EP Appeal Rejected, what chance of getting an LOC?

[nburge]

My wife and I have been living here since 2011, and she has been working (on an EP) since Jan 2012. Last year she applied to renew, and they rejected it. On appeal (marginal raise in salary) it was approved for another year. This year it was rejected again, and on appeal, rejected finally. Her company has advised to move to a DP and apply for an LOC.

My background: I've been on a PEP since September 2012, and have (this week) jointly applied for a PR with my wife.

She's massively underpaid (always has been here) so I'm quite keen for her to quit and go find something more appropriate for her level of skill. However, the lost income will still be a pain in the ass for the coming months, so I'm wondering what the chances of her getting an LOC approved from MOM after they have rejected her EP application twice. The reason for rejection is that the company should look to hire more locals for her role (business development).

In addition, if she does apply for LOC and gets rejected, will this have a more negative impact on our PR chances? Or would having to report that she's lost her current job be worse for the PR chances?

Any recommendations would be gratefully received, and I know that most of the answers will just be gut-feel, because the inner workings of the ICA and MOM are a mystery to us all. Opinions are welcome to help us make the best choice moving forward.

Thanks!

[Strong Eagle]

Question... her "massively underpaid" salary... does it meet minimum EP requirements? And same for you... any issues now or upcoming with your PEP salary? And finally, where's your origin country?

[nburge]

Sure - her salary is just under 4k per month, prior to bonuses. She's interviewed with other companies (and to my annoyance rejected) offers of ~6-7k a month. My PEP has another 3+ years to run and I'm comfortably inside the salary bracket to maintain it. When I ran a test of the SAT system it suggested she would qualify for an S-Pass, but her company has already maxed out their allocation of these (and her Masters Degree may make her over-qualified for one anyway).

I'm from the UK, she's from Canada (although Asian origin so she always has to get checked for HIV/TB on her EP whereas I don't - love the casual racism here )

[the lynx]

Sorry OP out-of-topic question, but why does your sign-off has a link that says "Rapid Fat Loss"?

[nburge]

Don't know - but I've gotten rid of it.

[Strong Eagle]

My $0.02... My bet would be on a rejected LOC. Why? You actually got a rejection reason stating that the company needs to hire more locals. This means that the company is on MOM's radar... somebody, somewhere deep in a cubicle farm has decided that these folks have been hiring cheap "foreign talent" instead of hiring "local talents".

What leads me to this conclusion? First of all, they are max'ed out on S-Passes. Second, they don't pay for shit, and I'd bet most other EP's at the company are probably in the same boat... cheap cheap. And third, I'd guess that they have an 'excessive' amount of EP's when balanced against total employment, and unless these EP's have special talent, MOM sees cheap EP employees replacing local talent. And nothing against your spouse, but 'business development' just doesn't seem to have the same panache as 'project manager' or 'solutions architect'... it's a rather broad description of a job that can mean a lot of things... and I suspect MOM is suspicious of the job description.

The cheap ass company that has employed your spouse has probably suggested a DP and LOC because it's an easy, no brainer way for them to see if they can get an employee back without having to increase salaries. They may not yet have seen but soon will see the handwriting on the wall... your spouse not getting a renewal is the first step in tightening the screws... other EP's may not be renewed... and their S-Pass renewals may be rejected... SMS can give you plenty of anecdotal history of S-Pass holders who have worked for years all of a sudden finding themselves on the short end of the stick.

I might try a strategy of putting the fear of God/MOM in them. Tell them that if they don't give your spouse a raise such that MOM will approve the EP, then they will almost certainly be in deep shit because your spouse is just the first renewal they will lose, with lots more on the horizon.

And finally, if all else fails, why not apply for the DP/LOC? The bridges are already burned, the horses already out of the barn with the rejection of the EP.

As for PR, an entirely different animal. You didn't specify your nationality, nor what your profession is. I judge your PR chances rest more strongly on your income and your profession... your spouse has already been rejected for EP... why would rejecting a subsequent LOC application from a cheap paying company make any difference?

[Wd40]

I think the rejection is because of issue with the employer and not the employee. Why not ask your wife to look for another job and a brand new EP. I dont see any issue.

[nburge]

StrongEagle - thanks for the feedback. That was more-or-less the advice I gave her last night, but at the same time I wanted to validate my thoughts before she pulls the trigger. She's the biggest earning sales rep in the company by a long way (brings in about 3x as much business as the next best), and I've told her to resign, take a month's notice pay in lieu (obviously she can't work without the EP anyway), and see whether that threat causes them to reconsider how much money they pay for her services. Her title is something other than Business Development, but it is similar enough to that for it not to matter - certainly nothing prestigious sounding.

Wd40 - she has already been interviewing with an Aussie company that has set up shop here, and they will pay more or less 2x what she's on at the moment, but not until April. I don't hold much stock in a job offer unless it's written down on paper and signed (and even then it's a bit shakey out here), but that's the best fall-back option we have at the moment.

For my PR - I'm British, my job is a Sales Director here for a large multinational software company. As mentioned I'm a PEP holder, so I hope that counts for something, and I've paid taxes in full for 3 years straight now.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I cannot add anything here as Strong Eagle as already pointed to my own problems with MOM and S pass holders. I concur with he synopsis and agree with his advice and your own thought processes as well. Go for it and good luck. I think you wife was just unlucky and hooked up with the wrong company and it has, due to other external influences, thrown a monkey wrench in the works.

sms

[nburge]

Thanks for the feedback. To be perfectly honest I'm quite glad she's lost the pass, as this was her first job here in Singapore (it took her a while to find her feet) and I'd told her to take it as any job is better than nothing. I didn't expect her to still be there three years later!

[colio]

If your goal is for your wife to be able to work to earn some salary (even if not the best at the moment), there is nothing wrong with a DP LOC. My wife used the same for her first 2 years here.

I do not believe having her EP's rejected will impact getting a DP LOC at all because her DP LOC will be tied to your PEP.