FrontPage 3 Aug 2000 More

For work passes, i.e. Work Permit, Employment Pass, Dependant's Pass and Long Term Social Visit Pass (issued by the Employment Pass Department):

(a) Call MOM's Interactive Voice Response System at Tel: 1800-4385122;
(b) Call in person at MOM's Work Permit Department, Level 2, MOM Building (18, Havelock Road, #03-01 Singapore 059764) (To check the validity status of a work permit);
(c) Call in person at MOM's Employment Pass Department, Level 5, SIR Building (10 Kallang Road, Singapore 208718) (To check the validity status of an Employment Pass, Dependant's Pass, or Long Term Social Visit Pass);
(d) Use MOM's information kiosks at MOM (To check the validity status of a Work Permit); or
(e) Use MOM's new online verification system
(http://www.gov.sg/mom/fta/wp/wpepcheck.htm).

Homeowners who call at SIR/MOM, either in person or through the telephone, will receive an immediate reply on the outcome of their requests while those who use the internet verification system will receive a reply the next working day.

HOW TO USE INTERNET VERIFICATION SYSTEM

Homeowners who want to make an enquiry will be guided on how to use the systems. The information needed by both systems are:

(a) Name of person making enquiry (as it appears in his NRIC/immigration or work pass); and
(b) NRIC/Foreign Identification Number (FIN).

For checking of immigration passes, SIR requires the following additional
information:

(c) Type of immigration pass he is checking;
(d) Name of the foreigner (as it appears in the pass);
(e) Foreign Identification Number (FIN) of the foreigner;
(f) Date of birth of the foreigner;
(g) Expiry date of the pass of the foreigner; and
(h) Email address or fax number (this is to enable SIR to send the results of
the enquiry to the homeowner).

For checking of work passes, MOM requires:

(i) Foreign Identification Number (FIN), or Work Permit number;
(j) Date of birth of the foreigner, or Date of application of the work permit;
and (k) Email address (optional).

Upon successful submission, an acknowledgment page will be displayed. The enquirer can print a copy of the acknowledgment page as a reference. For verifying the validity of immigration passes, a reference number will be
displayed on the acknowledgement page. For checking the validity of a work pass, the enquirer will be informed of the outcome the next working day via Email if he had provided his Email address. Alternatively, he could visit the MOM On-line Verification website to check the outcome of his verification request.

DUE DILIGENCE REQUIREMENTS

Under the Immigration Act, homeowners who wish to rent their premises out to foreigners are required to exercise due diligence in checking the status of their prospective tenants to ensure that they are in Singapore legitimately. They need to conduct the following checks:

(a) check the original immigration pass or/and work pass of the foreign tenant;
(b) cross-check particulars on these passes against particulars on his
passport; and
(c) verify with the employer if the prospective tenant is working in Singapore.

PENALTY

Under the Immigration Act, the homeowner is liable to be charged for harbouring immigration offenders in his house if investigations reveal that he has not exercised due diligence as required by law. If the homeowner is found guilty of the offence, he shall be sentenced to an imprisonment of not less than 6 months and not more than 2 years and shall also be liable to a fine not exceeding S$6,000.

ADVICE TO EMPLOYERS

Employers are urged to help their foreign workers who need to rent premises by providing them with an updated reference letter that the worker can produce to his potential landlord. The letter should state clearly the worker's:

(a) Name;
(b) Work Permit or Foreign Identification Number (FIN);
(c) Date of birth;
(d) Passport number;
(e) Date of expiry of Work Permit or Employment Pass;
(f) Date of application of Work Permit (for Work Permit holders only).

The letter should also carry the company's official letterhead and the name and telephone number of an appropriate contact person in the event that potential landlords should wish to contact the company to verify the status of the worker. When contacted by landlords, employers should cooperate by helping to verify the status of their foreign workers so as to facilitate the checking process that landlords are required to do so under the law.

The Work Permit Department and the Employment Pass Department will be writing to employers of foreign workers to remind them to issue the reference letter to their foreign workers renting residential premises (Please see Annex on the advice to employers).

NTUC Income launches pilot project - Tenant Check Service

NTUC Income on 1 Dec 2000 launched a pilot project - Tenant Check Service - to verify the immigration status and other particulars of tenants. For S$50 per tenant, NTUC Income will find out if the tenants are legal or illegal immigrants by inspecting their travel and identification documents, work permits and passports. It will also contact the Manpower Ministry and Singapore Immigration and Registration (SIR) and check with the tenants' employers. Homeowners will receive copies of the tenants' travel and employment documents and documents showing that checks have been conducted. Click NTUC Income for more information.

Landlady gets jail sentence for harbouring illegal immigrants

A retired widow was jailed on 27 Nov 2000 for harbouring illegal immigrants. Paridah Sanip, 63, a former civil servant, was sentenced to six months in prison after pleading guilty to renting rooms in her home to two Indonesian women who had overstayed their social visit passes. (Straits Times 28 Nov 2000)

A 68-year-old retired quantity surveyor who failed to check his sub-tenant's immigration status, was jailed for six months on 30 Aug 2000 for harbouring an illegal immigrant. Ang Joo Kwee, alias Wee Joo Kwee, had checked his tenants' work permits and immigration status with the authorities before he let out the apartment. But he did not verify the immigration status of his sub-tenant, Chen Choon Lian, 41, whom one of his tenants subsequently took in.

A landlord cannot be held liable for the acts of his tenants who sub-let his flat to illegal immigrants without his knowledge. Chief Justice Yong Pung How made this ruling recently when he clarified a point of law under the Immigration Act which holds landlords and employers liable for harbouring the illegal immigrants. Under the law, landlords are responsible for checking their foreign tenants' background carefully. But, CJ Yong noted that this did not mean that all landlords found with illegal immigrants in their flat would be guilty. They must first have a "guilty mind", he pointed out in the Law Academy Digest. But if something was done without their knowledge, especially in cases where the tenants are the culprits who allow the illegal immigrants into the flats, then landlords should not be penalised. (ST 28 Aug 2000)

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