Singaporean authorities have announced new work visa rules to attract talented foreigners to the country known as Asian financial hub.
The new visa rules which are expected to start next January, it was learnt, will help Singapore recover quickly from harsh effects of COVID-19 pandemic on its economy.
The measures have a new five-year visa for people earning at least S$30,000 ($21,445.42) a month that permits holders to seek job for multiple companies at one time and grants their spouses eligibility to work, according to Reuters.
This led to many expatriates leaving and its population dropped for the first time in almost two decades.
“We cannot leave any room for investors to doubt or have questions as to whether Singapore remains open.
“As a country with little or no resources, talent is our only resource and talent acquisition is an offensive strategy for us,” the city-state’s manpower minister, Tan See Leng, was quoted to have told a news conference.
Singapore, a popular location for foreign firms to base their regional headquarters, tightly controlled its borders during the pandemic.
Among the other measures, some tech professionals whose skills are in short supply will, from September 2023, be eligible for five-year visas, up from a two- to three-year currently.
The processing time for employment passes — typically granted to high-paid professionals — will be also be immediately reduced to 10 days.
