Singapore Expats

already a lurker for a while but not a heavy poster, used the search option a lot but can't get the right answer so hopefully you can help me.

some facts:
i'm planning to relocate end of Sept to SIN with my girlfriend, will work as a VP for a US based company with a registration in SIN (few people working in SIN)
Salary around 18k
No relevant studies
Not married, but common-law marriage
Girlfriend will start hunting for a job when we arrive in SIN

questions:
When i fill in the Form8, they ask me for my qualifications, diplomas, certificates etc. i don't have them, how big is the change that i get my EP (p1) approved? do i need to worry?

I'm not married, but a so called common-law marriage with my girlfriend, can we get a DP for her? or do we need to get married first? (not planning to do)

mickey4finger wrote:already a lurker for a while but not a heavy poster, used the search option a lot but can't get the right answer so hopefully you can help me.

some facts:
i'm planning to relocate end of Sept to SIN with my girlfriend, will work as a VP for a US based company with a registration in SIN (few people working in SIN)
Salary around 18k
No relevant studies
Not married, but common-law marriage
Girlfriend will start hunting for a job when we arrive in SIN

questions:
When i fill in the Form8, they ask me for my qualifications, diplomas, certificates etc. i don't have them, how big is the change that i get my EP (p1) approved? do i need to worry?

To my understanding if you are going to get paid $18K, your educational qualification is seconday as MOM will see it as if the employer is willing to pay you that much then you have something to bring to the table which is good for the economy.
Anyway the min. for P1 is $8K. You are ay above that margin of error.

I'm not married, but a so called common-law marriage with my girlfriend, can we get a DP for her? or do we need to get married first? (not planning to do)

Yes you can, you have to proof that both of you has been co-habitating for sometime
Read
http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic ... highlight=

To apply for a job , she has to change her DP to EP or apply LOc under DP if she is married legally to you or LTSVP if common law marriage
Read
http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/ftopic ... hlight=loc

I edit this. Typo error

Neither myself or my boyfriend had to provide copies of education certificates (he is also a VP at a MNC and a degree holder, I have no degree but college certificates)

Ive read alot of comments on forums regarding non married couples moving to Singapore and how difficult it is, maybe the process has gotten easier in the last year or something.

I went through the process in December 2010, I am not married and my partners employer applied for my LTSV as soon as his EP was approved, we werent asked to provide proof that we had lived together (although had for 4 years so could have if requested) only had to go to a solicitor once we arrived and have a letter signed and witnessed by the solicitor saying that we lived together and had joint finances (again the solicitor required no proof of this) I am aware of at least 4 other couples who went through the exact same proceedure (2 of which had never lived together) at the same time as us, all working for the same MNC as my partner.

Once we moved out here I started applying for jobs and eventually found one, the company applied for my EP and it was passed with no problems, as I was moving field from property sales to recruitment and had no degree I wasnt hopeful of an EP being granted as I had read so much on line about it being near impossible to get an EP unless you had a degree and several years in the particular field but there was no issue (other than that I had to have a medical check but luckily I dont have TB or HIV!)

My partners employer enlists an external company to process all the paperwork and deal with MOM (sort of relocation specialist type thing), if yours does to you would maybe benefit from giving them a call directly for clarification on your queries.

sorry - should have also said that you can only get DP if you are married, otherwise its a Long Term Social Visa

last question i have.

is there anybody who arranged it before arriving in SIN?
for some reason it's very difficult to get all the papers done up front, because the Dutch Embassy is not willing to corporate and send it to me now.

The only reason for using an external company for the application is that the employer, a) doesn't have an HR department or b) have not gotten an EPOL account from MOM. Other than that, the external company can only give them the forms and applications as required. If allowed to do it yourself, you would see that it's something that should cost around $5 to do. It's a no brainer and the external companies do not have an "inside" to MOM. In fact, nobody has a "inside" anymore. Everything is done online unless its a case of Employee abuse or some other violation of the law.

You partner, if drawing that kind of salary, doesn't need a degree as his experience and salary are sufficient to virtually get a walk through. Once you have the LTVP, you can search for a job to your heart's content. If and when you find an employer willing to give you a shot, depending on your qualifications, salary, and the employer's ability to convince MOM that they need to hire a foreigner, you might just get an EP of some sort.

As far as the ability of getting passes easily as the other poster mentioned, that happened probably over a year ago. Since then and since May in particularly, things have tightened up considerably more. Good luck with your quest.

not really the same issue but i don't think it's necessary to open a new topic about it.

the attorney that my company hired for my application strongly request to add my high school diploma and get some recommendation letters from former employers.
as mentioned above, i don't have any studies

how big is the chance that i'm not getting it approved? shall i push it through without the high school diploma and recomms?

problem is that i'm not near my diploma so that will take a few weeks before i get it and also recommendations are difficult to get within a short time frame

thanks for your quick answers..

Hi,

I am currently doing some similar research as I will be moving over next year with my bf. He is coming with me and we are trying to work out how he can get a visa and work considering we are not married.

Apparently Singapore recognises common law marriages from all countries. So while they might not believe your relationship is grounds for a dependent visa, if YOUR country does, then they should honour that.

My impression is that if we get a signed statutory deceleration on our relationship, then he has a pretty good shot of getting a dependent visa, which in the long run will make him much more attractive to future employers. Basically we have to declare and prove our relationship, get it signed by a practising lawyer in Australia (who needs to sign, is different in each country) and we should be good to go!

Racheew wrote:My impression is that if we get a signed statutory deceleration on our relationship

You only need to get a deceleration if your relationship is too fast.
(Speed limit is 90km/h in Singapore!)