How To Employ Foreign Nationals In Singapore

Approximately thousands of foreign companies get registered in Singapore each year. Simultaneously, the number of foreign professionals working in the country has increased considerably, and now more than one-third of the total Singapore workforce is made up of professionals from overseas. While several changes to the employment pass scheme are implemented each year to ensure that only the best minds could live and work in Singapore, overall, hiring foreign nationals in the country is relatively simple for business.

Below are some of the requirements for Singapore Employment Pass, the basis of Singapore PR application.

Singapore Employment Pass Application

First, companies who want to hire foreigners for work must ensure that they apply for an employment pass. Singapore employment pass is the primary form of work visa intended for foreigners who would like to work and live in Singapore. It takes around a month to receive an employment pass, and authorities must verify the record of both the individual employee and the organization that employs the immigrant. This employment pass is also a basis for the Singapore PR application.

Related Job Experience And Salaries

With the recent changes made in the eligibility requirements for an employment pass, Singapore authorities will look into the foreign professional’s related job experience, their educational qualifications, and their current and proposed salaries in Singapore. The third requirement is that salary is an essential addition to the work pass eligibility. Singapore wants to ensure that highly qualified professionals with an excellent professional background will join the country.

Hiring Companies

The Foreign companies that want to settle their business in Singapore and are planning to accompany some of their top-level management from their head office (the home country) will have to apply for the work pass upon registration of the Foreign Companies (i.e. Singapore Branch). Once again, it must be remembered that an employment contract must be made with each overseas worker they wish to move. Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MoM) processes Singapore employment pass applications and will ensure that the job offered is valid and that all laws and regulations are complied with.

If a Singapore-based company wishes to hire a foreigner who is already working for another business in the region, the Employer should secure an EP In-Principal-Approval from MOM for the foreign professionals. If the immigrant ceases working for the company that had them initially hired, their work pass is to be cancelled immediately. Therefore, employers need to apply for a Singapore employment pass as part of the hiring of every foreign professional.

The added advantage to becoming a PR is that the flexibility of the career switching process often becomes less complicated. As a holder of the Employment Pass, any employer shift means you would have to cancel your current Employment Pass and wait for your new Employment Pass application to be approved by MoM before you can start work.

Employment Pass Holders

As each Employment Pass issued for an employment and foreign professional needs to go through the formalities for each and every career switching, thus, this can result in the loss of valuable time and resources in the process. That’s the basis that grows the popularity in getting permanent residency in Singapore, of course, foreigners who are looking to settle down in Singapore as one of the key points for Singapore PR application.

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