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by taciturn » Tue, 13 Sep 2011 11:39 am
Hi Liezl and Stu.
I am responding to both of you at the same time as I have been living in Singapore for almost 1 year and currently trying to find a job. (My boyfriend is working here). I am in my 30's, have a BSc degree, postgrad, and loads work experience and still battling to find a job. My advise to Stu: Do your masters first as the job market is tough here and masters and Phd (or an MBA) seems the qualification requirement on getting a foot in the door for most jobs. You basically need to be an expert in your field and have at least 5 years work experience for consideration.
For Liezl: If you are serious about your boyfriend, my advise to you would be to get married before his application is submitted. Hence, when your boyfriends company applies for his EP, they can submit that you are his dependent and this qualifies you for a dependents pass. With a dependent pass you are able to work legally with just a LOC (letter of content) from the government. This a much easier process.
(Your boyfriends company must submit documentation for you... otherwise you will be arriving on the usual 30 day tourist visa (No work allowed), and once his application is processed then its not a simple case of 'just adding you'). If you want to be 'girlfriend' then you will need some type of 'legal paper' stating that you are his 'cohabitant'- maybe worthwhile speaking to your attorney to get such a paper.
Girlfriend status gets you 'a long term visit pass'- which means if you want to work, you will need to get your own employment pass. (they will cancel your long term visit pass once you get a job offer in order to procees this application). (Finding a job is not as simple as it sounds). Most jobs for which expats are eligable require a fair amount of experience (at least 5 years). Re degrees: It appears MOM does not take long distance degrees seriously, and hence a fulltime degree from a recognised university is an advantage. Go onto MOM (Sing government)website where you can do a free online test to see if you qualify for a S pass, employment pass etc, takes a few minutes and gives an instant result.
There are 2 posts on the web worth reading: Google 'Interview with Celeste V' as well as 'rejection of EP/PEP/PR' (latter on this site, although its an old posting) for some info.
Singapore is a fantastic country and a great experience, and if your boyfriend has a good job offer (bear in mind Singapore is expensive compared to SA), my advise to you if dont want to get married yet, to take life as it comes, not get disheartened if you battle to find work and enjoy the asian region and culture for a year, i.e take it from there.
More advise: If boyfriend is the type of SA man whose left foot needs to be attached to his car, and needs his own vehicle... then check out car prices in Singapore as there's a very expensive piece of paper called a 'COE' in Singapore. Check out apartment rental prices (maybe 3x SA prices). (Busses and Taxi's are relatively cheap so that wont add much to your cost of living), but expect your food bill to be double that of SA. Entertainment and restaurants possibly double or 3 times SA price expectations, although on the flip side you can eat in the food courts cheaply. Oh... If you like alchohol, then you may be drinking considerably less as it does not come cheap so you will either end up healthier... or considerably poorer if you like to follow the rugby on a Saturday with a few bottles of wine and a few dozen beers.
got to finish the masters. 