Unlike in western countries where only well-to-do families can afford domestic help, in the Philippines, it’s pretty common for households to have domestic helpers or maids. They are the ones who help out with household chores and taking care of children. Some of whom have been with the families they serve for ages that they are already considered part of the family.
Before going on to detailing the steps on getting a maid, I’d like to emphasize that domestic help or maids are human beings. I used maid, domestic help, and helper interchangeably as I believe that neither of those words should have a derogatory connotation. They are not slaves and they should be treated with respect as any other person doing decent work.
First you need to be aware of implications of having a maid in Singapore. The most important thing to note is that they are much more expensive to maintain compared to having them in the Philippines. On top of their salary, which is twice to 3 times, even 4 times more than the average salary in the Philippines, you need to take out an insurance for them, place a security bond with the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) and pay a monthly levy of S$265 to the Singapore government. I’d put the additional cost of a maid to about S$700/month with her salary and the levy, not including the increase in utility bills and food consumption for having another person living with you. The employer’s guidelines from the MoM website is very informative for first time employers.
Then make sure the person you’re bringing in complies with all the requirements:
- Employers cannot apply for a Work Permit (WP) for a foreigner who is on a social visit such as on holiday or short term visit to Singapore. In other words she must not be in Singapore while her permit is being processed.
- If you are applying for a WP for a FDW who has never worked in Singapore before, she must be 23 years of age or above and below 50 years old at the time of the WP application.
- If the FDW has previously worked in Singapore, she must be aged 18 or above, and below 50 years at the time of the WP application.
- If you are applying for a WP for a FDW who has never worked in Singapore before she must have a minimum of 8 years of formal education and possess the necessary educational certificates as documentary proof of her education.
The easy way to bring your own maid is to hire an agency to do it for you. It will cost you around S$700 exclusive of airfare. But if you like to save a couple hundred bucks, then you can bring her in on your own like what I did.
- First, register for a Singpass. The Singpass is very useful as it allows you to transact with different government agencies online. Your password will be sent via postal mail so this takes about 2 days.
- Take the Employer’s Orientation Programme for first time employers. There’s the classroom type which costs S$20. But since both venues are very far away from my place, I chose to take the online EOP for S$30. You get the result immediately after completion. (Note: The first time I applied for our FDW, my application was rejected. The reasons were not stated but I figured it was probably because I didn’t take the EOP before applying. That’s S$10 bucks down the drain.)
- Now with your Singpass, you’ll be able to apply for the work permit online. You will be notified of the result of your application the next day. (Cost: S$10)
- When your application is approved, you need to retrieve the In Principle Approval Letter from work permit online to get your FDW’s work permit number and SB Transmission No.
- You may now contact an insurance provider to take out the required Medical insurance of at least S$15000 coverage and Personal Accident insurance with a coverage of at least S$40000. For this part, I availed the MI3E insurace from NTUC Income for a premium of S$240+ GST for 26 months. The insurer will then transmit the details of the policy to MoM. MoM will then send to you the green acknowledgement letter by post. You can also check wponline if
- Once you receive the green acknowledgement letter, you may now bring your FDW over to Singapore. Make sure she has a copy of the In Principle Approval Letter with her which she will present to the Singapore Immigration for clearance. (To be on the safe side, make sure too that Immigration officials in the Philippines don’t see this letter otherwise she may not be allowed to exit the Philippines especially if she hasn’t gone thru POEA and OWWA which you can do later.)
- You may now also schedule your FDW to take the Entry Test (S$5) which she needs to pass. She also needs to attend a Safety Awareness Course (S$20). She needs to take both of these within 3 days after her arrival. It’s best to book her schedule with National Safety Council of Singapore prior to her arrival.
Up to this point, I was able to do everything from the comfort of my own home. All I needed was a computer, internet connection, and a phone.
The next steps will be continued in Part 2 of this entry.
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13 responses so far ↓
1 Meg // Jan 26, 2010 at 1:55 pm
Did your maid have any problems leaving the Phillipines? I am bringing in a friend for about 5 months to help with my baby and am worried about how difficult it will be for her to return when she is done. Any suggestions?
2 Ms. Tsiken // Jan 26, 2010 at 8:46 pm
In our case, we had her take a non-budget flight with a return date of 2 weeks and just rebooked her return when she got here. I heard they are stricter with passengers on budget flights both here in Singapore and in the Philippines.
As for your friend, I’d say the difficult part is having her stay for 5 months because tourists are only allowed to stay for a maximum of 30 days. That’s what Singapore immigration stamps on the passport. She can extend her stay for another 30 days via online extension on the condition that she will exit after the 30 day extension and not return within 5 days. Some people exit through Malaysia every 30 days but I doubt if you can do that for 5 months without immigration questioning you.
I think, if you bring in any of your parents, you can apply for a long term social visit pass for them so they can stay longer to help with your baby.
Cheers!
3 Toti // Feb 20, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Hi Ms. Tsiken,
How difficult is the entry test? We ‘re considering going through an agency since they have reviewers for the test. However, the total cost of having an agency do this has now shot up to $1000 exclusive of airfare, so we’re considering doing it on our own. If the test is easy, then we won’t need the help of an agency. Would you know if there’s a way to prepare our maid for the test?
Thanks.
4 noee // Feb 21, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Hi Toti,
The exam is pretty easy for a high school graduate. It’s basic math, English comprehension and common sense. You can download reviewers from the MOM site: http://www.mom.gov.sg/publish/momportal/en/communities/work_pass/foreign_domestic_workers/application0/requirements/first-time_foreign.html#entrytest
I think it’s the same reviewer the agencies use. I went through the reviewer with our maid and I also gave her some tips on taking an exam like skip the questions she doesn’t know the answer to and just come back to it later. Also don’t leave any item unanswered.
You also need to explain to her some points from the Employer Orientation Program – rules like she’s not supposed to work for anyone else but you, she can only work on domestic chores and not business related ones, etc.
Everything is on the reviewer.
Good luck!
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5 noee // Feb 21, 2010 at 11:01 pm
Oh and make sure she keeps up with the time. She has less than a minute to answer each question. But it’s really easy.
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6 Lee // Mar 2, 2010 at 1:23 pm
I’m currently applying for my maid, this article is really helpful. I just finished the EOP and MOM application, I was advised to have a family accompany my maid, as Immigration in the Philippines might have some doubt about our maid.
I’ll keep on sharing if I learned something new, really good article!
7 Lee // Mar 3, 2010 at 1:39 pm
my first application got rejected, they won’t say the exact reason except that you missed one or more of their requirement. Subukan ko ulit, any advice?
8 Ms. Tsiken // Mar 3, 2010 at 4:59 pm
If it’s any consolation, my first application got rejected too. They also didn’t say why. Pero kasi pala I didn’t take the EOP muna.
I would recommend you try again pero try to figure out what you missed first. Your maid should still be in the phils, her passport valid for 6 months, etc. etc.
It could be the form that you submit so MoM can look into your income…
Just a few suggestions.
You might find http://www.pinoysg.com/forum Search the forum about domestic help, maid. There are a lot of helpful discussions there. Maybe you might find someone who can tell you what you missed too.
Good luck.
9 Toti // Mar 14, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Thanks so much… this is really helpful!
10 Lee // Mar 16, 2010 at 3:43 pm
I got my 2nd rejection after submitting the documents and waiting for 7 days, now I have to find a child care to take care of my kid while waiting for my mum to return.
11 noee // Mar 16, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Aww, I’m so sorry to hear that. I know how difficult it is to leave your child in the hands of people you don’t know. I hope your mom gets here soon.
The application may have been also affected by the fact that Singapore is now controlling the influx of foreign workers into the country.
Hope everything works out well for you.
12 jack // Mar 16, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Lee,
wow, 2nd rejection.. and, 7 days? did you check wponline if your application got approved/denied and got the result 7 days after, or you received the postal notification after 7 days?
also, why do you think your application got rejected? Did MOM mention any ideal income that will increase the likelihood of approval?
13 Lee // Mar 17, 2010 at 8:21 pm
Noee, tnx, perhaps that maybe the reason.
Jack, I submitted my documents via iSubmit, and as mentioned in my MOM application, it will take 7 days before they can verify/validate my documents. I got the result online. It might be because I was not able to submit the required document in 1 message, because it’s above 2MB so I have to split my message, it’s just a guess. That’s the difficult part, there’s no appeal nor would you know what’s wrong with the application.
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