Since May 2021 the Letter of Consent route for Dependant's Pass holders has narrowed to running your own business, with one notable exception for ONE Pass spouses.
From 1 September 2026, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has raised the S Pass minimum qualifying salary from S$3,150 to S$3,300 a month for most sectors, and from S$3,650 to S$3,800 a month for financial services. The new thresholds rise progressively with age, reaching roughly S$4,800 (general) and S$5,650 (financial services) for candidates in their [...]
Most employer obligations around work passes deal with predictable events, hiring, renewal, or a planned resignation. Far harder to manage is the situation where a Work Permit, S Pass, or Employment Pass holder simply stops turning up and cannot be contacted. Absconding is rare, but when it happens, Singapore employers have specific and time-sensitive obligations [...]
Singapore’s Employment Pass (EP) application process underwent a fundamental transformation with the introduction of the COMPASS (Complementarity Assessment Framework) scoring system on 1 September 2023. Before COMPASS, EP decisions were largely qualitative — an officer assessed salary, employer profile and candidate qualifications holistically. Since COMPASS, every EP application is now assigned a numerical score, and [...]
The S Pass is Singapore's work pass for mid-level skilled foreign workers — those who have the qualifications or experience to fill skilled roles but whose profile does not meet the Employment Pass (EP) threshold. For many Singapore employers, the S Pass is the principal mechanism for hiring skilled foreign employees in technical, supervisory, or [...]
The Employment Pass (EP) is the work pass most foreign professionals reach for, but for founders building a venture-backed or IP-led business in Singapore, the EntrePass is often the better fit — and in some cases the only fit. Unlike the EP, the EntrePass is awarded based on the merits of the business itself, not [...]
If you are a foreign professional considering a move to Singapore, or a multinational employer planning a Singapore posting, you will quickly come across three different work pass options that are often confused: the standard Employment Pass (EP), the Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass (ONE Pass), and the Personalised Employment Pass (PEP). All three allow [...]
If you are a foreign entrepreneur looking to start an innovative or venture-backed business in Singapore, the EntrePass is one of the few work pass routes available to you. Unlike the Employment Pass — which requires you to be sponsored by an existing employer — the EntrePass allows you to be the founder, the shareholder, [...]
For foreign professionals, executives and entrepreneurs eyeing a move to Singapore in 2026, the work-pass landscape has narrowed to three serious contenders: the Employment Pass (EP), the ONE Pass, and the Personalised Employment Pass (PEP). Each has a different sponsor model, salary floor and validity period, and choosing the wrong one can cost you months [...]
Since September 2023, the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS) has been the gateway test for almost every Employment Pass (EP) application in Singapore. From 1 January 2026, MOM has refreshed both the qualifying salary thresholds and the institution lists used in scoring — meaning many employers and candidates who passed COMPASS comfortably in 2025 will need [...]