This is my first post in this forum. It doesn't mean that it's my first time entering Singapore expat forum. Yep, I was an unlucky guy who got his EP application rejected multiple times, and the posts from this forum gave me a lot of useful information and also hope.
My EP has just got approved this afternoon. I am really happy and I want to share information about my case. I saw a lot of frustrated people here, and hope that my information may help. I will try to provide just the facts, and avoid personal opinion.
1. Degree: Bachelor of Engineering in Wed, 2010 - Honour Program in Computer Science.
Ho Chi Minh city University of Technology - Vietnam.
2. Experience before going to Singapore: 1 year 5 months in IT industry (30 hours/week then fulltime).
3. In July 2010, I applied to Research Assistant position in School of Computing , National University of Singapore (standard stipend - 3100 SGD/month). The EP application was rejected.
For comparison, one of my classmate got that position in Jan 2010, when he didn't even have the Degree. His EP was approved without problem.
NUS then applied S Pass for me - Approved after 2,3 days.
4. My work in NUS will end at 31 Dec 2010. I got an offer for another job outside. It's a start-up company (~10 people, with lots of foreigners), salary ~ the old one.
5. The new company applied EP for me at 30 Nov 2010. Rejected after 5 mins. I know because the CEO sent SMS to me after submission. I checked from the time status is nothing -> PENDING -> REJECTED. 5 mins.
6. At 1 Dec 2010, an online appication is submitted again. And rejected again.
7. The CEO was really keen on me. He told me to provide supporing documents: offer letter of NUS job, my old job, the newest pay slip from NUS, some recommendation letter for the job at NUS, the CV. He also wrote an appeal letter saying that he really needs me for the position.
8. My skills set and experience really well-fit the position. I participated on a national research project on the field that company focuses. I also have strong programming skill and ability in building systems.
9. FYI, one of my friend in Vietnam also applied to that company, and his EP got approved right before my EP application was submitted. His university is not in list of known university of MoM (mine is).
10. After 1 week of appeal, the CEO called MoM. The officer said that they will "get back at mid of next week", because they were handling lots of applications. The CEO also asked if it was necessary to go to MoM and meet in person, but the officer said no need because they were flooded.
11. After 2 weeks, this afternoon (18 Dec 2010), the status changes from REJECTED -> APPROVED.
I'm really happy. So in total I got my EP rejected 3 times, and went through appealing process. Now it got approved. I want to say thank you to all of you in the forum, especially SMS and Mad Scientist (sorry if I forgot someone). Hope that my information helps, to the one who is seeking for information about EP rejection
.Cheers and wish you best luck,
