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Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance 2003-2011

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2006 Category 1: S<strong>in</strong>gapore<br />

Asia <strong>and</strong> the Pacific<br />

S<strong>in</strong>gapore<br />

2006 Category 1 W<strong>in</strong>ner<br />

Integrated Work Permit Onl<strong>in</strong>e Services<br />

Work Pass Division, M<strong>in</strong>istry of Manpower (MOM)<br />

S<strong>in</strong>gapore<br />

Description<br />

Meet<strong>in</strong>g the bus<strong>in</strong>ess community needs by creat<strong>in</strong>g an onl<strong>in</strong>e work permit system.<br />

The Problem<br />

The challenge for the government was to comprehensively address the foreign workers’<br />

immigration status <strong>and</strong> respond promptly to bus<strong>in</strong>ess needs <strong>in</strong> a rapidly chang<strong>in</strong>g<br />

economic environment.<br />

The Solution<br />

S<strong>in</strong>gapore’s M<strong>in</strong>istry of Manpower (MOM) <strong>in</strong>troduced the Work Permit Onl<strong>in</strong>e<br />

(WPOL) system, which allows the bus<strong>in</strong>ess community to apply for the work permit<br />

(WP) of their foreign workers. WPOL responds to the application process with<strong>in</strong><br />

one day.<br />

The WPOL allows all the employers to submit onl<strong>in</strong>e renewal or cancellation of<br />

work permits for their foreign workers through the the <strong>in</strong>ternet, <strong>and</strong> the procedure<br />

can be done by the next work<strong>in</strong>g day, which is the desirable world st<strong>and</strong>ard. The<br />

onl<strong>in</strong>e cancellation is <strong>in</strong>stantaneous, <strong>and</strong> immigrants can pr<strong>in</strong>t out the special social<br />

visit pass with<strong>in</strong> ten m<strong>in</strong>utes. Also, they can even pay overstay f<strong>in</strong>es with credit card<br />

payments through the WPOL system. The system requires a m<strong>in</strong>imum adequate<br />

knowledge <strong>and</strong> supervision. The WPOL system also allows employers to check their<br />

foreign worker quota entitlements, <strong>and</strong> provides employers with a justification of<br />

why their applications are refused.<br />

The WPOL system works with other government agencies to efficietly deliver public<br />

services to the community. As a result, MOM has become one of the lead<strong>in</strong>g<br />

government agencies to <strong>in</strong>crease efficiency <strong>and</strong> effectiveness of its procedures, <strong>and</strong><br />

has brought great benefits to both bus<strong>in</strong>ess communities <strong>and</strong> government agencies<br />

<strong>in</strong> S<strong>in</strong>gapore.<br />

In order to better underst<strong>and</strong> the expectations <strong>and</strong> needs of bus<strong>in</strong>esses, <strong>and</strong> to improve<br />

its services, MOM requested feedback from the employers <strong>and</strong> employment<br />

agencies. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to the usability survey conducted recently, 90% of respondents<br />

found the WPOL system easy to use.<br />

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