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Written Answer by Mr Lim Swee Say, Minister for Manpower, to Parliamentary Question on Employment Passes and S-Passes issued to applicants with certificates from degree mills and unaccredited schools

Work passes and permits

NOTICE PAPER NO. 717 OF 2017 FOR THE SITTING ON 03 JULY 2017

QUESTION NO. 535 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap

To ask the Minister for Manpower in each of the years from 2014 to date, how many Employment Passes and S-Passes have been issued to applicants with certificates from degree mills or unaccredited schools.

Answer

  1. Employment Pass (EP) and S Pass applications are assessed based on a combination of factors including qualifications, working experience and salary.
  2. Before July 2015, for applications that contained qualifications obtained from unaccredited institutions, MOM would disregard these qualifications and the applicants had to meet more stringent criteria in terms of working experience and salary in order to qualify for the EP or S Pass. On this basis, 310 passes were issued in 2014 and 190 in the first half of 2015.
  3. Since July 2015, MOM no longer accepts new EP and S Pass applications that contain any doubtful qualification.