Singapore Immigration Policy 2011 -2012

Singapore's new immigration policy will be applicable from Jan 2012. It would makes work permits tougher for Indian workers with middle-level skills
The middle, the lower middle level foreigners are on employment pass. The changes will apply to Q1 pass holders, which is the lowest category of employment passes, who have to earn at least S$3,000, up from the current S$2,800. The qualifying salary for P2 employment pass will go up from S$4,000 to S$4,500.

We can expect a moderate impact on Indian workers who apply under the Q1 and P2 categories. These are middle-level professional, managerial, engineering and technical talents.

However, typically, workers from India come with better qualifications and complement the local talent; therefore they command a relatively better salary. The reason of this change in regulations is to tighten the eligibility requirement for entering lower and mid-level jobs. this way the hiring process will include better educational qualifications and higher qualifying salaries. The changes are also likely to impact small and medium enterprises in singapore. While considering global slowdown already affecting business and economy, this policy will push up wage cost.

there will be more selective process than before in granting employment permits to foreigners and their requirements have been made more strict with regards to education qualifications, type of college/university, experience etc. If a company feels the person has the required skills, the additional salary requirement will be taken into consideration and some modifications or arrangement will be done.