009 3:31 pm

Hello everybody,
I'm a 30years old French guy looking for a new city to live in.
I'm a day trader and want to open an home trading business in another tax friendly country :)
I've seen that it does not look so difficult in Singapore to get a visa and to open a business.
I wanted you advice to know if I will fit in Singapore, here's my ideal city:

- Large city in a rich country
- Tropical weather
- English speaking
- Cosmopolitan/Diverse
- World city & big Financial center
- Friendly place to do business, tax friendly, entrepreneur mindset
- Great nightlife
- Tolerant regarding race/religion/gays/...
- Security
...

Thanks a lot :)
Ced

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jpatokal
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Re: Is Singapore for me ?

Post by jpatokal » Tue, 22 Sep 2009 11:17 pm

cedros699 wrote:- Large city in a rich country
- Tropical weather
- English speaking
- Cosmopolitan/Diverse
- World city & big Financial center
- Friendly place to do business, tax friendly, entrepreneur mindset
- Great nightlife
- Tolerant regarding race/religion/gays/...
- Security
Yes, that's fair description of Singapore, although calling the nightlife here "great" might be a bit of a stretch (compared to where?) and the keyword really is suspicious tolerance, not active encouragement, of anything alternative or too different; don't expect the culture of a Paris or London here!

Your main problem is going to be getting a visa, since employment passes require that you have an actual employer (read: not yourself). The EntrePass rules for entrepreneurs coming in have been tightened up a lot and day trading is not the kind of thing you could write an acceptable business plan for anyway. Do you have any relatives here, or how were you planning on arranging this?
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djmanu
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Re: Is Singapore for me ?

Post by djmanu » Wed, 23 Sep 2009 2:07 am

jpatokal wrote:
cedros699 wrote:- Large city in a rich country
- Tropical weather
- English speaking
- Cosmopolitan/Diverse
- World city & big Financial center
- Friendly place to do business, tax friendly, entrepreneur mindset
- Great nightlife
- Tolerant regarding race/religion/gays/...
- Security
Yes, that's fair description of Singapore, although calling the nightlife here "great" might be a bit of a stretch (compared to where?) and the keyword really is suspicious tolerance, not active encouragement, of anything alternative or too different; don't expect the culture of a Paris or London here!

Your main problem is going to be getting a visa, since employment passes require that you have an actual employer (read: not yourself). The EntrePass rules for entrepreneurs coming in have been tightened up a lot and day trading is not the kind of thing you could write an acceptable business plan for anyway. Do you have any relatives here, or how were you planning on arranging this?
Thanks a lot for your answer !
I call a nightlife great if there are a lot of clubs, pubs, somewhere to go out every nights, and if I can eat outside at 4 am :)
I've seen that the EntrePass rules has been tightened up.
I've read as well that it was still possible that some company in Singapore create a new company and then sponsor me for visa and change the manager status after that, do you think it's possible ?
It looks easier than in the US ...

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Post by apollo_69 » Wed, 23 Sep 2009 2:49 am

Also worth considering the timezone differences, if you plan to daytrade the US/Euro markets you'd be up at some ungodly hours and may find it harder to socialise if you end up nocturnal :p

cedros699
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Post by cedros699 » Wed, 23 Sep 2009 3:46 am

apollo_69 wrote:Also worth considering the timezone differences, if you plan to daytrade the US/Euro markets you'd be up at some ungodly hours and may find it harder to socialise if you end up nocturnal :p
The timezone is great to trade Euro because I like to get up at noon and work till 10pm :)

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jpatokal
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Re: Is Singapore for me ?

Post by jpatokal » Wed, 23 Sep 2009 5:39 pm

djmanu wrote:I've seen that the EntrePass rules has been tightened up.
I've read as well that it was still possible that some company in Singapore create a new company and then sponsor me for visa and change the manager status after that, do you think it's possible ?
None of the regulars here thought it was possible, but apparently at least one guy claims to have managed it. But even if it is possible, you cannot become the sole director of a Singaporean company until you have become a Singapore permanent resident, which usually takes at least several years (and has apparently also become harder to get lately).
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cedros699
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Re: Is Singapore for me ?

Post by cedros699 » Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:17 am

jpatokal wrote:
djmanu wrote:I've seen that the EntrePass rules has been tightened up.
I've read as well that it was still possible that some company in Singapore create a new company and then sponsor me for visa and change the manager status after that, do you think it's possible ?
None of the regulars here thought it was possible, but apparently at least one guy claims to have managed it. But even if it is possible, you cannot become the sole director of a Singaporean company until you have become a Singapore permanent resident, which usually takes at least several years (and has apparently also become harder to get lately).
Thanks a lot, I thought it was easy to start a business & get a visa for Singapore as it's often advertised as the best place to do business.
Do you think it's possible with the EntrePass way even with 50k$ for a company that do day trading for itself ?
I chosed a large financial center because I would like to be able to sell some financial software I developped to some banks as well as trading for my company. If this could help creating the business plan and get Entrepass, please let me know ...
Thanks a lot

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Re: Is Singapore for me ?

Post by taxico » Thu, 24 Sep 2009 8:57 am

cedros699 wrote:Do you think it's possible with the EntrePass way even with 50k$ for a company that do day trading for itself ?
I chosed a large financial center because I would like to be able to sell some financial software I developped to some banks as well as trading for my company. If this could help creating the business plan and get Entrepass, please let me know ...
maybe you could look here...

http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic63747.html

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jpatokal
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Re: Is Singapore for me ?

Post by jpatokal » Thu, 24 Sep 2009 9:56 pm

cedros699 wrote:Do you think it's possible with the EntrePass way even with 50k$ for a company that do day trading for itself ?
I chosed a large financial center because I would like to be able to sell some financial software I developped to some banks as well as trading for my company. If this could help creating the business plan and get Entrepass, please let me know ...
Have you read this thread? Under the new EntrePass rules, it doesn't matter how successful you are personally, your company will need to hire at least four full-time employees within a few years if you want to renew your EP!

As far as the business plan goes, selling software to local clients sounds nicer than doing day trading, but do you have any track record for this? Current customers, contacts in Singapore, etc?
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cedros699
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Post by cedros699 » Fri, 25 Sep 2009 2:59 am

Just read the thread ...
I think that I would never match the new Entrepass rules coz I will not employ 4 people in the next few years.
It would be great if it was possible to find someone or some company in Sing to start my business with his name as director and to take me as Employee. I could still get a PR after several years and start my own business later ...

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Post by jpatokal » Mon, 28 Sep 2009 8:52 pm

cedros699 wrote:Just read the thread ...
I think that I would never match the new Entrepass rules coz I will not employ 4 people in the next few years.
It would be great if it was possible to find someone or some company in Sing to start my business with his name as director and to take me as Employee. I could still get a PR after several years and start my own business later ...
You can create the business with a local director-for-hire, but the problem is that a newly created company with no track record is not likely to have its EPs approved.
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Post by AngMohForeignTalent » Tue, 29 Sep 2009 9:42 pm

jpatokal wrote: You can create the business with a local director-for-hire, but the problem is that a newly created company with no track record is not likely to have its EPs approved.
But if you make at least S$7k now, you could try getting a PEP. This I think would have to be a fixed salary. So the company could employ you, but wouldn't be the sponsor of your EP.

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Post by jpatokal » Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:39 pm

AngMohForeignTalent wrote:But if you make at least S$7k now, you could try getting a PEP. This I think would have to be a fixed salary. So the company could employ you, but wouldn't be the sponsor of your EP.
For the specific case of our original poster, PEP requires a fixed monthly salary of over S$7000, which an independent day trader would probably not be able to demonstrate. (That is, even though he might be making more than that, it's not "fixed" from MOM's point of view.)

In the general case, though, I think you've found an interesting loophole! PEP holders need to keep MOM notified about where they work, but MOM presumably would not (could not?) prohibit them from working in a newly founded company since their permission is not required anymore.

So one more way to set up a company without an EntrePass:
- Apply for and receive PEP
- Found a company with a local resident director
- Get hired by your new company
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cedros699
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Post by cedros699 » Thu, 01 Oct 2009 3:25 pm

You have to prove that you earned 7000$ for how long ?
Is that's only several months, a day trader could create his own company in his country and his company could give him a fixed wage of 7000S$+ to apply to PEP ... , do you think this would work ?
Is it 7000$ before tax ?

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Post by AngMohForeignTalent » Thu, 01 Oct 2009 4:27 pm

cedros699 wrote:You have to prove that you earned 7000$ for how long ?
Is that's only several months, a day trader could create his own company in his country and his company could give him a fixed wage of 7000S$+ to apply to PEP ... , do you think this would work ?
Is it 7000$ before tax ?
Have a look here:
http://www.mom.gov.sg/publish/momportal ... _pass.html

Technically, only the last salary... but who knows how MOM may interpret this.

It's pre-tax

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