Every work pass must have a Singapore registered company as sponsor. If you are coming as a contractor and not as an employee of a company with a legal presence here, then it would be necessary for you to create your own private limited, with a Singapore nominee director, then apply for an employment pass via that company. There are several threads in this forum discussing this process. Not easy to do, and it can be done.IanE wrote:My situation is that I currently work in London as a self employed contractor, which I have been doing for over two years.
The company that I contract to in London would like me to move to Singapore to work for them there.
I have a UK and an Australian passport.
I believe that I will be expected to continue to use my UK company to invoice the company that I contract to whilst I am in Singapore.
I would like to work in Singapore for one year initially, with the possibility of staying longer.
The questions that I have are as follows:
1. Would I be eligible for a Singapore work visa?
2. If I would be eligible for a Singapore work visa, would I have to apply before I leave the UK, or do I apply when I arrive in Singapore?
3. Would my girlfriend be eligible for a visa to come with me (we've lived together for five years)?
Money earned in Singapore for services performed in Singapore is taxable in Singapore, regardless of where the invoice is originated. You'd really want to invoice in Singapore and pay a much lower ($100,000 profit exclusion first three years) tax rate than pay UK taxes.4. How would the tax situation work if I use my UK company to invoice in Europe?
I am sure that I will have further questions based on the answers above.
Thanks in advance for any help provided.
There must be a reason why your current work needs you in Singapore... perhaps a sister or client company can sponsor your work visa?IanE wrote:Thanks very much for your feedback, it's much appreciated.
As I suspected, it seems to be quite complicated, so I will do some searches in the forum to try and work out how to create a Singapore company etc.
Thanks for your response.PNGMK wrote:
There must be a reason why your current work needs you in Singapore... perhaps a sister or client company can sponsor your work visa?
Be aware that there are income limits associated with various passes (work visas) as well.
Once you have acquired a CPA and a nominee director, and chosen a name, you can get the company set up online in about 15 minutes. Your CPA will prepare all the necessary legal documents to create and maintain a pte ltd.IanE wrote:Thanks again for your help and patience with this, it's much appreciated.
Do you know what the approximate time frame for processing all of the setting up of the company and applying for the EP? I realise that it varies in each case, but was just wondering vaguely how long it may take.
Be aware that this is no slam dunk. It continues to be more difficult to obtain all sorts of work passes, and the government continues to be driven by the populist noises that all of Singapore's ills are due to "foreign talent" taking all the good jobs, driving up rents, and causing all the public transportation to be overcrowded.IanE wrote:Wow, thank you both for the feedback, I am glad that it looks like it can all be done quickly.
My fear was that it could have taken around four months or so.
Thanks again for all the information supplied, I'm very grateful, it has made things much clearer for me to move forward.
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