English Guy - PEP Questions - Confused!

[Kohsamed]

Hi All, apologies for asking fairly basic questions, it's just that having spent a fair amount of time reading the internet I am still a bit confused.

I am a mid/late 20s English guy currently in asset management (hedge fund). I earn approx 130k gbp, of which half is salary. 1st Class degree from top 15 UK uni..

Can I apply for a PEP (P1) with no job in Singapore? Is this a bit of a wildcard given my basic salary is only $11k sing?

My gf is South Korean, living in UK with visa, currently earning only 16k gbp or so...does she basically have no chance of getting a PEP (or any other visa) for Singapore? will i have to marry her?

Apologies for so many questions, felt like i needed to ask the experts to get things clear. Any help appreciated!

[zzm9980]

Can I apply for a PEP (P1) with no job in Singapore?

Yes

Is this a bit of a wildcard given my basic salary is only $11k sing?

No, you're well over the S$8k/month number. Shouldn't be a problem.

My gf is South Korean, living in UK with visa, currently earning only 16k gbp or so...does she basically have no chance of getting a PEP (or any other visa) for Singapore? will i have to marry her?

Yeah, pretty much you'll have to marry her so she can get a Dependent's pass. If you fit the definition of a legal common law marriage in the UK, you can probably pull that off too. You just need a declaration and such from the British Embassy. Plenty of previous posts about it.

However, if you're worried about a divorce as reason to not get married, she could most likely use the same declaration to go after whatever percentage of your assets she'd be entitled to. So you might as well just get married if you really want to bring more sand to the beach.

[Kohsamed]

Thanks much, appreciated.

if you really want to bring more sand to the beach.

hehe good point. bringing a new wife to Singapore of all places sounds like a recipe for disaster

I will see if there is any chance of her getting a job, and then visa, before arriving in Singapore to live. This seems like the only 'non marriage' option, and would appear pretty unlikely from the outset based on what I have read, especially in her likely income bracket

One other thing, do you know if it is possible to add a dependant to a PE1 visa after it has been originally issues? thanks again

[carteki]

You can get your GF a Long Term Visit Pass. This means that she can stay in Singapore but not work. If she finds work she will need to get an employment pass in her own right. Still confused as to why the non-marriage option seems the flavour of the month. If you're co-habiting in the UK then she already is entitled to 1/2 your assets.

[ecureilx]

However, if you're worried about a divorce as reason to not get married, she could most likely use the same declaration to go after whatever percentage of your assets she'd be entitled to. So you might as well just get married if you really want to bring more sand to the beach.

That left me in stitches

[zzm9980]

One other thing, do you know if it is possible to add a dependant to a PE1 visa after it has been originally issues? thanks again

Yes, you can add dependents later to either a PEP or EP P1. (Not sure which of the two you typo'd with 'PE1').

[zzm9980]

You can get your GF a Long Term Visit Pass.

How does this work? I thought that in most cases people got declarations of common-law marriage for that? Is there another common way to get this to work? The only exception I can recall was the lesbian couple from NYC. In that case though, one of the women was a Singaporean, and her company lawyer wrote a letter to MOM and somehow got them to approve.

http://www.mom.gov.sg/foreign-manpower/ ... fault.aspx

[zzm9980]

However, if you're worried about a divorce as reason to not get married, she could most likely use the same declaration to go after whatever percentage of your assets she'd be entitled to. So you might as well just get married if you really want to bring more sand to the beach.

That left me in stitches

Well, it's true. Sorry to be blunt, but if someone isn't in a committed relationship, happens to be a caucasian male and/or makes a decent living, and happens to like girls from Asia, well, the writing is on the wall.

[sundaymorningstaple]

In thirty years here, I've seen it happen more times that I care to remember.

[Kohsamed]

Cheers guys for the info, and for the extra worry of talking my long term (slightly old) 'sand' to the 'beach'...I am not strong willed!

Interested to hear about getting a GF on a long term visit pass, the MOM website says common law partners only, which i assumed was marriage.

I will go for the PEP I guess, seems like I have a chance. Does anyone know if the PEP expires after 6 months even if you haven't entered Singapore yet? Can I not get the PEP and then turn up a year later? Their website isn't very clear on this.

[zzm9980]

Does anyone know if the PEP expires after 6 months even if you haven't
entered Singapore yet? Can I not get the PEP and then turn up a year later? Their website isn't very clear on this.

The PEP is issued in person in Singapore, so you have six months from when it is issued to you in person. What you do get upon approval is an 'IPA' (in principle approval letter) which is what you present to immigration upon landing. That is also only valid for six months:
http://ifaq.mom.gov.sg/CustomerPages/Th ... sID=589384

So apply, get approved, show up within six months. Once you have your card, six months from then to find a job.

[zzm9980]

Cheers guys for the info, and for the extra worry of talking my long term (slightly old) 'sand' to the 'beach'...I am not strong willed!

and I was mostly talking in jest, but like SMS confirmed, it sometimes goes poorly for those who drag their girlfriends/boyfriends along. For those not yet ready for a long term commitment, the stress of a major move is quite traumatic. Especially for the tag-along; the primary person is usually convinced of the move and has some work prospects. The tag-along is there soley on their conviction in the relationship

[Kohsamed]

Thanks alot mate, appreciate taking the time to reply. Feeling fairly confident about the whole thing now, very different from when I saw that EPEC had finished!