How long will my work pass (EP, S-Pass, WP) application take

Hi Ram

Did your EP status change after you receive this mail.Mine is showing pending since almost 4 weeks by now .

Regards

Hi
Still shows pending..

Hi

So what I understand MOM has sent an email directly to you on your personal email add ? Is this true

I thought they usually communicate directly with the employer .unfortunately, I haven't received any updates from my employer nor from the MOM.The patience is really taking my test for a while now.

The criteria for EP and S-Pass are similar, the process (and potential duration) the same.
If the background checks (carried out by third parties, so out of MoM's control) take that long, there is nothing you can do but wait.

Hi
Thank you for your response,
I will wait till mom, however my employer will follow up with the mom since they need people urgently..

Let's see with finger cross..

My situation
My Name is Hans and come from China，I have got Bachelor of Engineering in China. and my experience is about 14 years. Now I get a job from a world-wide company in Singpapore and my fixed salary is $9250(13 month)+allowrance. I've about 9 years equal experience in China. My employer apply the EP for me, they told me application had been submitted on 12 Apr 2019, but I found in EP Online, the application date was 18 Apr 2019.
Now status:
We need inputs from other agencies to process this application. In most instances, the outcome will be available in 4 weeks' time. Some cases may take longer.
this status has lasted for a long time. ( I didn't check from 18 to 24 Apr 2019, but when I checked it on 24 Apr 2019, I found it was already this status), I don't know how long I can get next step. hope smoothly

Hi Beppi,
yesterday my employer withdrawn EP application and applied Spass since they got quota,further more they need people urgently due to project demand.

Hope my Spass will get approved following days...

Hi
Yes they sent email to me directly.

Hi All:

I change the job 5 months back. Now i have better offer from another company and i accented it. They applied my EP and DP together on 24-April but status was keep at Pending until 3-May when it got rejected. I have been working in SG for last 10 years and never had EP rejection. I wasn't sure if changing the job in short pan of time causes this rejection.

However, the new employer mentioned that the rejection was due to misunderstanding between company and MOM on Job Bank posting issue. They say they have appeal the MOM and they agree to reconsider the application.

Anybody face the similar issue ?
Any idea how long it takes for appeal in this case. I know for other appeal usually can take up to month.

Regards,
Ummi

MoM does not like job-hoppers. So that and the job posting issue might have contributed to your rejection.
Please read the first post of the „How long will my work pass take“ thread to understand what happens at which stage, and the time it takes.

Hello,

I'm curious to know if there's been any information about a possible overload of fresh application leading to delays in processing time for EP this past month? My agency submitted mine on the Apr 18 and it still says pending.

Also, will ringing the MoM help me get some insight into a rough timeline for delivery of the result of the application?

Thanks and looking forward to hearing back:)

Hi Beppi, Surya and others,

A few details of my case,
Nationality - Indian
Education - BE (Hons.) in Mechanical Engineering and MSc. (Hons.) in Economics from a Tier A Indian institute
Experience - Almost 7 years
Background & Industry - My company is a services provider in AI, Analytics and BI (Annual Revenues of ~SGD 16 million ). We have offices in India and US and are expanding in SE Asia ; Have established a company in Singapore in Feb '19, where we already have two fortune 500 clients (two more within 2 to 3 months, hopefully). My company wants to transfer me to Singapore (First employee of Singapore entity) as regional head taking care of Sales, client & account management and some bit of operations and has applied for my EP .
Salary offered in Singapore - 14K+
Have been to Singapore 4 to 5 times on business visa in 2018. A frequent traveler to Singapore on tourist visa for the past 10 years as my brother & sister in law are PRs.

EP Timeline till now,
18th April 2019 - Applied for EP through a 3rd party vendor. The vendor told us that they have applied for EP during the first week of April but it shows 18th April on the website. (Weird! Has anyone else noticed this?)
2nd May 2019 - MoM asked for more documents like company bank statements, my payslips and bank statements, Unaudited financials, statement supporting number of employees in the company (worldwide), contract with the clients in Singapore, a statement on why I have been found fit to lead my company's Singapore entity and company's plan to hire Singapore nationals.
6th May 2019 - We submitted all the above documents along with a comprehensive cover letter from my CEO and a few other declarations by the company.
27th May 2019 - The status is showing pending since the submission

I have read posts from last 5 months on this thread and know that it can take upto 8 to 10 weeks for an EP to get approved, however just wanted to get a couple of opinions on my chances to get the EP. Any thoughts are appreciated. Feel free to ask for any more information. Thank you.

Also, any advice on if I should visit Singapore on Business Visa as i need to attend a few meetings? I got to know from somewhere that I should hold off till I get a decision on my EP.
(My nerves are getting the best of my with each passing day!)

Congratulations for the job!
At this payscale, >S$14k/month, you will not have problems getting an EP. MoM‘s questions indicate that they are checking the viability of your company, instead of you.
You can also make a (short) trip on business visa, just make sure you don‘t work!

Thanks, Beppi and for the affirmative response. Your confidence does put me at ease a little.
While we have provided enough documentation on why I have been found out to be the right person for the job, I am in constant worry that the MoM is going to come back saying that my company did not try to find a suitable person in Singapore or did not post an ad for 14 days or that the role that I am coming for can be performed by a national, and hence might reject my application. Hopefully this won't be the case, especially because I would be the first person on my company's payrolls in Singapore.

Hoping for an "Approved" response by this week. Fingers crossed.

The fair consideration framework (i.e. the law governing these issues) exempts from the stricter guidelines
- companies below 10 employees
- intra-company transfers into Singapore
- jobs that pay above S$15k/month
You fulfill the first two and are near the third, so you really have nothing to worry here.
They are checking only if your company‘s plans are viable, will create jobs for Singaporeans in future and whether they can actually pay your salary (thus they want the business plan).
If these are found o.k., you will receive the EP. Just be patient!

Thanks Beppi for your reply. Hopefully the good news will come in soon. Will keep the group updated on the result.

Hello everyone,

After much waiting, I have finally received the approval for the Employment Pass. Here's a timeline for the process and I will be happy to answer any questions that you may have:

Application made: 18th April
Approval: 31st May

I will be happy to answer any more questions that can help others. Thanks.

Hi Beppi, Surya and Others,

I finally received the approval for my EP today. Timelines as below,
Application made on 18th March; Approved on 31st May (Details of my profile in an earlier post).

Please feel free to let me know of any questions.

A shout out to Beppi, Surya and others who have been making the life of applicants easier by answering all questions.

Hi everyone!

I have found a lot of the information on this thread quite helpful as my employer just submitted my EP on may 29th and current status is "pending".

I did declare that I received a DUI from ten years ago and that it was a mistake I made in my youth.  Does anyone here have insight or experience on how this would affect the approval process?

Here's a bit on me

Industry: digital advertising
Nationality: American (live in NYC)
Race: Chinese
Salary: 10k
Years of experience: 8 total, 5 relevant
Company: same as my current but transferring to another team in Singapore

I've read on other Sg expat forums that EP applicants with a past dui from their home country, generally doesn't present an issue for approval.  But hoping to find some additional information on how this may impact process....such as needing to provide police records, etc.

Many thanks in advance!

My case:
Application date: 21 May 2018.
Still pending for now.
Hopefully, my EP get IPA next Tuesday

My EP was applied on 16th May.

On 22th May, the status changed to "We need inputs from other agencies to process this application. In most instances, the outcome will be available in 4 weeks' time. Some cases may take longer."

Does anyone have this status? This means a higher chance of getting approval right?

Congratulations Ankit!

I received the IPA yesterday as well. I was wondering if the duration of the EP is going to be starting from the date of the issuance of the EP Card or starting from the date of the IPA issued.

Thanks and the others are welcome to help me understand this as well. Have a great weekend!

Congratulation to you too AShriv! Sorry, but I don't have the answer to your question. Hopefully someone who knows will reply soon. I have been in super research mode since yesterday on some of my own questions, but have not got a concrete explanation yet. Posting those below (tried checking out other posts on Expat but wasn't able to find references),

1) While the website shows EP approved, I haven't gotten the IPA yet. Some of my research tells me that the MoM sends the hard copy of the letter to my company's Singapore address and others specify that MoM will send a soft copy online. Not sure what happens? If it's online then probably the vendor company through which I got the EP, would have the IPA and they forgot to send to me.

2) I am planning to travel to Singapore on the 25th of June (hopefully IPA will provide me a longer time range to enter) and get my wife along. We are yet to apply for my wife's DP and will probably do that by next week. Given MoMs turn around times, I know that it is going to take 3 to 5 weeks (or more) for the DP IPA to come in. In the meantime, do I get my wife on a tourist visa? If that works, then we'll have to ensure that we get a validity for more than 'X' months (multiple entry), so that it doesn't expire before the DP Approval comes in. Are there any other options for this? Also, she will be in Singapore when her DP Approval will come in. Are there any "out of the ordinary"" steps to be followed in this case as she will already be in Singapore?
Also, on this I was also reading that the disembarkation slip needs to be kept safely for the EP/DP card to be issued. This would also apply for my wife travelling on tourist visa (or other; basically non IPA visa) right?

Any help with respect to the above would be super appreciated. Please feel free to ask for any other information.

Avoid (ab-)using a tourist visa for residence purposes. She will probably not get more than the standard 30 days and only one entry.

Thanks for your response, Beppi. Just to confirm, you suggest waiting for the DP to get approved and then travel.
Is there not a way in which she can stay for a couple of months and when DP comes in, we get everything done there itself?

Thanks once again for your help on my queries.

A couple of months is impossible without a residence visa.
Given that the average visitor stays 3.5 days, she‘d need a very good reason for getting an extension of the initial 30 days SVP. Exit and re-entry to get a new SVP also won‘t work.

All the cases I have seen of DP application (including mine) - The IPA was issued in <48 hours. The LOC took time but not DP approval. And all these applications (my and my friend's) were made after August 2018.

I get the IPA today. Is that OK if I cancel this to take another offer from other company? This is urgent, could somebody please consult me for this?

You can't cancel it. If you intend to take up another offer then you would have to ask your employer to cancel this IPA. Only then the new employer can file EP application. Yes.. u can get it cancelled.

I see. What am asking is: is that too risky to ask the company A(just got IPA) to cancel the EP to go with company B. I'm afraid company A might play nasty like refuse to cancel IPA and hold up till November.

Another EP can only be applied for after your current IPA is cancelled (or converted to EP). Only your employer can cancel ist - and has to do so if you terminate the employment contract.
Check your contract for the termination procedure and notice periods - and follow them! If you don't the employer is in his rights to not cancel the IPA or even report you to MoM (which will afect your next EP).
If you follow the termination procedure and the company refuses to cancel the IPA within a reasonable timeframe (I would suggest two weeks), you can contact MoM yourself, submit proof of your termination and they will usually cancel it from their end.

thank beppi.
I think I will go with company A. It's too risky to take offer from Company B. I was happy with A until B gave their offer. :V

beppi wrote:

Another EP can only be applied for after your current IPA is cancelled (or converted to EP). Only your employer can cancel ist - and has to do so if you terminate the employment contract.
Check your contract for the termination procedure and notice periods - and follow them! If you don't the employer is in his rights to not cancel the IPA or even report you to MoM (which will afect your next EP).
If you follow the termination procedure and the company refuses to cancel the IPA within a reasonable timeframe (I would suggest two weeks), you can contact MoM yourself, submit proof of your termination and they will usually cancel it from their end.

Hi beppi, don't you think I should take the risk. The Company B is a state company. The company A is a body shopper. If I go with company B I will have their permanent staff position which have more benefit.

Epass Status is not Changed

Here is my Epass timeline

May-3 Epass applied
May-17 Epass rejected ( Education qualification does not matching with the Epass requirement)
May-22 Applied for Spass ( My employer has enough Quota )
Till date- Pending.

It shows Epass- Pending . instead of Spass. Is it fine?

Mr. Mister: You need to decide for yourself what you want and which risks you are willing to take. Good luck!

My fist post!

pardon if i do not follow any rule of the forum.

Here my story.

EP Applied : 31-May 2019
Showing Pending Status

SAL 10k

Worked on EP in 2013 -2014 , cleared all my taxes in time on return.

Very anxious by thinking of outcome.

are the chances better given that i already had EP in the past ? looking to 7days, 15 days and 21days as time frame for outcome. Fingers crossed

Hi All,

This has been a very helpful forum.

My EP has been approved today (around midnight till 7AM).

Waited for 22 days in total.

Good luck to All.

Hi All, just have one question.

Is it safe for me to resign from my current compant now that I have seen approval on the EPonline status?

Gogoku wrote:

Hi All, just have one question.

Is it safe for me to resign from my current compant now that I have seen approval on the EPonline status?

As safe as it will get.