EP cancellation & Letter of consent

[kaps]

Hi,

My situation goes like this:

I am on DP here. I got an offer from company A, they applied for my EP, got the In principal approval too but haven't collected the EP card yet. Now before the joining date with company A, i have another offer with company B which is much better. So i rejected company A's offer and told them i wont be joining. Now company A is threatening me that they will not cancel my EP, which will hinder in approval of EP from other companies. What are my options here?

Also read about Letter of Consent for DP holders, is that route still open for me to work with company B as i already have EP approval from company A? This is in case company A doesn't cancel my EP.

Thanks
Kaps

[sundaymorningstaple]

Just tell MOM they will not cancel their EP applications and you have another company who has made you a better offer. Or don't bother to pick it up and it will expire after a period of time (not ideal).

However, remember one thing.......

Getting an EP is a two part approval process. You have to be vetted and found okay (this one has been done already) and the company applying has to show reason to MOM WHY they need to hire a foreigner to do a job a local might easily be able to do. Will the new company be able to do this? I don't know and neither do you. Of course applying for a Letter of Consent is another option so you might go that route.

I, on the other hand, am wary of potential employees that accept positions and go through the motions and then back out at the last moment. I might still hire them but during slowdowns, they are the first to go as I am already aware that their word is no good and they will jump ship at any time. They soon get a reputation here that's hard to overcome.

Oh, you say, how are they to know? All an employer has to do is put your FIN number into MOM's database and it will tell them how many applications have been made and there current status. (Will not tell the employer who the other employers are though).

[kaps]

Thanks for the reply, that was fast . Will talk to MOM

About jumping ships, to share the details.

My interview process with company B was going on for last 2 months (had 6 interview rounds), which started from my home country itself. Company A offered me the job in 1 day interviewing process only after landing here on DP in 2 weeks time. Also my preference was cmpny B always, but they took their own time offering the letter, so i had to take cmpny A's offer to play safe. Didnt want to be in a situation where i had none as cmpny A was pushing me to sign the offer pronto. Hope this clarifies my dilemma of taking up cmpny A's offer at first place, although i tried my best to avoid such a situation & play it as cleanly as possible.

[kaps]

Hi SMS,

1 more query, can employer B apply for my EP in the above situation i.e when IPA for employer A is still valid? Coz both employer B & MOM official have told it can be done. But my spouse who runs his own startup tried applying (not actually applying but checking) through his EPOL a/c, we were unable to file as it shows error msg saying another application with this FIN is in process. So sort of confused here, would appreciate guidance.

Thanks
Kaps

[sundaymorningstaple]

Due to the nature of online systems this often is a problem. I would suggest, even though it may take longer to process, if your new potential employer cannot get the application in, and the old potential employer won't cancel, then have them make a manual submission at MOM. That way they can override the system. MOM says you can make as many applications, but like most government agencies, they think their computer systems are infallible. Unfortunately, that has been proven time and time again, that that just isn't so...