“The appeal may take up to two weeks to process”. Four weeks later, after having placed called daily to the MoM, I manage to reach somebody yesterday who, after a couple of quick questions, talks to a supervisor. Gets back to me and says “Sir, how long has your company been registered for?” “Umm, about 4 months.” “Oh, then I regret to inform you that your appeal was rejected” “Uh, what? Why?” “You need to apply for an Entre Pass, since your company has not been registered for six months.” “But… but… what? It doesn’t say so on your website” “Sorry sir, that’s the rules.” And after a few more seconds of stunned conversation, me being completely confused and angry and disappointed, we hang up.

I called again today, having gathered some more information, aiming to speak to a supervisor. But, of course, after having spoken to some lowly servant human for a couple of minutes, just as I’m about to ask to speak to her supervisor, my phone dies. No more money on the freaking cash card. Hooray. Ok, so here’s the lowdown:

• I am advised by my accountants to apply for the Employment Pass, with reservation for my education that might not be enough.
• My first Employment Pass application was rejected, probably because of my lack of a proper “degree”. No big surprise.
• I fix this by getting a letter stating that my education is equivalent to a bachelor’s, get a letter from a member of parliament here, and by raising my monthly salary by almost 180%.
• I hand in my appeal on the 15th of August.
• I receive the news of it being rejected too. Now for another reason, namely that my company hasn’t been around long enough. Nobody has up until this point, during the 8 weeks of having my application submitted and resubmitted, numerous phone calls and two visits to their office, bothered to inform me about this rule.

Ok so now what? I guess I better start working on a “business plan” and submit my Entre Pass application asap, and hope that maybe my accountant can try and help me out in the mean time. I mean, paying $2000 [9 000 SEK] should at least guarantee that she knows what she’s doing, right?

Score after two rounds:
Jussi - Singapore: 0-2
Goooooo team!