The Singapore Ministry of Manpower announced that a mandatory verification of educational qualifications (diploma level and above) should be completed by companies intending to hire Employment Pass (EP) holders from September 1st 2023 onwards.
This change will require hiring companies to work with third-party government-certified screening agencies and submit a verification proof for EP candidates’ educational qualifications.
Currently, the verification requirement is only carried out for certain EP and S Pass applications as per the request of the authorities, or where the educational qualification is obtained from certain countries or learning institutions that are not recognized within the government’s list.
The expansion of this requirement to cover all EP applicants from 01 September 2023 is being introduced to safeguard against fraudulent submissions and to ensure authenticity of the applicant’s educational credentials. This also coincides with the upcoming implementation of the COMPASS framework, where the verification proof must be submitted to score points for the 2nd Criterion (C2: “Qualifications”).
This measure is also expected to apply for EP renewals starting from 01 September 2024.
Companies should be prepared to experience delays in processing of the EP applications, as they will need to factor in the additional time it will take to obtain the verification proof for future applications impacted by this update.
For more information and updates, please refer to the official press release through the Ministry of Manpower’s website and Magrath Sheldrick Global’s news alerts.
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