Really impossible to direct hire Indonesian maid?
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busygal:
The procedure to get own maid is so easy, I can't believe I've been paying agent so much for so many years. Mostly clicking on MOM website only. Upon arrival, pick her from airport, send to medical, bring her to MOM once only on a sat morning, less than 1 hour all done.
busygal: Thanks for sharing. If your maid came on a tourist passport, how was her social visit pass converted to a work permit? Does the Work Permit office at Tanjong Pagar do it as a matter of routine for such cases or did she have to exit Singapore (e.g. go to Msia) and then show the temp approval from MOM at Singapore Immigration when she returns? And if she goes on home leave after 1 year, she will have to pay the fiskal/exit tax at the Indon airport, yes? (From what I understand, KTKLN holders don't have to pay fiskal.) -
BuSy JuNeBuG:
busygal:
The procedure to get own maid is so easy, I can't believe I've been paying agent so much for so many years. Mostly clicking on MOM website only. Upon arrival, pick her from airport, send to medical, bring her to MOM once only on a sat morning, less than 1 hour all done.
busygal: Thanks for sharing. If your maid came on a tourist passport, how was her social visit pass converted to a work permit? Does the Work Permit office at Tanjong Pagar do it as a matter of routine for such cases or did she have to exit Singapore (e.g. go to Msia) and then show the temp approval from MOM at Singapore Immigration when she returns? And if she goes on home leave after 1 year, she will have to pay the fiskal/exit tax at the Indon airport, yes? (From what I understand, KTKLN holders don't have to pay fiskal.)
Passport is just a pssoort. A document to travel. Only indo give maid thinner one so that they would know who are the maids. She applied for passport as a indo citizen, ordinary passport. Those who come as maids will be given thinner passport so that official at indo side can tell straight away that they are maids. That way, when they return, they go to separate que and pay money in order to enter indo. Their way of extorting money from their own ppl whom they deem richer. Ordinary passport means just ordinary citizen going in and out for holiday. No fizkal tax, nothing to pay. My maid has more than 10 years experience in sg. Initially, first time came on maid passport thru agency. Subsequently after years of working, went back to rest. Change to normal ordinary passport for travel for leisure and I believe she did travel for leisure a little before deciding to come back to work. Thus when I direct hire her, just used back that passport. She did not come in as tourist. All MOM procedures followed. I called MOM, they guided me through their website to do the application, all from comfort of my own home. She came in with approval from MOM to work as maid. I fax her MOM approval and air ticket. Everything was done legally. At indo side, she just use air ticket and passport to leave the country. I collected her from airport, send her for medical, which take about an hour. Then the next sat morning, I took her to MOM. Again all completed in an hour or two. Easy and fast. But procedure may have change as I did mine early this year. From this forum, I realised there were changes since June/July 2012. So things may have change. Call MOM. They are nice and will guide u thru it patiently. -
busygal:
Hi, do you buy 2 ways ticket or 1 way ticket for her?
Passport is just a pssoort. A document to travel. Only indo give maid thinner one so that they would know who are the maids. She applied for passport as a indo citizen, ordinary passport. Those who come as maids will be given thinner passport so that official at indo side can tell straight away that they are maids. That way, when they return, they go to separate que and pay money in order to enter indo. Their way of extorting money from their own ppl whom they deem richer. Ordinary passport means just ordinary citizen going in and out for holiday. No fizkal tax, nothing to pay. My maid has more than 10 years experience in sg. Initially, first time came on maid passport thru agency. Subsequently after years of working, went back to rest. Change to normal ordinary passport for travel for leisure and I believe she did travel for leisure a little before deciding to come back to work. Thus when I direct hire her, just used back that passport. She did not come in as tourist. All MOM procedures followed. I called MOM, they guided me through their website to do the application, all from comfort of my own home. She came in with approval from MOM to work as maid. I fax her MOM approval and air ticket. Everything was done legally. At indo side, she just use air ticket and passport to leave the country. I collected her from airport, send her for medical, which take about an hour. Then the next sat morning, I took her to MOM. Again all completed in an hour or two. Easy and fast. But procedure may have change as I did mine early this year. From this forum, I realised there were changes since June/July 2012. So things may have change. Call MOM. They are nice and will guide u thru it patiently. -
JJ1111:
Hi JJ1111,
Hi, do you buy 2 ways ticket or 1 way ticket for her?
I gave her a one way ticket. -
if the maid comes in with a normal tourist passport, then can KTKLN cards be processed in the in don embassy in Singapore?
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En-joy:
if the maid comes in with a normal tourist passport, then can KTKLN cards be processed in the in don embassy in Singapore?
No. It can only be done in Indon. Anyway, she doesn't need the card here. The card is only to enable her to leave Indon. So get it done when she goes for home leave.
However, if it's a tourist passport, will she be able to apply for KTKLN? Or would KTKLN be necessary at all? -
I think passport is passport, no normal or tourist. As I said they only purposely give maid thinner than normal, fewer pages, so that they immediately can tell that these ppl work as maids. Or maybe they think maid dun travel so dun need thick passport.
I didn’t check my maids belonging. Have no idea if she has the card. I can check with her. Coz she is such an experience maid, in and out of sg so much, I told her I will handle everything on SG side, MOM, insurance, air ticket etc. She was suppose to handle all the requirement on indo side by herself, make sure she has passport valid for two years or more, and make sure she arrives in SG with the air ticket I send to her. That’s why it’s so easy for me. I didn’t bother to worry about indo side coz she handled it by herself. -
POA Teacher:
I thought the idea of using the tourist passport is so that the Indon authorities do not track the maid as an FDW. The KTKLN is an identification card for Indon overseas workers so that they know who's going where and working as what, so I think it defeats the purpose of going the tourist passport route if one is later going to go to head to a KTKLN office and register. As busygal pointed out earlier, it is not that easy to get a tourist passport in the first place.En-joy:
if the maid comes in with a normal tourist passport, then can KTKLN cards be processed in the in don embassy in Singapore?
No. It can only be done in Indon. Anyway, she doesn't need the card here. The card is only to enable her to leave Indon. So get it done when she goes for home leave.
However, if it's a tourist passport, will she be able to apply for KTKLN? Or would KTKLN be necessary at all?
There's a step-by-step guide for direct hiring here:
http://www.singaporemotherhood.com/forumboard/messages/5/Getting_an_INDO_maid_WITHOUT_an_agent-6792714-7519586.pdf
Please don't follow it in its entirety without first googling and enquiring with official sources to see if there have been any other policy changes since. The policies can change from time to time or also from place to place or officer to officer, so do not just rely on anecdotal evidence shared here. From the stories I've read so far in this thread and elsewhere, the experiences differ slightly or significantly and can be hard to reconcile. Last thing you want is to have made all the arrangements and then find your maid turned back at either an Indon or Changi airport. -
busygal:
Passport is just a pssoort. A document to travel. Only indo give maid thinner one so that they would know who are the maids. She applied for passport as a indo citizen, ordinary passport. Those who come as maids will be given thinner passport so that official at indo side can tell straight away that they are maids. That way, when they return, they go to separate que and pay money in order to enter indo. Their way of extorting money from their own ppl whom they deem richer. Ordinary passport means just ordinary citizen going in and out for holiday. No fizkal tax, nothing to pay. My maid has more than 10 years experience in sg. Initially, first time came on maid passport thru agency. Subsequently after years of working, went back to rest. Change to normal ordinary passport for travel for leisure and I believe she did travel for leisure a little before deciding to come back to work. Thus when I direct hire her, just used back that passport. She did not come in as tourist. All MOM procedures followed. I called MOM, they guided me through their website to do the application, all from comfort of my own home. She came in with approval from MOM to work as maid. I fax her MOM approval and air ticket. Everything was done legally. At indo side, she just use air ticket and passport to leave the country. I collected her from airport, send her for medical, which take about an hour. Then the next sat morning, I took her to MOM. Again all completed in an hour or two. Easy and fast. But procedure may have change as I did mine early this year. From this forum, I realised there were changes since June/July 2012. So things may have change. Call MOM. They are nice and will guide u thru it patiently.
Sounds like you and your maid are very lucky! My maid, who had worked for another SG employer previously and who is also pretty experienced, said that generally they would just get a maid passport - cheaper and easier (but then again, to get the KTKLN, they still have to buy Indon insurance and pay the authorised Indon agent. So maybe the cost cancels itself out or it might even cost more than an ordinary/tourist passport once the cost of KTKLN/insurance is factored in). She also mentioned that Singapore ICA is known to stop women carrying ordinary Indon passports and question them at length on their reasons for visiting Singapore (need to show proof of hotel stay, sufficient money, etc.) and may turn them back if they are found to be coming to work. No info as to whether the employer had already gotten MOM approval and all the other documentation done. Again, all this is very anecdotal and can't be verified.
I have a question about the employment contract. Has anyone who has direct hired done the online registration of the contract described below and what happens if it is not done? Does it make it harder for the maid to apply for a KTKLN or does the maid run into problems the next time she needs to renew her passport at the embassy or in some other situation?
Stricter rules to bring in Indonesian maids
By Saifulbahri Ismail, 30 May 2012 Channel News Asia
Maid agencies in Singapore will now have to apply online for employment contracts for Indonesian foreign domestic workers with the country's embassy.
The change takes effect on Wednesday.
The new online system will help the embassy compile data and track the domestic workers from the time they leave Indonesia for Singapore.
The Indonesian embassy held a briefing for employment agencies on Wednesday to explain the changes.
In the past, the embassy said it does not have full information of all its domestic workers in Singapore.
This is because the data was just shared between employment agencies in Indonesia and Singapore.
Now, both Indonesia and Singapore employment agencies must key in the necessary data into the online system.
The embassy said having such information will help it safeguard the welfare of its citizens.
Sukmo Yuwono, counsellor, Indonesian Embassy in Singapore, said: \"Based on all that data, I'm very confident it will give protection in the beginning when the Indonesian domestic helper has problems in Singapore.
\"Because if I have a call from the police, for example, if I don't have any data, I have to find out by myself. I need to search through Indonesia, search all the agencies... but if they are already keyed in to our system, I will just find out from the system.\"
Employment agencies said the online process may be more tedious.
This is because even after the online process, agencies have to print out the Employment Contract and submit it to the embassy for endorsement. Agencies then need to send the Employment Contract to their counterparts in Indonesia.
This new system is also expected to put a stop to the practice of some employers who hire maids directly from Indonesia.
K Jayaprema, president, Association of Employment Agencies, said: \"So we are looking at more business for the local employment agencies because it looks like only the accredited agencies with the Indonesian embassy will be able to download the employment contract.
\"So definitely employers have to go to a local agency to help them with this contract. And it's not going to just stop with new girls coming in, I think it's also for renewal, also for the transfer of girls.\"
The Indonesian government said it wants to stop sending domestic workers abroad as of 2017. It wants to provide comprehensive training so that workers are ready to enter more competitive industries. Stricter requirements may also be applied by 2017.
\"But it's something we have to wait and see how effective this is going to be because definitely, they see anybody working overseas as a better source of income. So unless they are able to earn equally good salaries, I don't think the ban is going to work,\" said K Jayaprema, president, Association of Employment Agencies.
The Indonesian government had previously imposed a moratorium on sending migrant workers to Saudi Arabia due to the implementation of the death penalty on a number of Indonesian workers there. ### -
after reading about the new regulations, I feel like letting an agency handle everything
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