In October 2004, the Singapore Ministry of Manpower (MOM) introduced the Work Permit Online (WPOL) system that allows the business community to apply for work permits (WP) of their foreign workers and obtain the result of the application within a day. This system allows employers to perform all the necessary work for their foreign workers online, and abolished the requirement to go through over-the-counter transactions.

Main results, benefits and impacts

Singapore's WPOL system allows employers to check their foreign worker quota entitlements and provides information about the reason of rejection of applications. Innovation: Before the installation of the WPOL, employers used to wait up to 7 days before getting the results of WP applications for their foreign workers. Also, employers had to go to Minsitry of Manpower (MOM) to submit their work permit application, renewal application, issuance application and work permit cancellation requests in person. Now, renewal and issuance processing through the WPOL can be completed within a day, and cancellations are completed within one hour of submission.

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - This integrated service allows the full online completion of previously paper-based transactions. Lesson 2 - The system provides a significant reduction of time (and, obviously, related cost) dedicated to bureaucratic procedures. Lesson 3 - The systmem improves the cooperation between the public administration and the business community. Scope: National