All you need to know about Singapore’s new work visas

When Singapore embraced the post-Covid era, the leaders of the city-country were busy renewing the rules about employing foreign workers while destroying the limitations of Coronavirus, quoting hyper competitive battles for global talent. A five-year visa and the elimination of laws that oppose sex between men become headlines, but Singapore has launched a series of steps intended to help him pass other financial centers and attractive talents in the next generation of industries such as computing, aeronautics and even arts. Singapore is still a global city,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a speech last month, where he vowed to improve the skills of national labor. “We can’t survive in other ways.” This is all that we know about how Singapore sees battles for foreign workers playing, and what he does:

A competition

Political stability, safety, efficient health care and public transportation have long been part of the Singapore field to the world. But city leaders say it’s not enough. This competition is not only with Hong Kong: In his national day speech, Lee chose Germany, who will allow some workers to enter the country even before they get a job, and the British, who offer special visas for graduates from the top 50 universities in the world -) two in Among them are in Singapore. Then there is Thailand, who has just launched a 10 -year visa plan for foreign workers, and the United Arab Emirates, which will allow several expatriates to get a work visa without being sponsored by the company.

Starting in 2023, Singapore institutionalized a point-based system for visa candidates-evaluating things like education, skills, salaries, and how nationality contributed to diversity in their company. The “Kompas” system imitates similar programs in the UK and Canada. In the Singapore program, applicants need at least 40 points in six categories to compete, with the potential to score 0, 10, or 20 points in each. Have a Harvard title? Twenty points for you.

Visa duration

In its biggest shift, Singapore will offer a five-year-net-networking visa and foreign expertise (one) graduated from those who produce at least S $ 30,000 ($ 21,300) per month, leaps from two years of graduation owned by many foreign workers owned by many foreign workers . The new visa also allows the dependents of workers to find work, and open the door for extraordinary candidates in sports, arts, science and academics that do not meet salary criteria. Here’s the way one pass is piled against several other people who get new tweaks:

Hiring local

Fair consideration framework in Singapore is intended to ensure that local candidates have a fair opportunity even among companies that have international recruitment in their view. The policies were tightened when unemployment jumped during Pandemi and the government focused on sustaining domestic workers. Some of the rules were raised last month. The job now must be advertised for 14 days, down from 28 days during the peak of Pandemi. On September 1, 2023, the role of monthly salary at least S $ 22,500 will be freed from job advertising requirements. The salary threshold will be reviewed regularly. Companies with less than 10 employees are also excluded.

LGBTQ+ Community

In an effort to modernize the city-city social framework, Prime Minister Lee announced plans to revoke the colonial era law that criminalized sex between men, but said the government would also change the constitution to prevent the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman from being challenged in court. This step means that parliament will ultimately determine the debate. Lee’s announcement – intended to be a compromise between the majority of citizens who opposed changes in the traditional definition of marriage and those who encourage the expansion of rights – making business in a difficult position when trying to employ LGBTQ+ candidates from abroad. Most are at stake for the Recruitment Manager: Visa and Feasibility of Workers for LGBTQ Couples+ Talent whose marriages are not recognized in Singapore. Government officials said they handled this scenario based on cases per case.

Favorite sector

The role of technology of all types has been very popular because Singapore opens the door for international applicants. “Tech.Pass” introduced by Singapore in 2020 is still attractive to technology leaders – if their company has collected assessments or market values ​​of at least $ 500 million. The program can be reviewed after one pass and other changes apply, the Straits Times reported. Singapore is not ashamed to want to increase its appeal for those who have the role of Green Energy and Green Finance, who intend to build their reputation as Garden City imagined by the leader of the founder of Garden, Lee Kuan Yew.

Asked to be more specific sectors, Minister Tan see Leng told Bloomberg that experts in fields such as photovoltaic cells, energy storage systems, and MRNA technology will be very interesting. But he said he did not want to be too detailed, because “everyone will then pursue” the same person and the bidding war might occur.

Low -income workers

Feels absent from the latest Singapore approach to expatriates is an incentive for those who are at the bottom end of the income ladder. While lack of labor is widespread during Pandemi, Minister Tan said he was convinced that the crisis in construction, marine processing and shipyard work would be reduced in the coming months. Likewise, the role of low salary in leisure and hospitality and the food and beverage sector has seen a very strict labor market. But the authorities for many years have supported digital solutions and automation-outside the role that might be filled out by local employees-from attracting more low-income workers from abroad.

Cost of living

Perhaps the biggest factor that must be weighed by foreign workers wherever they move is the cost of living. Singapore rental prices jumped at most in the first half of the 30 cities surveyed by Savills PLC., Jump 8.5%. But the cities are only the 13th most expensive city in the world for expatriates, according to the March survey by ECA International. Hong Kong occupies the top of the list, with London, New York, Tokyo and Seoul in front of Singapore.