S-Pass Rejected - Any Success Stories of re-appealing?

[240volt]

Hi there guys! First post here, always been a lurker/reader for a long time, finally decided to join in after reading many many other posts that is related to my question

I kinda have a situation at the moment, a little bit about myself:

28 years old male, chinese indonesian, resided in Australia most of my life (moved to Australia when i was 12 years old up until when i was 25 - moved to singapore in 2009 until now)

I originally studied computer science in the (school name removed) but i was young and clueless so after the first year I moved from perth to sydney and started working odd jobs and ended up working in the music industry as a DJ, but as i got older i did not feel secure with the job (and the lack of education at the time as i left uni when i was younger and never finished) so i decided to move to singapore (where my family resides the past 10 years or so while I was in Australia, from Indonesia)


now upon graduaton i applied for and got a job as an application engineer (pro audio) in a well established local pro audio company, with the pay of 2400SGD/month + xtras, the company applied for an S-Pass for me but It was rejected, now i am in the process of attempting to re-appeal

other infos that might be relevant
-i worked in an airline from 2003-2007 (irrelevant to current job)

-i worked in an australian club (full-time) as their live sound engineer from 2006 - 2008 (relevant to the current job? - audio industry)


-my whole family have successfully migrated to singapore - parents both PR, sister citizen, brother PR, i am the only one of my family who does not have any residency in singapore

-the company i am applying for does not have many foreigners working there (as far as i am aware) so i dont think its the quota

-Degree Holder with Ba (hons upper second class)


so now have a few questions

1. any wise people have any suggestion on why my application was rejected? is it because of my age? is it my school? anything else that comes to mind? is it the job?

2. Any success stories of re-appealing successfully? i am fortunate to have an employer who is willing to help me re-appeal for me, but i wonder do i have a chance?

3. Any tips on what to do in this case?



thanks very much in advance!

[Callput]

You mentioned there arent too many foreigners in your company, so looks like your job can be done easily by locals especially considering you are fresh out of college. I think there lies the problem.

Feel sorry for you mate. I would suggest dont waste your time here. See if you can get a job for your role in Australia, go there and work for a few years and then see how the situation is in Singapore, whether there is still animosity towards foreigners and then base your decision.

[offshoreoildude]

Audio 'engineers' are only one level above toiler cleaners in my opinion (as a professional qualified engineer). Sorry mate.

[v4jr4]

Partially saying, your basic salary doesn't touch 3K, and your age is 28. The odds are not in your favors.

[nakatago]

@OP

You better fire up seek.com.au or mycareer.com.au. Spruce up your LinkedIn profile while you're at it.

Singapore's bleak for someone's who in a niche field, pretty young (and single), the equivalent of a fresh grad and doesn't make boatloads of money for a company or himself for that matter.

[240volt]

hmm thanks for the reply and the honest truth

okay now it kinda makes sense, I am actually considering finding jobs in australia again instead (more jobs and audio engineers are a lot more appreciated there with much more salary) but i was just trying my luck here because most of my family resides here and singapore is a lot closer to taiwan (where my wife is from and flies back and forth regularly)

i think i'll see how this appeal goes if it does not go thru then perhaps it is time to look at other possibilities (sydney or melb) or maybe through other kinds of visa

one thing - lets say my employer is willing to raise my salary to 3k/month would that raise the odds or would it not?

[v4jr4]

one thing - lets say my employer is willing to raise my salary to 3k/month would that raise the odds or would it not?

I will say chances are there. But still, the main problem lies on the SP quota and whether MOM are willing to approve.

[nakatago]

one thing - lets say my employer is willing to raise my salary to 3k/month would that raise the odds or would it not?

I highly doubt it. They'll just think you're entering a scheme with your employers such that in the end, they pay the same amount of money.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Update.

I just had a Myanmar S pass renewal rejected. Just as I said the other day on here.

Your application is not successful because:
- The candidate is not eligible to apply for a work pass. Please look for another candidate
- Your company does not have sufficient quota to employ S pass holders.

For the record, the employee has been with the company since April 2008. But under the new ruling in September, with the new 45% Dependency Cap for S pass holders in the Service Industriews, those companies that have too many S pass holders under the new guidelines will not be forced to release them immediately, but will not be able to renew them or hire anynew S pass holders until such time as you have quota. So, in my case I'm going to lose 9 more S pass holders in the near future without the ability to hire new ones (Good or bad employees doesn't matter). That or I need to hire 20 more locals/PRs immediately. Unfortunately, if I could find the necessary locals, I wouldn't have this probably in the first place!

[v4jr4]

I just had a Myanmar S pass renewal rejected. Just as I said the other day on here.

Additionally, the nationality is not "flavor of the year". You'll need aspirin.

[240volt]

one thing - lets say my employer is willing to raise my salary to 3k/month would that raise the odds or would it not?

I highly doubt it. They'll just think you're entering a scheme with your employers such that in the end, they pay the same amount of money.

but if they genuinely offer a higher pay so that i can work for them there is a possibility right? because it seems like this is what is going to be happening with the re-appeal, i also checked online (from forums posts etc) and read that its a better idea to start a new application altogether with the higher salary rather than re-appealing, any comments or experience on this?

[nakatago]

one thing - lets say my employer is willing to raise my salary to 3k/month would that raise the odds or would it not?

I highly doubt it. They'll just think you're entering a scheme with your employers such that in the end, they pay the same amount of money.

but if they genuinely offer a higher pay so that i can work for them there is a possibility right? because it seems like this is what is going to be happening with the re-appeal, i also checked online (from forums posts etc) and read that its a better idea to start a new application altogether with the higher salary rather than re-appealing, any comments or experience on this?

Unfortunately, there is no documenting sincerity.

If you read more about passes, appeals and related topics here, you'll see that the government has all the advantages and set up the system such that even with all the requirements they ask for, in the end approvals are subject to their discretion.

[v4jr4]

one thing - lets say my employer is willing to raise my salary to 3k/month would that raise the odds or would it not?

I highly doubt it. They'll just think you're entering a scheme with your employers such that in the end, they pay the same amount of money.

but if they genuinely offer a higher pay so that i can work for them there is a possibility right? because it seems like this is what is going to be happening with the re-appeal, i also checked online (from forums posts etc) and read that its a better idea to start a new application altogether with the higher salary rather than re-appealing, any comments or experience on this?

Nak got a point there. At first, your application states 2.4K. On the appeal process, they'll see 3K on the salary. It's kinda fishy, at least in their eyes. A sudden change of heart, or something to do as long as they can get the approval. Sounds harsh, but the "Do you feel lucky?" plays a big role

[sundaymorningstaple]

I just had a Myanmar S pass renewal rejected. Just as I said the other day on here.

Additionally, the nationality is not "flavor of the year". You'll need aspirin.

In this case, the flavour is only because Burmese are not allow to have WPs. Even before all this started, they weren't allowed WPs. But the excess S pass holders is a fact. I know I'm going to lose the rest if my local headcount doesn't come up. They are welcome to stay until the S pass expires but the renewal isn't going to happen until I have eligible quota.

[zenlim]

Hi Volt240,

Don't give up. You have a chance.

Let me tell you my story. I am an employer by the way. I appeal quite a few time but this mth i appeal and approve for my S-pass holder.

My Work permit holder has been with me for 7mth. A private degree cert from Singapore private school. i applied S-pass for her last mth and got rejected. i appeal 2 days after i received the news and after 3 weeks got approved. i played my game well as i understand how the MOM thinks and i have friend working in Employment agency who knows what is the success rate.

1 ) You can ask your employer to increase your pay to 3K. you can only increase and nv decrease when you appeal.

2 ) Ask your employer to explain clearly your role and why this company needs you so much. with not much FW, it means your company didn't abuse the quota system and your company must be able to prove ( thru CPF account ) that the locals are alot more than the FW quota

3 ) MOM will reject if the case is border line case. They want your company to appeal to justify why they want you. If the company don't even bother to appeal, that mean you are not important.

4 ) You should try the SATS online test. They just change it this month and if it showed that you are eligible, your appeal will be high. The longer the wait, the better.

By the way, my staff is 24 this year with no working experience when joining me as Work permit holder. I applied after 7 mth as i still have quota. FYI, she's from china. Anyway mine is small company, not even $500k yearly sales.

All the best to you and remember to state clearly why your company needs you. I appealed for my staff as I am doing 1 man show. So i know everything very well.

Hope this post give you some support!!!

p/S : Position does matter alot. Audio engineer may be too common and your company may need to clearly state what Audio engineer does in your company. Pls specified!