Global Trade Alert

On 4 February 2013, the Singaporean Ministry of Manpower revised its In-Principle Approval (IPA) Letters for Employment Pass, S Pass and Training Employment Pass Holders.
Some modifications are likely to negatively affect foreign interests:
Previously, sponsoring employers were only required to declare the fixed and basic monthly salary in the online application. With the amendment, sponsoring employers must provide more information on salary and various terms of employment (allowances, deductions and the like).
Furthermore, previously, the verification process for a Chinese Degree was done on a case-by-case basis. With the amendment, whenever the beneficiary of the working pass holds a diploma or degree from an institute of higher learning in China, the sponsoring employer must declare that such decree was effectively verified by an approved agency. The verification of the degree basically becomes mandatory in all cases.