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I am a software engineer having 7 years experience .My ep got rejected 2 times due to high salary.

Increment  -1000sgd  14.5%

4 ep applications had submitted within this year.

1st ep application  : Jan 2021 and employer withdrew the application as they renewed my loc

2nd Eap ApApplication : 24th Feb 2021
With 700 sgd increment to satisfy minimum ep salary and it got approved on 2nd march April . But agency did not issue it and waited for the contract renewal with the client

Client awarded the new contract to a new agency which I applied through and previous agency had to withdrew it in April 2021

Both times,my previous agency had applied ep through different 3rd party agencies

New agency applied EP with 1000 sgd increment on 10th May and it was rejected due to high salary asked bank statements and some other docs for reconsideration

Agency had filled education qualifications wrongly in EP application .so they did not submit an appeal for that and submitted a new Ep application on 28th may 2021 for the same job with 1000 increment

2nd application also got rejected just after a week 😥
Agency told mom have mentioned the same reason.
High salary

Submitted an appeal for the 2nd ep application on 16th June with required documents .

appeal Status is still pending .

I am not working now As my previous contract was completed by mid of may and waited for this Ep to continue my job

I am really stressed now😞I need to think of a backup plan . Though we hope for the best ,we cannot 100% rely on appeal .

My DP is valid till 2024. I heard about work permit on dependent pass.But my agent is telling they cannot apply work permit for IT service sector.

Highly appreciate if you can share some details about work permit on Dependent pass in IT field

The "WP on DP" route is very new, so we didn't see experiences here and don't know exactly how it works. But you can review the published facts on MoM's website.
Your description sounds like another example of how agents (who engage other agents?!?) screw things up for the jobseeker. It is always better to deal with the employer directly!

Hi Beppi,

Thank you so much for the response .

Yes. Agencies also don't know the exact process.
Totally agree.  Our career life is at risk bcs of these agency activities 😥

Sharing my experience if it might help. I have been in Singapore for 10+ years in IT field as software engineer initially on EP and then converted to DP due to career break. Have worked on LOC for almost 6years.

2021 Jan - still on LOC with current job and got new offer employer A but EP  Rejected due to quot
Mar - Aug - Got another offer from a reputed bank with good pay as full time still EP got rejected after pending for almost 4months
Aug - As my LOC is due for expiry my current employer applied for EP which again rejected
- current employer  made a new application (got hike meanwhile) but still rejected
- so far all EPs applied with different salary criteria (7k, 8+, 10K, 12+ Range) got rejected
-Appeal done from current employer but still rejected
Sep: Got my DP renewed and current employer made a work permit application (under Domestic worker category) and finally it got approved.
- Has to visit the MOM service center in Bendemeer road (not the EPSC one in Riverwalk for EP) to get work permit appointment. My HR initially did an incorrect appointment in EPSC Riverwalk as she thought IT services cannot be under domestic worker criteria but wrong. They have to choose the criteria under Domestic worker irrespective of salary or the service sector to get the work permit appointment.
- Finally got my work permit card and I will have both DP and work permit card with me.

**I had to let go of all the other offers to keep my job.

Hi All, can someone please share if their dp work permit as software engineer got approved in salary range of 7250 sgd to 8000 sgd . if so, also can please share percentage split in fixed , allowances and bonus with successful attempt.

Asking this to validate HR statement conflict from 2 companies where on said max range is 5500 and other is ready to file for 8k.. need to decide based on possibility of approval with 8k offer.

Hi I don’t think salary range is a criteria for work permit with DP. Mine got approved for just above 8k+ (It’s my Fixed monthly salary with no allowances or bonus) but my company now has to pay an additional 1000$ as levy. This is an extra expenditure they are paying to MOM after my work permit approved.

Hi ssbr.. thnks for sharing it.. got clear idea now…
Seems its time to catchup with my HR now 😂

Hi SSBR,

But with High salary range why wouldn't your company try to get SPass issued.
I am also starting back work after 6 years of sabbatical.
Was on Dependant Pass along. Never worked on LOC.
My fixed pay is 6400 and monthly  one month salary bonus as variable pay.
According to SAT, my EP qualifying salary is 7k.
They applied Spass for me and it just got approved in 9 working days.

As I recall SPass depends on the quota. Every business sector have their own different quota which is way too challenging..

ssbr wrote:

Sharing my experience if it might help. I have been in Singapore for 10+ years in IT field as software engineer initially on EP and then converted to DP due to career break. Have worked on LOC for almost 6years.

2021 Jan - still on LOC with current job and got new offer employer A but EP  Rejected due to quot
Mar - Aug - Got another offer from a reputed bank with good pay as full time still EP got rejected after pending for almost 4months
Aug - As my LOC is due for expiry my current employer applied for EP which again rejected
- current employer  made a new application (got hike meanwhile) but still rejected
- so far all EPs applied with different salary criteria (7k, 8+, 10K, 12+ Range) got rejected
-Appeal done from current employer but still rejected
Sep: Got my DP renewed and current employer made a work permit application (under Domestic worker category) and finally it got approved.
- Has to visit the MOM service center in Bendemeer road (not the EPSC one in Riverwalk for EP) to get work permit appointment. My HR initially did an incorrect appointment in EPSC Riverwalk as she thought IT services cannot be under domestic worker criteria but wrong. They have to choose the criteria under Domestic worker irrespective of salary or the service sector to get the work permit appointment.
- Finally got my work permit card and I will have both DP and work permit card with me.

**I had to let go of all the other offers to keep my job.

Thanks for the insight, but, to be honest, MOM give you a pass for domestic worker  criteria with 6-8 K salary? That sound stupid   why they always rejected your appeals since your salary is eligible for the requirements made by them?

Sorry to ask this, but are you Malaysian?

How to know that my sector can be under Domestic Worker criteria? I am an auditor, can it be done under Domestic Worker. Since many employers have difficulties on regards hiring me. I am also DP holder.

Best regards

The whole process with DP & work permit is so new and seems confusing even for HRs after the LOC is removed from the system. All my EP rejections had similar reason mentioning salary criteria so the actual reason is clueless. I’m Indian nationality and the work pass is the last option that let me keep my job now even though I’m fully eligible for EP and the whole process is disappointing.  S-pass is again Quota based so they couldn’t proceed.

I am not sure if there is any defined sector for work pass category, but getting the MOM appointment is to be done through domestic worker category from what I understood from HR. Mine is IT and I’m a software engineer with senior developer role.

You can give a try with your sector if it helps in getting the work permit.

Yes. I agree. But to work in IT field with domestic work permit seems to be a loophole. Which I feel MOM will notice someday. So its better for the company to request for spass quota.It would further jeopardise your chances for future applications. I had to wait for an extra month for the company to get a SPass quota for me.
I remember my HR saying they won't apply EP for me because chances are high MOM would reject my application due to huge bump in salary and also because of my gap, they would see me as unskilled workforce.
So it would be better to convert into spass for now and then move to EP after a year or two.

That’s true no one would like this to follow this way and my company is going to try EP or S-pass again soon.

All the best

ssbr wrote:

I’m fully eligible for EP

Sorry to contradict you here, but:
MoM decides who is and who is not eligible for EP - and they decided you are not!

A friend of mine once said about this: "It's their court and their ball - so you better play by their rules!"