Singapore Expats

Hi,

Hope you can help.

My partner has secured a teaching job in Singapore and I am coming with him. I am getting confused with the visas and job hunt.

Do you think I will be able to find a job?

I have 5 years office experience and am currently working as a Recruitment Consultant. I've read that foreigners are finding it hard to secure jobs at the moment and am starting to panic slightly! I don't want to be unemployed and rely on my Partner!!

Any advice you can give will be great.

To be honest, no chance. You will be competing with literally thousands of locals for these kind of positions. Even if you manage to get an interview which then leads to an offer, the likelihood the MOM will grant you a suitable visa is slim.

For you to get a working visa, a company has to prove there is no Singaporean/PR who could fill the post. Unless the company were offering you big bucks then it wont be a problem!?

So you're basically saying there's no chance of anyone getting a job unless you have a professional qualification or are of management level?

Does anyone know anything about Teaching Assistant jobs? Would I be able to get a visa to do that?

Thanks

I concur with Saint.

Teaching assistant is the same problem again. You won't get a suitable visa as there is plenty of locals around who can be a teaching assistant.

Unless you have some special ability that nobody has in Singapore (ie. you can read minds or have x-ray vision) or you are well educated with a lot of relevant experience you will most likely not get a visa that allows you employment as any job you are suitable for can also be done by a citizen/pr and there are plenty looking for a job right now. It used to be different but things have changed recently.

Depending on whether you have been co-habitating for a while and whether you have a joint bank account and other things to back up a de-facto partnership you can still get a DP even if you are not married. I suggest you use the search function in the forum as this has been discussed many times before.

Please going forward do not double post. People will reply even if you only post one post.

love2travel wrote:So you're basically saying there's no chance of anyone getting a job unless you have a professional qualification or are of management level?
Does anyone know anything about Teaching Assistant jobs? Would I be able to get a visa to do that?
Thanks

If you plan to get married and you do it eventually then you should get a dependant pass that will allow you to work here. Without it you can only count on long term social visit pass (not permitted to work) and it is not that sure whether you will have it granted.

Thanks for the info - we do have a joint bank account and been together 4 years now so maybe I should look into a dependant pass.

Maybe I need to think about whether this is the right option for us as can't imagine living somewhere and not being able to work!

love2travel wrote:Thanks for the info - we do have a joint bank account and been together 4 years now so maybe I should look into a dependant pass.

Maybe I need to think about whether this is the right option for us as can't imagine living somewhere and not being able to work!

You can work on a dependent's pass, requiring only a letter of consent, usually given, but jobs will still be an issue. Many trailing spouses are unemployed or underemployed. But there are always possibilities.

Thank you, I have just started searching for info on a Dependants Pass. Sorry if I'm being really stupid but what is a 'letter of consent'?

love2travel wrote:Thank you, I have just started searching for info on a Dependants Pass. Sorry if I'm being really stupid but what is a 'letter of consent'?

An employer who wishes to hire a DP holder must ask MOM for a letter of consent. Unless the employer is a massage parlor, hair dresser, karaoke bar, fortune telling, or some such, it is almost always granted. Unfortunately a lot of local companies don't seem to understand how easy it is to hire a DP.

Right OK great - so the letter of consent is something I would get in Singapore.

My partner has a job through MOE, we have lived together for about 2 years so I can just ask them to help with dependant visa I guess?

Thank you so much for your help - sorry if I seem a little clueless!! I'm getting there!

First you will need your High Commission to issue you a letter stating that you have been co-habitating and that you are de facto spouses. The High Commission in Singapore should be familiar with this. If I am not mistaken though the DP is issued by ICA, or is it MOM?

I'm on the ICA website now and have been searching through the forums all morning....I can't find how to get a de facto status in the UK?

I have also emailed the British Embassy and MOE in Singapore so hopefully someone should be able to help! I guess I had better start collecting some documents to prove our relationship!!

econoMIC wrote:First you will need your High Commission to issue you a letter stating that you have been co-habitating and that you are de facto spouses. The High Commission in Singapore should be familiar with this. If I am not mistaken though the DP is issued by ICA, or is it MOM?

I doubt that even confirmed co-habitation would be good enough to get DP. Marriage certificate is clearly mentioned at the MOM's webpage.

x9200 wrote:

econoMIC wrote:First you will need your High Commission to issue you a letter stating that you have been co-habitating and that you are de facto spouses. The High Commission in Singapore should be familiar with this. If I am not mistaken though the DP is issued by ICA, or is it MOM?

I doubt that even confirmed co-habitation would be good enough to get DP. Marriage certificate is clearly mentioned at the MOM's webpage.

Good morning.

It does work with de facto relationships as well. If I wasn't about to rush out of the house I would copy the many links from previous threads on this topic. Please use the search function guys. We had this discussion at least four times in the past four months.

If you have had a de facto spouse ICA (or MOM, I really can't remember which of the two but I think ICA) does give out a DP. What is usually required is a letter from the applicants embassy confirming this. In order to obtain this letter and to back up the case with ICA joint account statements help, both names on an old lease agreement... items that show the relationship really existed for the length claimed. This is not speculation but fact. So please guys use the search function.

Saint wrote:To be honest, no chance. You will be competing with literally thousands of locals for these kind of positions. Even if you manage to get an interview which then leads to an offer, the likelihood the MOM will grant you a suitable visa is slim.

I would be tempted to agree, if not for the fact that there are quite a few expats working as recruiters/headhunters in Singapore, so it's not entirely impossible. However, I would presume most of them came in on intra-company transfers and have salaries/experience/skill sets that set them apart from the average local.