About Employment Pass

[54nd1990]

Hi all, I am wondering how is the application of EP being processed.

Currently I have a company which offered me a job and we applied for EP about a month ago. However, it got rejected. My HR called MOM and asked about the rejection reason. It seems that it is because I written my salary wrongly (it is never my intention to overstate, I just misunderstood the question), in the form it was written "last drawn salary" i thought it was for one whole month. so i wrote my past monthly salary. MOM thought I was trying to commit a fraud. "last drawn salary" means whatever you have received after your work. I have misunderstood this.

So we submitted an appeal, together with clarification letter from my company, my personal bank statement for proof im not committing a fraud, and my last payslip to prove it is the monthly salary and "what you are asking" is salary which I got, not my monthly salary.

Today is the third week, and it got rejected again. I cannot understand the reason... MOM didn't give any reason this time. Then since my company has some branches (with different company name and reg number) they tried to apply an S-Pass for me again. It stated there "this candidate is not applicable for a working pass. please find another candidate".

I don't know, what did I do wrong? I am wondering is this why my appeal is rejected? I waited 3 weeks for this result. If I am not suitable, then why not just tell me on the first rejection... instead MOM asked about something else, I thought that was the real reason.

My job is managing my company accounts, since my company has so many ventures across south east asia, my job is to manage the accounts for these ventures in Indonesia from Singapore, since I am an Indonesian citizen, I can speak the language fluently. these ventures are divided by countries, such as thailand, taiwan, hongkong, singapore, malaysia, etc. so they are looking for each country's citizen who can speak the local language.

My payment met the requirement of EP and I have an EPEC, but I doubt that will help much.

I'm just wondering why am I being rejected for so many times.

[54nd1990]

noone can help to give an insight? that's sad...

[nutnut]

You gave incorrect information to the Singapore Government, good luck getting a reply never mind a pass! Really, do you think they will tolerate such blatant misinformation? If they hadn't checked then they would have used that information and it would have been fraudulent.

Good luck getting your ep, you'll need it!

[54nd1990]

You gave incorrect information to the Singapore Government, good luck getting a reply never mind a pass! Really, do you think they will tolerate such blatant misinformation? If they hadn't checked then they would have used that information and it would have been fraudulent.

Good luck getting your ep, you'll need it!

but it was just a simple misunderstanding... it is never my intention to cheat or commit a fraud... its only because this phrase "last drawn salary" i did not know what i means... it was either the monthly salary im receiving or the REAL amount of salary I have received when I quit the company...

And for that problem we have submitted everything... my old employment contract, my letter of clarification, my bank statement (which i paid 20 dollars for it, because of search and reprint), my old letter of declaration which has company stamp and signature, and my company has explained to MOM that it was just a simple, simple misunderstanding... How can it lead to something so big.

I mean, don't they know what is pro-rated... if I wrote my monthly salary where it should have been the REAL received salary, they should have known that it was pro-rated right... I left the company before the end of the month, so of course it was pro-rated... They should have been able to count right? they have the payslip also when I submitted the application.. It was stated there the breakdown of the last salary. Why did they have to be so suspicious and have a negative thinking that I am trying to commit a fraud... I mean, what's in it for me, even if I commit a fraud... I gain nothing! I need it to be approved, what's the point trying to commit a fraud... I totally understand the situation where I need them, not they need me.. If I already know the situation is like that, and I still have the intention to cheat, I must be out of my mind...

[nutnut]

I am sure you tell the truth when you say it's a mistake. However, look at it from this perspective.

If you knew this would happen if you were not careful of how you fill up the form, would you have taken time and been more careful?

I think you'd have to agree, the answer would be yes, therefore, you should have been more careful in the first place.

Have you also thought, MOM may not want to give you an EP for some other reasons also? It could be the case, the initial one was rejected for false information (it was false information, mistake or not) and the latter ones may be for the fact they don't actually feel they need you here, OR, they don't want the employer to employ a foreigner. Since it's a regional role, maybe you can work from Malaysia or Indonesia?

As I said, if you have been rejected 3 times, I think it's time to give up.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I have to agree with nutnut somewhat. MOM will reject for the very first item that fails. Generally they will not, due to the flood of applications that they receive daily, go any further into the application one they hit the 1st Red Flag. No need to waste any more precious time. Stamped Rejected.

Fair enough, you send appeal/new application with documentation to support error. Now they get pass this and continue on in the application. Something else pops up a red flag. Maybe it is the academic qualifications that no longer meets the newly revised criteria for that pass or your nationality.

It would appear that you do not meet the academic qualifications to get an EP based on what you have written thus far. The fact that you speak Bahasa is of no consequence if you cannot meet the other criteria.

A Malaysian with qualifications can do the job just about as easy as long as they are careful how they order Oxtail Soup. Sure, there are some written differences but the spoken language is virtually the same, like Mandarin in Singapore versus Mandarin in Beijing. There is Traditional Characters and Simplified Characters.

I'd say you are just about out of luck.

[54nd1990]

thanks nutnut and sms,

hmm but its weird if this is about my education, i have friend A and friend B who goes to the same university as me, took the same courses, and the same nationalities as me.

Both of them are already working right now, granted pass by MOM, with not a rejection even once.

Then what's the problem? they even graduated later than me, because they failed so many subjects.

[sundaymorningstaple]

thanks nutnut and sms,

hmm but its weird if this is about my education, i have friend A and friend B who goes to the same university as me, took the same courses, and the same nationalities as me.

Both of them are already working right now, granted pass by MOM, with not a rejection even once.

Then what's the problem? they even graduated later than me, because they failed so many subjects.

It's very had to say. Most of us are shoot from the hip anymore as the changes within MOM are occurring almost weekly if not daily. Your friends may well have been approved before they changed. We just don't know. About the only question we haven't asked is your ethnicity. If you are Indonesian and they (your friends) are Indonesian Chinese that might be the reason. One thing you must remember, getting a work pass here is not a right even if you qualify. A lot more goes into the selection process. Are your friends working for the same company?

[54nd1990]

thanks nutnut and sms,

hmm but its weird if this is about my education, i have friend A and friend B who goes to the same university as me, took the same courses, and the same nationalities as me.

Both of them are already working right now, granted pass by MOM, with not a rejection even once.

Then what's the problem? they even graduated later than me, because they failed so many subjects.

It's very had to say. Most of us are shoot from the hip anymore as the changes within MOM are occurring almost weekly if not daily. Your friends may well have been approved before they changed. We just don't know. About the only question we haven't asked is your ethnicity. If you are Indonesian and they (your friends) are Indonesian Chinese that might be the reason. One thing you must remember, getting a work pass here is not a right even if you qualify. A lot more goes into the selection process. Are your friends working for the same company?

Hi SMS, thanks for your reply.

Well to be honest, I'm an Indonesian Chinese, same goes for them too. And its not the case anymore, as I have just received news from my HR yesterday.

It's basically a long story... I will try to keep it short though.

So about a year ago, I have already worked in Singapore for about almost a month. I was interviewed by my previous employer, he told me about the job scope, everything, bla bla bla, and to be honest, I am quite interested. But turns out its not as sweet as what they said. It is a super chaotic work, no wonder why with that kind of salary the company is still having hard time to find a candidate. And by the way, my employment pass was already approved when I applied for that job, that's why i can work there.

So after nearing to one month, I just cannot take it anymore and since my dad is bed-ridden in hospital, I just cannot think straight. So I was thinking it is better to quit rather than continue working here but I cannot give my best effort. I have tried to give my best effort, but it's just the job is not what I really can do or what I imagined it to be. You know, for jobs, you cannot know how well you can adapt unless you try it right? And so, i gathered my courage and told my boss I want to withdraw myself. He totally understood me, He shook my hand and he told me it is such a loss since he thinks I am a good candidate, it is just I have alot in mind with my father suddenly collapsed and needed a surgery. So, he told me that I should write a resignation letter so that it doesn't look like I was the one who was fired by the company, but instead, it is me who withdrawn from the company, so that I do not have any bad record in MOM. he said that CLEARLY. and so, i did it, i created a withdrawal letter, it was signed, and my withdrawal process going smoothly.

After I settled my dad's situation in Indonesia, I came back to Singapore to find more work, since I promised my dad that I can work in Singapore and will repay him whatever he has spent on me for my studies. So i found this job (my current job), I was trained for about a week (with no salary at all, it was just only a lesson) to understand the job scope, and to be honest I really liked the job. THIS is what I am looking for. So the company is happy to have me, and I matched with all their requirements. So they hired me and applied for me an employment pass. it was rejected at first (because of salary issue as mentioned in first post), but then, after 3 weeks appeal, it was rejected again. My company tried to apply s-pass for me, and it was rejected too, with the reason "this candidate is not applicable for a working pass, please find other candidate".

And so, about 2 days ago, my HR finally got an answer from MOM. It was due to the fact that I was "blocked" by MOM, a.k.a blacklisted. I was like, WHAT?????????? What the hell is going on? So my HR asked more about it, MOM said that my previous company wrote some kind of bad remark about me, and they decided to blacklist me. DA...FUQ? So my HR tried to ask what kind of bad remarks, but MOM cannot tell us. I can understand that. MOM advised us to ask the previous HR, but he has the right not to tell us also. So my HR asked me, "tell me honestly, what kind of dispute you have with your former company?" I have already told her for the zillionth times, nothing happened!!! why should I hide something? I want the pass! if there is really something bad I did and it hinders me to get the pass, obviously I will tell! anyone who is not stupid obviously will do that right?

So the HR asked me to provide the previous HR number. Be my guest! you keep asking me what happened, and you know what? I also want to know! I thought the quitting process was as smooth as silk! nothing happened between us, so why did they write such bad remark for me? its not fair!

I dont know whether my HR has called the previous HR or not, but the last time she called she said he (previous HR) is busy, so might try again later. And I'm doing the best I can on my end, too. I do not know who else to approach. Since my previous employer and I are quite close, I asked for his help. I told them the whole story, even the part where they wanted me to write resignation letter. He was also shocked, he said "What, really? I never heard of that! I am the one who employed you, and I did not write any bad remarks about you! Let me ask the HR tomorrow"

It is really unfair.... Hais... I kind of lost hope already, 90% lost hope and 10% still hopeful that my previous boss will tell me good news tomorrow. I genuinely hope they can settle this with MOM. But I know, its a very slim chance.

But again, thanks SMS for the info. If you are in my shoes, what can you do? Can you advise me anything? It's really eating me up inside, being framed like that. I thought the resignation is going as per normal, they even advised me how to keep good record in MOM, why must they write a bad remark about me?

Also, I have another story to compare. One of my friend, he worked in Australia for about a year. before he was fired, he has some kind of dispute with his former boss (he is one arrogant douche, but clever guy so its kind of understandable if sometimes he acts like a douche) and his former boss fired him. He got bad remark from MOM Australia (well i dont know the real name of MOM in Aussie) and he flew to Singapore to find a job, but couldnt get his past approved because MOM can see he is now rejected for working pass across Australia, because of his dispute with the former boss. But this is he has REAL case of dispute with the former boss, and the former boss even fired him on the spot.

But why me? what did I do wrong? my previous company even wanted me to still work there, but they totally understand that I have personal situations which I cannot just ignore. it was a peaceful resignation! no shouting, no nothing. we shook hand, we waved each other goodbye, and my employer told me if there is anything he can do, he will help me to the best of his ability. And now i really need him to give me a good news. I do not want to carry a dirty slate for something I didn't do. If indeed I did, at least I want to know WHAT IS IT, they can't just go on write something bad where I have done nothing to offend them! even the former boss don't even know anything about this!

[sundaymorningstaple]

It's basically a long story... I will try to keep it short though.

And so, i gathered my courage and told my boss I want to withdraw myself. He totally understood me, He shook my hand and he told me it is such a loss since he thinks I am a good candidate, it is just I have alot in mind with my father suddenly collapsed and needed a surgery. So, he told me that I should write a resignation letter so that it doesn't look like I was the one who was fired by the company, but instead, it is me who withdrawn from the company, so that I do not have any bad record in MOM. he said that CLEARLY. and so, i did it, i created a withdrawal letter, it was signed, and my withdrawal process going smoothly.

First of all, let me say, your English is pretty good. But the problem I'm having at the moment, comes from the above paragraph. It might be purely a function of not being a native English speaker, or it might mean something else more basic......

So, he told me that I should write a resignation letter so that it doesn't look like I was the one who was fired by the company,

I don't want this to be confrontational and I do understand you are upset, but something need clarification in your story.....

Letter of Resignation: This is normally what most employers do when "firing" an employee so that the employee doesn't have a termination on his CV employment history. But this statement is never "advised" by the employer for a person who has voluntarily resigned from the company as it's not necessary. So, to me, your mentioning it, tells me that something is amiss in your telling of the facts. Did you quit without notice? Did you give any notice at all? Did you, in fact, get terminated by the employer? Something just doesn't sit quite right. Help me out here, cause at the moment, I see an employee who was terminated and blacklisted by the employer, not as a person who voluntarily left his job.......

sms

[beppi]

From MoM's point of view, you had a chance to live and work in Singapore before, but you rejected it after a month. They don't like job-hoppers and opportunists who change their mind when private circumstances change. Whether you get a second chance is entirely up to their discretion and good-will.

[Broaner]

Hi guys,

i have my S pass approved but the manager said it's still on process and it have been 1 month since the application and 6 weeks since the interview.
What should i do? i do not want to offend the manager. i am not sure now if the company wants to hire me.

[sundaymorningstaple]

How do you know it has been approved? If you have checked online and the HR manager is giving you the runaround, think seriously if you really want to join that company.

[Broaner]

Thank you for your reply Sms.

I have checked online last week, it has been approved since then. I do not know what to to. The manager keep saying that the pass is still in process. I have been waiting for 6 weeks.

Can i still apply other jobs? What should i do? What can I ask the manager?

By the way, can i check my pass status? Will the Manager be pissed is I tell him that I checked the pass?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Have you checked online? Because if you haven't, then your boss will have second thoughts about somebody who would lie to him. Be absolutely sure that your visa is approved and not pending.