The Singapore Employment Pass

Singapore has no self-sponsored route. Your firm files the Employment Pass form, or you do not come. A new pass needs a fixed monthly salary of at least S$5,600 ($4,410), or S$6,200 ($4,880) in finance. Both floors rise to S$6,000 and S$6,600 on 1 January 2027 (Ministry of Manpower, read 11 September 2026). COMPASS, a points test, decides the rest.

Current at 9 September 2026. Dollars at SGD 1.27 to US$1, the rate of 8 September 2026.

Your employer files it, and you cannot

Your firm, or an agent it appoints, applies to the Ministry of Manpower for you. You cannot file for yourself. A company with no Singapore-registered office needs a local sponsor to file (Ministry of Manpower, key facts, read 11 September 2026).

The pass runs up to 2 years, then up to 3 years when you renew. Entries have no limit, no stay has a day cap. It ends with the job. A spouse and children need a Dependant's Pass, at S$6,000 ($4,720) a month for the holder. Parents need a Long-Term Visit Pass, at S$12,000 ($9,450) a month (Ministry of Manpower, read 10 September 2026). Those floors decide whether you arrive alone when moving to Singapore.

The ministry also lists a 5-year term for an experienced tech professional in a Shortage Occupation List role. It needs 10 points on COMPASS's nationality-mix criterion. The salary floor is also higher, from S$10,700 a month (Ministry of Manpower, Employment Pass key facts, read 11 September 2026).

The in-principle approval letter is itself a single-entry visa, valid 6 months. Issuing the pass needs you in Singapore, through the EP eService. Cancelling it grants up to 90 days on a visit pass, not 30 (Ministry of Manpower, read 11 September 2026).

The floor is two numbers, and it moves on 1 January 2027

Fixed monthly salary, new application	Now, since 1 January 2025	From 1 January 2027
General	S$5,600 ($4,410)	S$6,000 ($4,720)
Financial services	S$6,200 ($4,880)	S$6,600 ($5,200)
Age 45 and above, general	S$10,700 ($8,430)	S$11,500 ($9,060)
Age 45 and above, finance	S$11,800 ($9,290)	S$12,700 ($10,000)

All eight figures come from the ministry's Employment Pass eligibility page, read 11 September 2026. Your firm pays S$105 ($83) to file and S$225 ($177) on approval, S$330 ($260) in total (Ministry of Manpower, 7 July 2026). You pay nothing.

The floor climbs every year from 23. The ministry's full table puts it at S$7,223 at 30 and S$9,541 at 40 (Ministry of Manpower, read 11 September 2026).

Renewals lag a year behind. The 2027 floors apply to new filings from 1 January 2027. They also apply to renewals where the pass expires from 1 January 2028 (Ministry of Manpower, read 10 September 2026).

COMPASS scores you out of 40, and zero is a real result

Stage one is the salary floor. Stage two is COMPASS, in force since 1 September 2023. You need 40 points.

Criterion	Points	What it measures
Salary	0 / 10 / 20	Against the sector benchmark — 10 at the 65th percentile, 20 at the 90th
Qualifications	0 / 10 / 20	20 for a top-tier institution, 10 for a listed degree, 0 for neither
Nationality mix	0 / 10 / 20	Your nationality's share of the firm's professionals — 20 under 5%, 10 under 25%, 0 above
Local employment	0 / 10 / 20	Local professional share against the sector's percentile — 20 at the 50th or above, 10 from the 20th up
Skills bonus	0 / 10 / 20	A Shortage Occupation List role — 20 under a third of the firm's professionals, 10 at a third or more
Strategic priorities	0 / 10	A recognised priority partnership

A firm with fewer than 25 professionals takes an automatic 10 on nationality mix and on local employment. Above S$22,500 a month you skip COMPASS. The ministry does publish a benchmark: S$5,063 to S$7,843 at 30 in accommodation (Ministry of Manpower, C1, August 2025). Both changed on 1 January 2026, renewals from 1 July 2026 (newlandchase.com, read 10 September 2026).

What the pass will not let you do

Sponsor yourself. No nomad visa or income route exists here (Ministry of Manpower, read 10 September 2026)
Work for anyone but the firm named on it. Side clients and second jobs are out
Invoice a Singapore client as a freelancer. That needs a company, or a Letter of Consent
Buy an HDB flat, or lower the 60% buyer's duty, unchanged since 27 April 2023. Five nationalities pay 0% on a first home — Singapore stamp duty for foreign buyers names them
Bring family below S$6,000 a month
Drive indefinitely on a foreign licence. Convert within 12 months, or 6 if you drive for work. Use an international permit or English translation meanwhile (Traffic Police, read 11 September 2026)

It does buy what a visitor cannot: a lease a landlord will sign, and a bank account. DBS lets you open one online with no minimum deposit. An HDB room needs at least 6 months of pass validity (DBS, HDB, read 11 September 2026). Rents are on renting an apartment in Singapore.

What Singapore asks of you once you hold it

Less than its neighbours ask. There is no 90-day report and no landlord registration. You file a free SG Arrival Card within 3 days before every arrival. Returning pass holders must file one too (entrybrief.com, 2 August 2026). Employment Pass holders must tell the ministry about an address change, and permanent residents must tell ICA.

That is 5 days for the ministry, 28 for ICA (MOM, ICA, read 11 September 2026).

Overstay	What it costs
Up to 90 days	A fine up to S$4,000 ($3,150) and/or up to 6 months in jail
More than 90 days	Up to 6 months in jail plus at least 3 strokes of the cane for men under 50, or a fine up to S$6,000 ($4,720) where caning cannot be administered

These penalties come from the Immigration Act 1959, section 15(3) (Singapore Statutes Online, read 11 September 2026).

You become a tax resident at 183 days in the calendar year (Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, read 11 September 2026). A clash with France settles on permanent home and centre of vital interests, not a day count. This is not tax advice.

Who should not bother, and where to look instead

If this is you	Why the pass fails	Where to look
Paid by a foreign employer or your own clients	No self-sponsored route exists, at any income	Thailand's DTV visa — five years, 180 days a stay
Earning well, with no Singapore offer	Stage one needs an employer and a contract	The ONE Pass, from S$30,000 ($23,620) a month, five years
A founder without an investor	EntrePass needs S$100,000 ($78,740) from an accredited investor, an incubator place or qualifying IP	Malaysia's DE Rantau pass, $24,000 a year for digital roles
Paid between S$5,600 and S$5,999	The 2027 floor catches you at renewal	Negotiate the raise, or file in 2026
45 or older on a general salary	Your floor is S$10,700, and S$11,500 from 2027	Nothing here. The quietest rejection in the framework

The DTV and DE Rantau figures come from our immigration file of 8 September 2026. The Personalised Employment Pass is the ministry's employer-independent alternative. It needs S$22,500 last drawn a month, then S$270,000 ($212,600) a year. It runs up to 3 years with no renewal (Ministry of Manpower, Personalised Employment Pass, read 11 September 2026).

Singapore asks the most of the region's seven countries. Living in Southeast Asia 101 ranks the long-stay routes of all seven by how usable they are.

So, honestly? Take it if you have the offer. It is the steadiest long-stay document in the region, and money alone will not buy it. The best time to move to Singapore sets out the filing timing.

What this page does not cover

The 4-route Singapore ladder in one place, Employment Pass through Long-Term Visit Pass, with each threshold
The 7-country visa-free table, each extension and what it costs
The region's long-stay routes, ranked by how usable they are, and how overstays compare
The bank-account-by-visa table for 7 countries, and the 2025-26 SIM registration limits

All of it is in Living in Southeast Asia 101 — 60 pages, $49. See what's inside

Your salary sets your standard of living. The cost of living in Singapore prices a month at three levels. Still choosing between cities? Compare all ten cities on rent, visas and tax first.