Problems with EPEC, shall I apply for PEP or wait for EP?

[ylgp]

Apologies if this is going to be a "this has already been covered" post, but I searched previous threads and most of them are over a year old, and I know that etiquette often says that re-opening old threads is not appreciated.

I am moving to Singapore in November this year. I am a British national, and have lived in Switzerland for the last two years. I am not moving to Singapore with my employer, but I have a few positive leads via my network that I am following job-wise. Although I don't expect to have something signed before I arrive, (it doesn't work like that in the industry I am in, so much) I hope to be in FT employment within the first few weeks, after some final interviews on the ground.

At this point, after researching all the options for visas and work permits, I am still a little unsure about what direction to go in. I cannot employ for an EP in advance, because I do not yet have a sponsor in Singapore. So I went to apply for the EPEC, and I qualify based on the requirements on the site, but as with a few other people on here I received the standard rejection email the other day.

It seems a bit futile to start questioning the rejection, especially after some advice given to other posters. My next option was to go for the PEP, which I could get before arriving, based on some conditions of my existing employment which all seem to be in order. As the PEP seems to be more recent, I could find less info online (in fact none of the people I spoke to at MOM even mentioned it) so was hoping some experts would be able to advise;

At this point, should I go ahead and apply for the PEP? Or do I wait to land in Singapore on a tourist Visa, and then apply for the EP when I close on a position?

So a subquestion (!) I suppose is....is it worth having the PEP instead of the EP anyway, given that it doesn't tie me to one employer? Or are there other problems associated with it?

Really appreciate any advice

Many thanks

George

[JR8]

Apologies if this is going to be a "this has already been covered" post, but I searched previous threads and most of them are over a year old...

I don't know when you searched but the below topic from yesterday might give you some ideas...
http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/sutra5 ... ht=#543757

[sundaymorningstaple]

You best bet would be to apply for the PEP before coming to Singapore. The EPEC is based on academic credentials and/or experience. The PEP is based on earning power exhibited prior to arrival in Singapore or after working on a P1 Visa in Singapore (criteria for both are the same). Therefore, if you can get the PEP before arrival, Then you can take up any job without fear as long as you can meet the annual salary criteria. This could well buy you time till you found the right position.

[ylgp]

@sundaymorningstaple

OK, thank you very much for the tip. Hopefully changing my address from Switzerland to Singapore between submitting the application, and it being decided on won't be a problem.

@jr8

I searched for "epec rejected" and the search results gave no options for organising by date because they're outed to Google. Thus the top two search results are what Google defines as "relevant" yet are both well before 2011. I tried a couple of others on the page, but by habit did not look at the third, which appears to be the one you are referring to.

I guess full text search on this bbs must put a lot of strain on servers.

[sundaymorningstaple]

try using the search engine just below the "Profile" link at the upper right side of the page.