SCall

Hi, I just joined the forum hoping to get some info on Singapore. My daughter may be moving there for 2 years in July (her fiance is being sent there with his company) and she can't seem to get any solid information about getting a job. She is a RN/CNOR and has been a travelling nurse for several years and is now located in California. She is getting all kinds of conflicting news about being able to work in Singapore and I wondered if anyone here, who is in Singapore, could fill us in. Thanks in advamce, Sylvia

Kooky.

Hi Sylvia, sorry but I've just seen this. Hope you are still checking in.

What kind of information are you after? I know very little about nursing here but would imagine it's poorly paid - I've been in a couple of hospitals here and most of the nursing staff are Filipina, although I did have a Mancunian looking after me in one.

If it's the visa status that's worrying your daughter - well as a fiancee she doesn't have a lot of rights.

If they were married, she would get a Dependent Pass and be able to work on that, providing her employer was willing to apply for a Letter of Consent. It's very cheap for the employer to do this but IME not many are willing. (I had one for an office job before we got our PR.)

As a fiancee, she may be able to get De Facto Spouse status but I believe this is not easy, and I'm not sure she can work with this status anyway. The worst case is that she doesn't get this status and is constantly doing visa runs over the border.

Her best bet is to secure a position under her own steam, and get her own Employment Pass, just like her boyfriend must be getting. How feasible this is as a nurse I don't know, sorry.

www.mom.gov.sg is a useful site.

SCall

Hi Seasider, thank you so much for your reply and all the info that you have supplied. I will pass it all on to my daughter and maybe she can get started on it all, thanks again.

Kooky.

No problem.

BTW, if your daughter's fiance is being sent by his company, they really should offer some kind of relocation assistance/advice. I would ask him to speak to his HR dept about this.

jamesinsing

Option1:
You do a 'paper' marriage in Singapore and get it registered. Very simple, just go the the marriage registary and get 'married'. From there apply for the dependant pass. Have the 'real' wedding at a later date .... understand this may not be 'ideal' and not what most people want - just informing you of the option.
Option 2:
Company may be able to sponsor a 'long term social visit pass'. They act as the sponsor, which means they stamp the application which essentially just acts as guarantor in case of re-patriation costs.
Option 3:
Teach English? There is a hot demand for native speaking teachers, from what I know S'pore pays top dollars for this - VASTLY more than in neighbouring Thailand for example. If your daughter is educated to University level - that is all that is required. That and of course a willingness to try something different to nursing!

I don't think nursing is an option, sadly. Although saying that - I don't know much about it - it might be possible, I'm guessing but perhaps with some of the high-end private hospitals? Who knows - but I would guess, it seems to be all Phillipina that do this and the pay is LOW.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

SCall

Thank you so very much James, that was very helpful as to all the options.