Singapore has proposed new work visa policies in an effort to attract skilled foreigners as it moves forward with strengthening its COVID-19 pandemic recovery.
The Asian financial centre indicated that it would start in January 2019.
According to Reuters, the measures include a new five-year visa for those making at least S$30,000 ($21,445.42) per month. Holders of this visa are able to apply for jobs with numerous companies at once, and their wives are also eligible for employment.
During the pandemic, Singapore, a favoured place for multinational companies to build their regional offices, strictly restricted its borders.
As a result, a large number of expatriates left, and its population fell for the first time in nearly two decades.
“We cannot leave any room for investors to doubt or have questions as to whether Singapore remains open,” Tan See Leng, the city-state’s manpower minister, told a news conference.
“As a country with little or no resources, talent is our only resource and talent acquisition is an offensive strategy for us,” he added.
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.