Employment Pass not granted

[zonemelt]

Hi Folks

I'm a PhD Chemist and have just been offered a job in a MNC in pharmaceuticals in Singapore with a P1-qualifying salary. My BSc and PhD are from a recognised university and I'm assured that my technical and softskills are not easily found locally.

The company recently applied for my EP and it was rejected. The reason appears to be that I have been denied entry to the US once before, although I successfully obtained a visa and travelled there the following week.

Does anyone have an idea how likely an appeal will result in a successful granting of EP?

What supporting documentation is best to present in the appeal?

Some background:

I had to tick the box "have you ever been refused entry or deported from a country".

I was travelling to the US for 3 months in 2007 for a business trip under the visa waiver programme, and my trip was fully compliant with that programme. In US immigration in the departure Airport they questioned the purpose of my trip, particularly because it was for the full length that the Visa Waiver Programme alllows for. It was a longer than typical trip, and upon questioning by immigration I did not possess supporting documentation (e.g. a letter from my company) stating the purpose of the trip or how it was being financed.

So it was deemed that I should not travel that day, but instead present at the US embassy at home for a business visa and show some supporting documentation, and then a visa would be granted. I applied and provided a letter which gave the relevant information, and the visa was approved without a problem. I was then able to travel and encountered no issues in US immigration.

Any ideas on how to minimise the impact of this on my Singapore career plans would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

[sundaymorningstaple]

Take all relevant data referring to said rejection and subsequent admission and file an appeal. The relevant documents should be submitted via iSubmit (on the MOM site) or, better yet, request an audience with an MOM officer along with your prospective employer's MD or HR Director so as to clear up the matter. I believe that you will have no problem whatsoever. It's just that the application with the ticked box raised a flag and it was summarily rejected. This one, I believe, is easily remedied by a visit to MOM as noted.

sms

[zonemelt]

Thanks!

Have managed to find one other similar thread, which turned out positively, so fingers crossed http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic ... t=rejected

[zonemelt]

Hi folks,

Submitted an appeal with a copy of my US business visa and a letter from my old company. The new company also made the case for me.

I made one final contact with the hiring agent before CNY to check the status of my appeal, and the EP has been approved, so I'm delighted with that!

See you on the flip side!

[sundaymorningstaple]

[zonemelt]

So a long term update on this one - Got the EP renewal rejected last week

Have been working here now for almost 2 years (since beg march 2011) and applied for EP renewal (through my HR)

Included updated salary and the supporting info that was with the previous application and the additional info which supported the successful appeal

MOM have this time rejected the renewal, saying in the letter provided to my HR that I am "not eligible to apply for a work permit"

Seems like a summary rejection leaving the appeal officer to take a closer look, definitely unnerving

So, yet again in an EP appeal .... Is there a better way to be submitting these renewals?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Nope, and the bad news is, with the new pogrom against foreign PMETs you might find yourself out of luck. Good luck with the appeal. We have been getting lots of rejections based on "you no longer qualify" as the criteria has been tightened up considerably they have added additional codicils as well so as to further tighten the approval rate. It sounds like you were on a S pass, am I correct?