The situation 
Additional recruitment-related information required for Employment Pass applications

A closer look
Effective immediately, employers will need to provide the following recruitment-related information when submitting their Employment Pass (EP) applications to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM):

• Whether the job was advertised in the Jobs Bank; 
• Whether other recruitment channels or modes (other than the Jobs Bank) were used to search for candidates; 
• The number of citizens, permanent residents and foreign nationals who applied for the job and the stages they reached in the recruitment cycle; and 
• Reasons why the company is still applying for the EP if Singaporeans have already applied or were interviewed for the position. 

The change affects all EP applications filed on or after November 10, 2017.

Background
No prior notice of the change was provided; however, the close scrutiny of recruitment practices is in line with the principles of the Fair Consideration Framework that requires companies to fairly consider Singaporeans in their hiring process.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen or send an email to SGInitiations@fragomen.com.

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