When Kay Cheong first worked as a flight attendant for Singapore Airlines, she never imagined that it would one day prepare her to become an immigration consultant and start her own firm.
During her flying career, the Malaysian met people of all nationalities and formed fast friendships. After five years, she transitioned to a ground job that exercised her people skills and tried on different hats, first as a financial advisor, and then an immigration consultant. The latter was her calling.
In 2019, Cheong and her business partner Elena Kwa took the plunge and started The Immigration People (TIP). They wanted to empower individuals with the clarity needed to navigate the complexities of immigration processes. As a result of their collective experience, TIP was founded on the principles of financial expertise, transparency, and a genuine passion for empowering clients.
“We pride ourselves on assisting individuals who share our passion for Singapore and strive to help them realise their dreams of creating a home for themselves and their families. We are not just service providers, we are also partners on their immigration journey,” Cheong says.
As an example of TIP’s close relationship with its clients, Cheong shared the case of Eddie, whose stepson it obtained citizenship for after multiple failed attempts. Cheong explained that Eddie had initially been unaware of the adoption and citizenship application processes, and wasted many years attempting them.
TIP’s commitment to transparency and innovation sets it apart from other immigration service providers. Founded in 2020, the founding duo maintains the only YouTube channel in the industry with weekly video insights on immigration matters and even shared their pricing structure on the website to demystify the opaque pricing practices in the industry.
But it wasn’t always clear skies for TIP. The team had to adjust their business strategy to cope with prospective clients postponing their migration plans due to the pandemic. The company decided to shift its marketing efforts to Singapore instead, focusing on those who were currently in the country on work passes. TIP remained profitable during the pandemic due to this pivot.
Eddie is one of TIP’s success stories, but his plight is not uncommon. From assuming guaranteed approval to universal processes and underestimating the complexity of documentation, Cheong hopes to dispel common misconceptions surrounding the immigration process through TIP’s social media content.
Cheong offers this advice to those entering the immigration process for the first time: understand your goals, research thoroughly, seek professional guidance, prepare accurate documentation, budget wisely, and plan ahead.
Knowing that knowledge is power for TIP and its clients, Cheong believes in empowering her team through education and encourages her staff to attend training sessions and share best practices. To date, TIP has successfully placed thousands of clients from around the world, mainly China, India, Europe, and South-east Asia.
She believes her staff’s experiences serve as invaluable lessons for the team in fostering a collective understanding of complex cases and constantly changing scenarios.
Looking ahead, Cheong hopes to solidify TIP’s position as the premier immigration consultancy in Singapore, building upon its reputation of expertise, reliability, and client satisfaction.
Producer: Adora Wong
Art director: Ed Harland
Videographer: Alicia Chong
Photographer: Mun Kong
Photographer’s assistant: Hizuan Zailani
Makeup: Ying Cui
Hair: Aung Apichai
