Foreign nationals can arrive in Singapore to work under Singapore Work Permit for foreign domestic workers (FDW). In order to apply for foreign domestic workers, you will have to go through plenty of paperwork as it is different from several other work passes. In this guide, you will get every piece of information related to foreign domestic workers.

Foreign domestic worker are those who work in the house of the Singapore employer performing some of the domestic and household chores. Foreign domestic workers are one of the passes that are different from other types of work pass that Singapore issues for the foreign workers. Moreover, this pass is not for everyone; not everyone can apply for this pass in Singapore. There are only nationals from several countries who can qualify. Moreover, they will also require meeting some of the mandatory requirements.

You can also translate your work visa through the reliable translation agency

Eligibility Criteria for FDW in Singapore

There are different eligibility criteria for the employer and the foreign domestic workers to get eligible to apply for the work permit.

For employer

• The minimum age of the employer must be 21 years of age.

• The applying candidates should not be un-discharged bankrupt.

• The applying employer should have any mental disorder which can impair their capability to proceed with the Fdw and be in charge of well being.

For foreign domestic worker

• The FDW should be a female.

• She must be more than 23 years of age and less than 50 years while applying.

• If applying are above 50 years of age, they are not granted to apply. They can only renew their work permit.

She should be from below mentioned countries:

• Malaysia
• Myanmar
• Philippines
• South Korea
• Sri Lanka
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Indonesia
• Macau
• Hong Kong
• India
• Bangladesh
• Cambodia
• She should have at least eight years of formal education.

Documents Needed for a Work Permit for a Foreign Domestic Worker in Singapore

When you know that you are eligible to apply for the foreign domestic worker work permit, you will have to submit some supporting documents with your application.

Make sure all the documents are translated in English. If your documents are not in English get in translated by the Ica translation services

• If the employer is a Singapore citizen, they will have to submit a photocopy of their ID card.

• If the employer is not a Singapore citizen, they should submit a copy of their dependent or employment pass.

If the employer is an LTVP holder:

• Needs to submit their child’s student pass or a birth certificate (If applicable)
• Copy of their LTVP pass.

Documents that show the employer’s income and income of their spouse.

• Physical copy of the FDW’s passport.

• If the PDW is from Malaysia
• She will require showing a copy of her ID card
• Also, a copy of her SPM certificate
• Physical copy of the ID card of the employer, parents, or parents-in-law.
• Copy of the valid birth certificate of the employer children if applicable.

Note: This is not the final list of the documents; if the MOM requires adding any additional documents, they will update the list of the documents required.

Moreover, you will require making sure that all your documents are in English. If not, you should get your documents translated by choosing the Singapore translators as your reliable translation agency in Singapore.

How to Apply for a Work Permit for Foreign Domestic Workers?

It is the responsibility of the employer to apply to hiring a foreign domestic worker in Singapore. However, they also have the option to hire an employment agency to submit the application on their behalf.

There are usually two ways through which employers can submit the application, i.e. online and manually.

Applying online

The online application procedures for submitting the work permit application are listed below:

• FDW provides a letter of consent to the employee saying that she agrees to get employed.

• After that employer signs into the Ministry of manpower online application portal and completes the application process.

• Then the employer will have to attach the required documents. (Need to translate into English by choosing a notarial translation service in Singapore.)

• The application fees need to be paid by the employer (S$35).

• If the application gets approved, you will get an In-principle approval letter/ letter of notification, which should be given to the FDW. This letter enables her to enter Singapore.
• The minimum online processing time of the FDW work permit is one week.

Applying manually

The procedure of the manual application process for the work permit are mentioned below :

• FDW provides a letter of consent to the employer by saying that she agrees to get employed.

• After that, employers need to install a work permits application from the MOM’s website.

• Then, they will have to attach all the supporting documents mentioned.

• The employers have to pay the application process fee that costs S$35 and keep the receipt with them in the next step.

• After that, they will have to submit the application to the Sing Branch so that they can mail the application to the Ministry of Manpower.

• After the application approval, the MOM will mail the in-principle approval letter to the employer, which the employee needs to provide to the FDW through which she is entering Singapore.

• The manual application process time for the FDW work permit is about three weeks.

• After getting the approval of the application process either manually or online, the foreign domestic worker has to visit Singapore and request the issuing of a work permit.

Requesting for a work permit

The FDW also requires undergoing the medical examination and Settling-In Programmed (SIP) before the employer asks for the issuing permit.

The processes involved in issuing the work permit are as follows:

To issue the permit, employers must sign in and make the requests by visiting the MOM’s application tool.

Employers need to provide an address to the MOM for delivering the card.

The application fee will be a S$35 fee.

You get the temporary work permit which:

• Enables the FDW to enter and exit Singapore till they receive the card.
• Enables her to start working.
• Updates the FDW if she requires registering their fingerprint and photographs.

Registering the fingerprints and photo

If in the temporary work permit, it has been said that FDW requires registering her photo and fingerprints, she needs to get it done within one week by visiting the MOM services center.

She will have to bring the appointment letter; passport and temporary work permit with her.

After completing the entire basic requirement, the MOM will deliver the work permit card to the registered address of the employer within four working days after registering.

Work Permit for Foreign Domestic Worker Renewal

The minimum validity of the work permit for the foreign domestic worker is up to 2 years, and it can be easily renewed. After you get it renewed, it gets paid for another two upcoming years.

The MOM sends a renewal letter to the employer for renewal eight eights before the foreign domestic worker’s Permit expires for renewing.

After employers get the letter, the employers can submit the application to renew it online.