Companies that want to hire foreigners on an Employment Pass (EP) from Sep 1 will have to ensure their educational qualifications are authentic.

Employers will have to submit third-party verification proof for applicants with diploma-level qualifications and above, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said.

“Today, employers are already responsible for ensuring the authenticity of their candidate’s qualifications before hiring,” Manpower Minister Tan See Leng said in Parliament on Wednesday (Mar 1).

Mandatory verification will “safeguard against gaming by submitting fraudulent educational qualifications”, he said during his ministry’s Committee of Supply debate.

Last October, a man was sentenced to seven weeks’ jail after making false statements in his declaration for an EP. His EP was approved based on the false statements that were made in February 2019.

In 2021, MOM investigated 23 foreigners who had declared qualifications from Manav Bharti University in India. Two people were jailed for submitting false qualifications in their work pass applications, while 19 were permanently barred from working in Singapore.

The probe in Singapore began after MOM was alerted that India’s government was investigating the university for selling fake degrees.