Singapore Expats

Hi,
I plan to apply for PR soon.
Could you check below information my PR chances and give some advice ?

No.of years in Singapore: 4 years
Nationality: Japanese
Sex: Male
Age: 22 yrs
Income Tax paid: 3 years
Profession: Director at trading auto parts business
Pass: EP P2
Salary: 6K/month (base salary)
Degree: None (Studying for foreign uni bachelor at a local private institution)
Marital: Single

I am working for Singapore branch of my family's company in Japan.
Moved to SG from Japan just after graduated from senior high school in 2012.
And I got EP 2 years in 2014 and renewed for 3 years in this year.
Before I got EP, I had been worked with DP under my dad' EP.
(My dad no longer keeps EP )
I am staying here by myself at this moment.

It will be interesting to see if you get in. We see almost no one from Japan asking this question so I have no idea. Good luck and let us know.

It will be very interesting. JunJun, I hope you will keep us posted as to how it turn out. I cannot remember in the 13 years on this board of having someone with your profile every coming through here. You are young, been here for a number of years and the director of your own company here (or family company as it were). You income is decent but I wonder about PR and NS (albeit you should be getting PR on PTS which generally means waiver of NS for 1st Gen PRs. But I've never seen a person as young as you are gaining PR on a PTS and being Japanese to boot. I don't reckon there are a lot who fit that profile. Go for it. The worst they can do is say no. If that happens give it another year or two and try again.

I'm also quite interested to hear your results. I have a couple recommendations, though.

JunJun1993 wrote:Profession: Director at trading auto parts business
[....]
Before I got EP, I had been worked with DP under my dad' EP.

I think I understand what you meant, but I recommend being a little more careful to communicate clearly in your application, to make sure there's no confusion.

First, be a little careful with the term "Director." Legally, for a company formed in Singapore, at least one "Director" of the company must be "ordinarily resident in Singapore." Part of the meaning of "ordinarily resident" is having Singaporean citizenship, Permanent Residence, or an EntrePass. You don't have any of those statuses. That ordinarily resident director also has to be a real director with a real, legitimate role in the company. So just be a bit careful here, to make sure ICA doesn't have any reason to believe you're the only real director. For example, if your full title (and real role) is "Director of Sales," then be sure to use your full title.

Second, when you write "worked with DP" there's some crucial missing information. A DP holder is allowed to work in Singapore but only after their employer obtains a Letter of Consent (LoC) from the Ministry of Manpower. So, if that's what happened, that's how you would describe your work history.

ICA asks about both issues in the PR application, at least indirectly. The application asks for your "Occupation" and also asks for details about your Employment History, including "Position held and Responsibilities." (ICA doesn't ask directly about your work permission history on the form, but that's because ICA can check work permissions with the Ministry of Manpower.) Hopefully I have no reason for concern, and hopefully your truthful Employment History in Singapore lines up perfectly with your Letter of Consent and EP. Of course, you need to tell the truth on your application. Whatever you do, don't lie -- that's a very serious offense. If you feel you cannot tell the truth, then the best option is to avoid applying or at least to delay applying. ICA asks for the past 10 years of your Employment History. If there's something you don't like in your Employment History then you can wait until that part of your Employment History is more than 10 years old, then apply.

Maybe I'm being "paranoid." My default assumption is that everything is fine. However, just in case, I thought I'd mention these possible issues.

[ On edit: U.S. Average Grade Level = 9.0. ]

JunJun1993 wrote:Hi,
I plan to apply for PR soon.
Could you check below information my PR chances and give some advice ?

No.of years in Singapore: 4 years
Nationality: Japanese
Sex: Male
Age: 22 yrs
Income Tax paid: 3 years
Profession: Director at trading auto parts business
Pass: EP P2
Salary: 6K/month (base salary)
Degree: None (Studying for foreign uni bachelor at a local private institution)
Marital: Single

I am working for Singapore branch of my family's company in Japan.
Moved to SG from Japan just after graduated from senior high school in 2012.
And I got EP 2 years in 2014 and renewed for 3 years in this year.
Before I got EP, I had been worked with DP under my dad' EP.
(My dad no longer keeps EP )
I am staying here by myself at this moment.

probably not very good... i know of degree holders from japan working in SG for >6 years with a higher salary in similar "management" roles, that were rejected. they were older, but they were not old men (some single, some married).

I think a lot is going to depend how the OP is linked to the company and what is the company. EP2 with no degree, what does it point to?

To me it points to the probably fact that it's a family owned business and he probably grew up in the business in Japan and a degree may not be necessary with the apparent experience he has. Don't know for sure. He got mid-range EP without a degree, based on experience I would assume. It will be interesting to see.

Typically a middle range EP holder is required to have a degree so either his skillset is truly unique or the company behind is very desirable to stay in SG and he has a very strong link to it.
It is not like an average Joe owning an average company can request for somebody or himself a middle range EP and have it granted.

Who knows, but for what it's worth I think ICA might be interested in JunJunさん.

x9200 wrote:Typically a middle range EP holder is required to have a degree so either his skillset is truly unique or the company behind is very desirable to stay in SG and he has a very strong link to it.
It is not like an average Joe owning an average company can request for somebody or himself a middle range EP and have it granted.

i think when Joe's family owns the company, he can likely get away with it.

Thank you guys for giving some opinions and advices.

Hmmm I just checked ACRA website and realized their rule may have been changed. When I visited their website to check the definition of the ordinary resident several months ago, they say EP holder is also recognized as that. I need to check about this with our company secretory. However I am registered as authorized representative on Bizfile. Thanks BBCWatcher for pointing this out!

I obtained LOC to work under DP before I applied EP in 2014. So I may have no problems with this point….

BBCWatcher wrote:Part of the meaning of "ordinarily resident" is having Singaporean citizenship, Permanent Residence, or an EntrePass.

WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG. You read that straight off the ACRA page, didn't you?

Any pass that gives you long term residence in Singapore makes you ordinarily resident. An EP can be a director of her own company. A DP is ordinarily resident. A DP cannot be a director because that is "working". An EP cannot be a director of a different company from the one for which the EP was issued. But, they are still ordinarily resident.

For your information, there is absolutely no difference in the employment pass issued under the Entrepass scheme and the employment pass issued to already operating companies. The pass is identical. The rules are identical. It doesn't say "Entrepass" anywhere because it is an EMPLOYMENT PASS. The difference is in the renewal.

I know from personal experience that BOTH of these facts are true, notwithstanding the changed language on the ACRA page.

JunJun1993 wrote:Thank you guys for giving some opinions and advices.

Hmmm I just checked ACRA website and realized their rule may have been changed. When I visited their website to check the definition of the ordinary resident several months ago, they say EP holder is also recognized as that. I need to check about this with our company secretory. However I am registered as authorized representative on Bizfile. Thanks BBCWatcher for pointing this out!

I obtained LOC to work under DP before I applied EP in 2014. So I may have no problems with this point….

BBCW is full of crap because all he did was read the same page you did, and that page does not tell the whole story.

If you have been issued an EP under your own company you can most certainly be a director. The ACRA webpage is misleading. Plenty of companies have been formed outside the Entrepass requirements, an EP has been issued, and the EP becomes managing director. There are lots of companies that have directors who hold an EP. There are no restrictions on becoming a director just because you are an EP. An Australian friend of mine was managing director for a Singapore Pte Ltd, wholly owned by a dutch company.

What MoM and ACRA don't want is an EP working for one company to become the inside director of another company. And, forming a Pte Ltd with a rented director, then applying for an EP for the foreigner was the "scam de jour" for quite a few years... an easy way for people to get into the country without qualifications. You read what you do on the the ACRA website to dissuade people from trying this.

MoM has clearly issued you an EP for your own company. You are clearly managing and running it. BBCW's comments that the ICA would be interested in you are unwarranted, and you, as a foreigner, being a director on an EP is not unusual at all.

^^^SE, does any degree related restrictions apply in such cases?

x9200 wrote:^^^SE, does any degree related restrictions apply in such cases?

You mean to be a director? None that I am aware of. If you are breathing, normally resident, and haven't been a bankrupt or other naughty things, you can be a director. Being a director is "working", however, so the usual restrictions apply.