Future of Entrepass

[katbh]

Sure does. And especially when Entrepass and PEP are usually people who are unlikely to bugger off in 2 years!

[ukdesigner]

It's nothing new. They tweaked the Entrepass requirements a few years ago and this is just extending those changes. Some of us were lucky to have been allowed to stay under the old system. Now it seems they want to bring everyone in-line and under 1 rule. I understand that but some of the changes are, as usual, very extreme. in 5 years have a minimum of 10 local employees and be spending 400k a year. Me thinks they're looking for a quick fix here rather than sustainable businesses that will grow and earn them more money in taxes than fly by nights who go bust and pay no taxes. Typical pandering to the masses who have no idea how they're country was built.

I for one am now considering the options available to me. I will apply for PR and if that's a no go, then I'll go pte ltd and become and employee of the company. Just a lot of hassle, wasted time, all in all, which means I'm spending time on doing shitty paperwork instead of actually earning money, and thereby paying MORE taxes.

[AngMoG]

So it is the second time they alter the conditions for existing pass holders (first was PEP).
Feels like outright deception and betrayal!

My feelings exactly. I am one of those affected by the change in rules in PEP. Cut a neat 1 1/2 years off the duration - seeing as I am unlikely to hit the $12K target by end of 2014...

The Entrepass thing is just as strange. It changes the rules for people who are already here, and may have been running a business for a couple of years fairly successfully. And who now have the choice between hitting the new target in less than a year, going pte ltd or going across the causeway.

[Wd40]

Just came back from Riverwalk, went there to collect my PEP card. The place is not that busy, no waiting time at all. But so many Indians there to collect passes. Almost 8 out of 10 foreigners collecting passes there are Indians.

Funny thing my card has expiry date 15-05-2018 but I know the true expiry date is 31-12-2014.

I got my card but couldn't get my wife's and daughter's card. They need the marriage cert and child's birth cert and on the IPA letters it was mentioned no need to submit if it was already submitted before

So need to go there again tomorrow. But thats ok, I get another chance to ride my bike into the city, its not often that get to ride into the city

[Wd40]

Got the DPs for my wife and daughter today.

One thing I notice is the staff at Riverwalk are no longer friendly as they used to be. I carried originals of marriage cert and birth cert, as per the instructions of the lady yesterday. Today new lady telling me that they need photocopies and asked me to go to the shop of the same floor to get the photocopies. I told her what the lady told me yesterday and also pointed out to her that there is a photocopier right behind her To this she just took all my documents in a huffy manner and gave it to another colleague to deal with. That guy was nice. He made the photocopies himself.

Then I went to the card collection and the lady there asked if my wife and daughter are present there. I said no. She then asked me if I had brought my ID.I had brought my passport but had left my EP in my wallet which I had left in my bike's box. She told me in a rude manner that she needs the EP. I had to then walk down and get my EP card. Finally got the DPs but not a good experience, like we used to have couple of years back.

The staff there are locals and may be all the anger being spewed out has gotten into their head and they being the first authority welcoming foreigners into the country, I can understand how they feel.

[Strong Eagle]

Got the DPs for my wife and daughter today.

One thing I notice is the staff at Riverwalk are no longer friendly as they used to be. I carried originals of marriage cert and birth cert, as per the instructions of the lady yesterday. Today new lady telling me that they need photocopies and asked me to go to the shop of the same floor to get the photocopies. I told her what the lady told me yesterday and also pointed out to her that there is a photocopier right behind her To this she just took all my documents in a huffy manner and gave it to another colleague to deal with. That guy was nice. He made the photocopies himself.

Then I went to the card collection and the lady there asked if my wife and daughter are present there. I said no. She then asked me if I had brought my ID.I had brought my passport but had left my EP in my wallet which I had left in my bike's box. She told me in a rude manner that she needs the EP. I had to then walk down and get my EP card. Finally got the DPs but not a good experience, like we used to have couple of years back.

The staff there are locals and may be all the anger being spewed out has gotten into their head and they being the first authority welcoming foreigners into the country, I can understand how they feel.

Too bad they don't realize that as soon as foreigners stop coming to collect work passes there won't be any need for their department anymore.

[Sergei82]

Looks like MOM believes foreigners will not stop coming no matter what happens. They have reasons do believe in that, haven't they? There was no mass exodus of foreigners in history of Singapore, they just keep coming and coming... at least until now.

[morenangpinay]

they can say goodbye to their "No.1 business location" title. on the bright side, good news for the rest of the asian countries.

[katbh]

There is an discernible exodus going on at the moment of longer term resident expats. I am sure we all can see the number of people leaving as going up. But I suppose there are still more coming in. But mostly from other parts of asia rather than Europe, America and AusNZ. I suspect many of the newer expats are not in for the long haul and this is the way the g'arment want it.

[zzm9980]

I chuckled at this tonight:

[AngMoG]

I chuckled at this tonight:
...

Classic!

[movingtospore]

This is going to be a great way to drive off real foreign talent. Moreover, it will cause service based companies to reconsider setting up in Singapore, and this in turn will hurt the multi-nationals, who outsource as much as they can, especially in IT, logistics, etc.

A new business is going to look at the onerous Entrepass regulations, then take a look at what they will be able to do in terms of hiring foreign staff, and then say, "the hell with it". This is not at all business friendly and will come back to bite Singapore in the ass.

The only ray of hope is that, as in the past, individual professionals will still be able to form a pte ltd, then get an EP for their professional skills... under these Entrepass criteria, no forex or other financial traders, no IT professional consultants like PM's, design architects, etc will ever be able to come into the country.

I never thought I'd see the day where it would be easier to start a company in Thailand or Malaysia than Singapore.

Well said!!
Making it even more onerous is not going to make these bigger firms magically locate here. And it's certainly going to do nothing to try to improve the prospects of local entrepreneurs. (What local entrepreneurs!!!)

They seem to be missing a piece of the equation - these types of foreigners in Sing typically earn a lot of money. They rent expensive property, expensive cards, eat in restaurants....once they drive everyone out who will be left to prop up the house cards?

[MostlyHarmless]

I started 3 years ago under the Entrepass and had to move to EP in my own (consultancy) company last year since I couldn't afford 4 local employees. At this moment I have 3 "true-blood" Singaporeans working for me).

This was however easier said than done: MOM refused the application for EP (as executive director) twice without giving a reason. Some calls later: I had to increase my salary to P1 levels. I also needed to write my own letter of support. In there I politely explained that if I wasn't allowed to work in Singapore, I simply was going to fire all local staff and take my business elsewhere.

I was not happy with the hinted requirement to increase my salary: as entrepreneur you want your money to "work" and not to rot away in some local bank account with 0.05 percent "interest" rate.

To make things worse: I was applying for PR at that moment, but because of the needed appeals with MOM and the time it took, I got a letter from ICA stating that my request for PR was revoked, since I did not work anymore in Singapore ...

Anyway, I don't mind following the rules, I don't mind paying taxes, I still want my business to succeed in Singapore and to have a long term future here, but I will take a very close look at what will happen here in the future.

Some anecdote: I got my EP approved for only one year, but a Filipino waitress from my local bar had no problems getting her EP extended for 2 years. I am pretty sure _I_ am not stealing any work from the locals...

It will not get any easier in the future.

[quote="ukdesigner"]
I for one am now considering the options available to me. I will apply for PR and if that's a no go, then I'll go pte ltd and become and employee of the company. Just a lot of hassle, wasted time, all in all, which means I'm spending time on doing shitty paperwork instead of actually earning money, and thereby paying MORE taxes. [/quote]

[AngMoG]

Some anecdote: I got my EP approved for only one year, but a Filipino waitress from my local bar had no problems getting her EP extended for 2 years. I am pretty sure _I_ am not stealing any work from the locals...

Neither is she - few Singaporeans want to do waitress/waiter jobs at the pay that makes it a good business for the owners.

It will not get any easier in the future.

Of that you can be certain. The whole P1 shenanigans, while understandable from a purely admin point of view, are also a bit funny...

[ukdesigner]

Renewal application sent of today. Will be interesting to see how long it takes this time and if it gets renewed. Fingers crossed it does but probably yet again for only 1 year as always!!