# How to employ Filipino helper to Singapore?



## cksonline (Mar 25, 2018)

Any idea how to employ philipino helper to singapore?


----------



## M.C.A. (Feb 24, 2013)

I found an article here on this process.
Singapore labor laws for foreign workers | News | GMA News Online


----------



## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

cksonline said:


> Any idea how to employ philipino helper to singapore?


Are you asking about hiring a specific individual to work for you in Singapore or do you need help picking one as well?

There are many agencies here that employ OFW's for positions, they will take care of all recruiting an vetting as well as all immigration issues for a fee of course. If you are not looking for a specific individual I'd just do a google search for some of these companies and employ one to find the person for you and take care of all the paperwork.

If you already have a specific individual in mind, I'd still look at going through one of these agencies, you should be able to get a better fee since they do not have to do the searching and recruiting for you but would still take care of all the details.

From working with OFW's and talking to some locals it is not a trivial straight forward process where you apply and get all approvals in one place with no drama. You will have to apply at multiple agencies, in the correct order, queue many lines to get service, get to the front of the line and have the window close for no reason, be told to come back tomorrow, when you do get back they will have lost the paperwork and you will have to start again, one item will have time expired and you will lose a few steps. 

Then just when you think all is in order, and you get your new employee to the airport you will be missing one approval or a stamp will be placed wrong or the immigration guy is having a bad day and your employee will be denied boarding and you will lose a non refundable ticket. 

Of course you can avail of the 'no receipt emergency processing option" provided you have the cash on you. If that option is more than 10k then you will have to explain why you were trying to leave the country with excess currency.

I'd never try a complicated process here without a local company that specializes in the process handling the paperwork for me. Make them responsible for getting your employee to Singapore and through the Singapore immigration ready to legally work for you.


----------



## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Manitoba said:


> Are you asking about hiring a specific individual to work for you in Singapore or do you need help picking one as well?
> 
> There are many agencies here that employ OFW's for positions, they will take care of all recruiting an vetting as well as all immigration issues for a fee of course. If you are not looking for a specific individual I'd just do a google search for some of these companies and employ one to find the person for you and take care of all the paperwork.
> 
> ...


Of cause above all when dealing with these companies the key word is legally work for you. We have had several relitive travel abroad to work and they seem to be going as tourist.


----------



## Manitoba (Jun 25, 2014)

Gary D said:


> Of cause above all when dealing with these companies the key word is legally work for you. We have had several relitive travel abroad to work and they seem to be going as tourist.


One thing I have learned is to always be honest with immigration wherever you are.

When I worked in Iceland the original team all got proper work visa's etc. It cost the company a fortune for each of us.

One team member resigned and was replaced. The company decided not to go through the process and get his visa as he could come and go on a tourist visa and only do two turnarounds before the end of the job. It took a long time to process the visa and most likely would not be complete before the end of the project.

You guessed it,, when he returned from his first trip home he was taken aside and questioned. He had never been outside the US and now was returning from his first 8 weeks in Iceland 2 weeks after he departed with a suitcase full of construction clothes and no onward ticket.


He was refused admittance, held in a room all day then put on the next flight back to the US. Unfortunately it was no where near where he lived, he did not have a credit card (At least one not maxed out, bad personal financial manager and had to buy a full fare ticket home). The Iceland immigration people kept his Icelandic phone, only letting him get it back when he was on the flight and could not use it. 

He landed in MSP, with limited cash, he had left his US phone at home thinking he would not use it. He had to call me collect in Iceland and it was several hours before I could get him a onward ticket so he could get home. I never did get him any cash so he could eat or get a room to relax in before his next flight.

Partly his own doing, not taking his US phone with him, (He left it for his wife to use) and not taking enough US cash for emergencies ( He again left all his spare US cash for his wife, he had planned on drawing Icelandic currency from our petty cash to tide him over. This was allowable under our policies.) and not having some room left on his credit card, but he would have gotten away with it had he and the company been honest with Icelandic immigration, they would have let him into the country if he had an application pending. Knowing this guy he was most likely rude to the immigration people and that may also account for why he was not returned to New York but to MSP. They could have just as easily put him on a flight back to his point of departure instead of elsewhere in the US.

We were unable to make the application and bring him back as he was blacklisted for a period of time. The blacklist was not only for Iceland but applied to all Schegen countries since that was the visa he failed to apply for.

Moral of the story is be honest with customs and immigration people everywhere. They have a lot of power over you and you have very little protection against them using this power in an arbitrary manner at least until you are in the country. Even after that they can usually find a reason to cancel your visa and frog march you to the airport and onto the next flight out.

If Icelanders will treat an American this way, how do you think the Singaporean officials will treat a pina?


----------

