Singapore Expats

I was just notified that my EP has been rejected...

Here my situation...

I'm a former Singaporean citizen... Left Singapore with my parents at the age of 4 and immigrated to Canada... I applied for EPEC in January and was approved by MOM.... Keep in mind, they know that I'm a former citizen when applying for EPEC.

So, I went through all the trouble of coming here to Singapore and securing an employer and followed everything by the books... everything meets the requirements of EP... salary etc... and It's by a big company, Fujitsu...

Now MOM rejects my EP.... I don't understand why at all... basically EPEC is totally useless if that's the case... I do qualify for an EP as stated on the EPEC itself...

And the worst is, as most of you know, they don't provide a reason for rejecting you... If the reason is because I was a former citizen, then fine, reject me initially on my EPEC... Don't provide false hope for people to come all the way and then in the end, after spending so much money, reject them....

So what now? To file an appeal... but chances are slim... For the initial application of EP, the HR lady did not send in my EPEC... she only sent my Degree and Birth Certificate... Could that be the reason?

Anyone know what the possible reason could be? I guess for the appeal, I just bring in all my hardcopy documents to present to the interviewer...

Anyone been in a similar situation? Please share.. It's sooo weird...

It's entirely possible and not at all unusual.

The EPEC is just that. An Elgibility Certificate that states you are eligible, "Qualifications Wise", for consideration by MOM to receive an Employment Pass. In other words, according to your educational requirements you meet the minimum guidelines as set by MOM. It does NOT guarantee you an Employment Pass.

There is another facet that you have forgotten about. You cannot get an Employment Pass without an employer and the employer has to justify why it is hiring a foreigner instead of a citizen of Singapore. If there are plenty of Singaporeans qualified for the job that you are applying for, it doesn't matter HOW BAD the employer would like to hire you, it's not going to happen. Oh, one other thing, it your potential employer who has to appeal, not you.

"It does NOT guarantee you an Employment Pass." That I'm well aware of...

"Oh, one other thing, it your potential employer who has to appeal, not you." That, I'm also well aware of..

Anyone that has been in a similar situation in the past care to share your experience? Thanks...

i totally agree. the employer should be the one to make an appeal for you and in that way i think things will run smoothly. just send them your documents though.

"i totally agree. the employer should be the one to make an appeal for you"

Again, yes... I'm well aware of that and the employer is in the process of doing so... But thanks for your post...

Nothing weird that I can see.

You, like thousands of others, are possibly not what the government is looking for?

Most with similar experiences either went home while the others kept trying until they succeeded, usually with different employers or via the appeal process instead of whining about it. So, with that in mind, very few are in a similar situation (of just complaining). They did something. We have already told you what needs to be done.

Thanks for you posts anyway. Good luck

I'm not whining about it... I'm just wondering if people have been in the same situation as me and was wondering what their outcomes were... That's all... Just a simple question if you can't understand..

But thanks for your post...

good luck in your endeavours...hope your appeal is successful...keep us updated

arent you the one who emailed me? your're from univ of windsor right?
man.. ep getting rejected just sblows...

i guess you can apply to other jobs and hope you will have better luck when they apply for your ep (make sure they send the EPEC with your other docs though!)

best of luck!

yup.. i'm the one from U of Windsor...

yeah.. it sure does blow getting EP rejected... I have a feeling the government has a grudge against me regarding my former citizenship...

anyways, Fujitsu put in the appeal for me yesterday and they included my EPEC this time... Last time they just mentioned my EPEC ref. number... not sure if they wanted to see a photocopy (although it clearly states on the certificate that it is to be mailed along when applying for EP)...

So... i'm just hoping for a positive outcome... how are you by the way? IDA treating you well ya?

Hello aftershocks...you mentioned that the HR of Fujitsu only submitted your Degree (certs) and Birth Certificate....Were you able to check if all those documents needed for submission were complete? Passport details, Transcript of Records, Employment certificates and testimonials, CV, Certificate of Graduation, EP forms and supporting docs from your employer (Fujitsu), etc.

EPEC should also be included in the submission. An appeal will be great. Sometimes it really depends on the MOM officer checking the papers.

That right mitchgbd... The HR lady only submitted my Degree and birth certificate.. I asked her why she didn't submit my EPEC as well along with the other documents... She said when she applied online, it never asked for those.. It only asked to submit my degree and birth certificate..

So for this appeal, I have made sure my employer forwarded all neccessary documents to MOM... Now, I'm just hoping for the best... Already came this far... They say it takes 3 weeks min. for the results to appear... yikes! sooo long...

The HR lady only submitted my Degree and birth certificate.. I asked her why she didn't submit my EPEC as well along with the other documents... She said when she applied online, it never asked for those.

Not another one, without common sense and she is probably a degree holder too make you wonder doesn't it!

LOL... not sure... she told me that she included my EPEC ref. number... But it clearly states on the EPEC to include this certificate when applying for an EP... So I'm not sure if that's the sole reason... will never know.....

Talk about common sense! Or lack of. Obviously, regardless of whether or not the EPEC says to submit it. It obviously means in a manual submission. All the supporting documents are required during a manual submission.

However, when applying online, it is pretty clearly stated that you should have all necessary documentation if later required for inspection. Why is that so hard for people to understand here? D'oh!

Obviously is a little difficult to submit documents when the online form only gives fields to be filled out and no ability to attach documents.

I would have to wonder about the HR individual as well though as it's impossible to submit any documents when doing it online yet 'you' stated that she said she submitted the BC and Degree online? Did you misunderstand her? Probably.