Moving to SG without a degree/diploma

[Kris24]

Hello, I'm currently residing in the US.. My fiancée is a SG citizen.. Our original plan was for her to move here with me, but due to custody issues with her young child that is not possible at this time.. So the only other option I have to marry this woman is to move there and live with her..
But the more I read in these forums, the more disheartened I become.. It appears in order for me to do just that, I either need to be a degree holder or already established with a major corporation, which I am neither. And of course I can not survive there without a job..
I don't believe my employment history will be of much use since I mainly work in industrial type jobs other than my 18 year military career.. And it seems that SG really only caters to business office work force.. And I have slight experience in that type of working class..

Is there any advice I could get or possible options I might be overlooking that could help me out?

[Mad Scientist]

Hello, I'm currently residing in the US.. My fiancée is a SG citizen.. Our original plan was for her to move here with me, but due to custody issues with her young child that is not possible at this time.. So the only other option I have to marry this woman is to move there and live with her..
But the more I read in these forums, the more disheartened I become.. It appears in order for me to do just that, I either need to be a degree holder or already established with a major corporation, which I am neither. And of course I can not survive there without a job..
I don't believe my employment history will be of much use since I mainly work in industrial type jobs other than my 18 year military career.. And it seems that SG really only caters to business office work force.. And I have slight experience in that type of working class..

Is there any advice I could get or possible options I might be overlooking that could help me out?

I am an ex-military man too, there are options here but I think at this moment this is what is best for you

Get married in US and have it ROM (Registrar of Marriage) in SG.
Make sure you have proof of living together at least a year or two. This proof can be of joint bank account etc. Gather all those docs and visit ICA website at www.ica.gov.sg and apply for LTSVP for yourself and your step child. Marriage of convenience is quite rampant here and ICA takes a very stern look on this.Your gf need to proof custody of her so that she can apply for her child SG citizenship at the same website under application for dual citizenship of minor of parent of SG descent.
She needs to proof she is able to support you with a min. salary of $2.5K
Get your foot in the door first then look for job. Once you found one here convert your LTSVP to EP go to www.mom.gov.sg.
TO get PR under Family Ties remove all these hurdles BUT at this moment it will be wishing for a star as the locals are voicing their anger during the last GE and the gahmen has listened.
Good Luck

[Kris24]

OK.. My fiancée and her child are both SG citizens living in SG right now.. She has joint custody.. Not sure that a native born American getting married to a Singaporean would really be a marriage of convenience.. I could see it if I was coming from a so called 3rd world country..

So if I understand you correctly, even if I move there and I'm able to get a work pass, I still need to prove that her and I have lived together for at least 2 years before we can get married??

[Mad Scientist]

OK.. My fiancée and her child are both SG citizens living in SG right now.. She has joint custody.. Not sure that a native born American getting married to a Singaporean would really be a marriage of convenience.. I could see it if I was coming from a so called 3rd world country..

So if I understand you correctly, even if I move there and I'm able to get a work pass, I still need to prove that her and I have lived together for at least 2 years before we can get married??

Nope , you misunderstood me

OK, here I go again

MOM is in charge of employment passes and the works ie EP , WP, EPEC , S , Q

ICA is for immigration only PR , LTSVP, SVP, LPR, Citizenship

Getting married is not an issue as all you need to do is come to SG and get ROM here. You have to stay at least 15 days in order to register your marriage. Some forumers said there is no need for that period of stay. Either way, get it register here. As you are still on Social Visit Pass (SVP) , you need to go to ICA or on line to apply for LTSVP. Your wife will be your sponsor and she needs to proof her income is more than $2.5K to support you.
Sometimes ICA officers would want to see that you have been living together prior to that. Sometimes they don't. So prepare as much as proof to support your application. Hence forewarn is forearm
You can apply for PR under family ties if you have been living in SG for more than 6 months but it is abit far fetch at this point of time. More like 2 years down the road

Once you have LTSVP then hunt for a job, apply thru MOM an EP then convert LTSVP to EP. You can only hold One pass at a time in SG

These are all guidelines that you can surf in the ICA, MOM website, I only make it more simpler to cut the chase

Is this more clearer to you ?

[sundaymorningstaple]

That about sums it up.

I had a similar case around 3 years ago and the scenario was very similar, the girl, a Singaporean with baby, married an American citizen without a degree or diploma. We tried every thing you could imagine trying to find the guy a job (he was here on a SVP as he wasn't able to get a LTVP as the girl was at the time, pregnant, so could not be the sponsor (no income). We used all of our contacts (my boss as well), MP letters and appeals to MOM/ICA, as we were willing to give him a job (even though the pay sucked) but try as we might, he was out of luck. Eventually she left with him back to the US where he is was working in the construction industry as a roofer before. Frankly, he really wasn't capable of doing much better. But try we did.

[Kris24]

Firstly, I appreciate the advices & clarification on certain matters.
Just for the info, my fiancée's salary is lower than 2.5k a month. What if we put her and her kid out of the equation for a moment, I guess what I wanted to ask is if there's any possible way in which even without qualification could I get an S pass? Or maybe a LTVP so tt I could find a job in SG?

[sundaymorningstaple]

If you are not looking at a salary of at least 8K/mo minimum, you can pretty much forget it. I'm not going to say it's impossible, but it highly improbable.

[Kris24]

It's a shame to know I can't really live, work, & get married in SG unless I'm making some ungodly amount of money.. Thank you anyway for the info.. I guess I can just hope her child's father will eventually give up custody so she can move here..

[ausinsg]

Sorry to hear about your situation.

This is a total long shot, but try contacting some of the for-profit community colleges in the US to see if they would give you credit for some of the military certifications and training you have done. This can be given as credit towards an associates degree or a bachelor's degree.

I know it is not much, but in a country where paper is valued maybe if you can get credit for an associate degree, then take a few subjects from your state college towards a bachelor's degree, you could end up with a piece of paper whilst you are trying to sort this all out.

Try Charter Oak State College or Excelsior College. they seem to be two of the most liberal with credits.

Not ideal but it is one possibility.

oh, are you eligible for funding from the military to pay for the cost of studying? Perhaps you could come here as a student? You can study full time, do some part time work to help out your wife, but best of all it would put you in the country and allow you to get the piece of paper you'd need to stay here for good.

Good luck.

[Kris24]

That's not a bad idea Ausinsg.. And yes, the military was supposed to pay for my college in full, but when I enrolled about 2 years ago, I was denied my college fund without reason.. This was waiverable, but my unit would not assist me in getting it wavered.. Needless to say I was rather angry about it having given 18 years of my life to them with nothing to show for it, I just quit going.. Funny thing is they haven't discharged me or at least I have not received my discharged papers yet.. lol

Anyway, my fiancée was telling me that some companies there are more lenient when it comes to Americans, because I am from a major country.. But the only drawback is the company would need to explain why they would need to hire a foreigner over a Singapore citizen..
With that in mind, I do have a few years of sales experience in a few different companies here. One being a Fortune 500 company.. So my hope would be that a company there would need a sales representative with an extremely strong command of the English language for possible overseas clients..
I know that too is a long shot, but it's still a shot..

[Mad Scientist]

It's a shame to know I can't really live, work, & get married in SG unless I'm making some ungodly amount of money.. Thank you anyway for the info.. I guess I can just hope her child's father will eventually give up custody so she can move here..

Yes , paper qualification is a big deal here. It is sad but true. S pass is the lowest that allows FT to marry local or PR. If you go below than that which is WP, basically you have to jump over hoops to get married yet alone lives here. If you have the juice, consider setting up a Private Limited with your fiancee and she can employ you under the private limited. Go to www.acra.gov.sg. I am not sure what business you can do but this is one route you can consider

ms

[Kris24]

LOL.. That's one thing I like about America.. I can get hired for the same job right along with someone that has a degree.. We both still have to be trained by the company to do the job the according to their SOP.. The only difference is, the person with the degree may start out at a slightly higher rate, but I didn't have to spend all that time and money for that little piece of paper that says I already know how to do the job that I'm getting trained for..
Then again, there is a reason the US is nicknamed the land of opportunity..

All the information and help provided in here is great.. Thank you all so much for your time and effort in addressing my questions.. As it draws closer to the time I'm ready to make my move, I'm sure I will be asking more questions..

[oezcan kaplan]

May i ask you something personel?

my officemate is just about to obtain a bachelor degree (online study) from University of Berkley America.

what is the admissibility of this degree at Singaporean companies/MOM...etc?

Thank you

That about sums it up.

I had a similar case around 3 years ago and the scenario was very similar, the girl, a Singaporean with baby, married an American citizen without a degree or diploma. We tried every thing you could imagine trying to find the guy a job (he was here on a SVP as he wasn't able to get a LTVP as the girl was at the time, pregnant, so could not be the sponsor (no income). We used all of our contacts (my boss as well), MP letters and appeals to MOM/ICA, as we were willing to give him a job (even though the pay sucked) but try as we might, he was out of luck. Eventually she left with him back to the US where he is was working in the construction industry as a roofer before. Frankly, he really wasn't capable of doing much better. But try we did.

[sundaymorningstaple]

As far as MOM is concerned, go to the MOM site and see if you will qualify using the EPEC guidelines. If you do, no problem, if you don't, then it will depend on the employer, your experience and anything you are bringing to the table. If it's a twinning programme with a local university/school, again, it depends. Currently, even having a degree (in situ degree) isn't a guarantee any more. Online/correspondence are not looked at favourably, but I suppose they are better than nothing at all. But in Singapore, they trend toward to in situ degrees.

[oezcan kaplan]

Hello

So,there are two ways as ;

1.MOM
2.Employer

As fas i realize in case of non-affirmative approach by MOM,there will be the employer the factor who will insist the MOM for this candidate for the EP admission!

I suppose that the better way is to have initialy contact to a employer,instead of MOM!

As far as MOM is concerned, go to the MOM site and see if you will qualify using the EPEC guidelines. If you do, no problem, if you don't, then it will depend on the employer, your experience and anything you are bringing to the table. If it's a twinning programme with a local university/school, again, it depends. Currently, even having a degree (in situ degree) isn't a guarantee any more. Online/correspondence are not looked at favourably, but I suppose they are better than nothing at all. But in Singapore, they trend toward to in situ degrees.