Keeping your helper in Singapore

Since I've blogged about hiring a helper in Singapore & even nuances like the Indonesian helper contract, I thought I might as well blog about renewing a helpers permit.

http://www.mom.gov.sg/renew-helper is the authoritative source.

First you should receive "the renewal letter" which isn't just a reminder it's actually marks an important step in this bureaucratic process. Firstly it means you can carry on having a helper, which can be tricky if you own pass doesn't meet certain requirements.

The most important step is to ensure insurance aka "the security bond" is in place for the next year. Unfortunately renewing insurance at least with NTUC is non-trivial at least with their online Web form which is a terrible UX.

So to save you sanity refilling in the Web form with all your details and getting the start/end dates correct for the 14 month extensions they sell, I advise you to take some time out and call them.

The next little gotcha is that it takes AT LEAST a working day (more like 3 days) for the insurer to inform MOM that you have renewed the insurance. So don't expect to do this in the last minute!!

The new Web form is quite slick, but it currently doesn't prompt you to enter the new details of her passport. So if she's had her passport renewed, watch out for that.