MINISTRY OF MANPOWER (Screening agency for genuine work permits or passes)

Mr Inderjit Singh asked the Minister for Manpower whether he will consider setting up a screening agency within his Ministry to determine whether foreign workers are indeed holding genuine work permits or passes and to serve as a one-stop agency, where landlords and house owners intending to rent out their residential premises to foreign workers, can check whether these workers have such permits and passes.

The Minister for Manpower (Dr Lee Boon Yang): Mr Speaker, I do not have a Ministerial Statement.

Sir, since mid-1998, my Ministry has been helping people who need to check the status of a foreign worker. We provide a variety of checks for members of the public.

The Work Permit Department has a one-stop checking facility for members of the public who wish to verify the authenticity of a work permit card. Anyone can submit an original work permit for checking at the Work Permit Department. The Department receives about 50-60 such requests for authentication every week. An acknowledgement letter will be issued to the member of the public who presents a work permit card for checking. Members of the public can also verify the authenticity of a work permit card by using one of the self-service information kiosks at the Department. Currently, the information kiosk is not equipped to provide a written confirmation. We are in the process of improving the service to provide a hard copy confirmation.

In addition, the Department is also able to verify the identity of a work permit holder if the foreigner is personally present for a finger-print check. We can match his finger-print with records captured when the work permit was issued. In the case of employment pass holders, the Employment Pass Department will verify the authenticity of the pass when requested.

For those who do not wish to come personally to the Work Permit Department or the Employment Pass Department, they can also verify the information given on a work pass by calling the Ministry's One-Call Centre. The one-call centre has been receiving as many as 100 calls a day for this purpose. We also provide an interactive voice response system where anyone can dial in to verify the information given on a work pass. An advisory on how to use the interactive voice response system has been freely distributed at the Work Permit Department's service counters since March this year.

The Work Permit Department and the Singapore Immigration and Registration are also currently working towards allowing members of the public to verify the work permit status of foreign workers or the long term visit passes of foreigners through the Internet. This facility will be available within 3 to 6 months.

While members of the public can make use of the various facilities provided by my Ministry to verify the work permit status of foreign workers, I must stress that landlords should also check both the work pass and passport or travel document to ascertain that the particulars on both documents correspond materially. Where the employer is named, the landlord should also check with the employer to verify that the prospective tenants are in fact employed as stated. Where a foreigner has no work pass records, landlords must check the foreigner's passport or travel document to make sure that the latter has legal stay in Singapore and is not an illegal immigrant.

Mr Inderjit Singh (Ang Mo Kio): Sir, I have two questions. The first one is on the verification of the work permit or the employment pass. Does the prospective landlord have to submit the original copy of the document to the Work Permit Department? The second question is on the finger-printing check. I think that is the best foolproof check to verify whether a person is truly a legal immigrant or legal worker. Could this finger-printing check be designated to all neighbourhood police posts, for ease of access to all Singaporeans?

Dr Lee Boon Yang: Mr Speaker, Sir, if any landlord wants to check on the authenticity of the actual work permit or the employment pass, then, of course, the original document has to be submitted, because you cannot verify the authenticity on the basis of a photocopy. But if you just want to check whether the particulars, in other words, this work permit number belongs to a person by such and such a name, then those particulars can be verified online. It can be verified through the interactive voice response system, or they can be verified by calling my Ministry's one-call centre.

As to whether we could decentralise the checking of finger-print, I think we need to look into whether, in fact, it is technically feasible to have such a decentralised system.