diles wrote:Hi,
I'm a British citizen who has been working in New Zealand as a Software Tester for over 5 years and I have NZ residency. I also have a BEng(Hons) in Software Engineering from a UK university. I was considering working in Singapore but I'm not sure how to go about it. With a UK passport I can enter Singapore as a visitor for under a month, but is it acceptable (i.e. legal) to look for work during this time? Or do I require an EPEC? And what are the likely costs, I expect I'll need a few grand to stay there for that time (SGD is pretty close to NZD at the moment).
Having gone through all of the immigration hassles here in NZ, I have no illusions it's going to be easy. It took a month to find work here (and not the job I was hoping for) and immigration was a hassle and expensive, even though it seems more open than the Singapore system. I was also on a working holiday visa which made it a bit easier.
Also the foreigner backlash is a bit concerning, is this a bad time to consider Singapore? My other options are going back to the UK or Victoria in Oz where Software testing is on the skills shortage list. But Singapore is definitely the more interesting option for me. Any advice is much appreciated.
Cheers,
Diles
Diles,
As a software tester (if that is the role you'd be looking for here as well), I would not recommend you to go to Singapore. The salary for that position is low (probably around the 2500-3000 range now), and if they can't find locals to do it, they'll hire south east Asians or south Asians. Even if you are looking for a developer position, or something else, your lack of experience would likely stand in your way as well as competing with Asians on about the same salary level.
On the procedural side, you can stay here to look for a job for a month at a time, I guess. You can probably do it 2-3 months or even longer by entering/exiting with some days in between. Unlike NZ, the immigration processes are simple, but also opaque. Nobody can tell you how many times you would be able to enter/exit without problems if you stay here to look. And nobody can guarantee you a visa if you do find a job (the job market is not great at the moment for people without residency). At your likely salary level, I would say your chances to get a visa approved are not good.
On the cost side, you are not legally allowed to rent a room or apartment since you only have a tourist visa, though I won't deny that it's possible to find. In that case, if you are able to find, I'd say you may be able to find something in the $1000-1500 range if you are lucky. Your only legal options are
Serviced Apartments or hotels, to the tune of minimum $100 a night if you are not picky. Your rooms would be $600-$1500 if you do find a job, which means you won't be able to save much, as this is an expensive place to live.
tl;dr only move here if you have a job and visa already secured.