An Employment Pass is considered as work visa in Singapore which is issued by Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower. EP is spent for foreign professional employees, managers and owners or directors of Singaporean companies.
With Employment Pass, you are allowed to work and live in Singapore up to 2 years. In fact, a valid of EP is about 1-2 years, and you should renew the pass before it expires 6 months. The renewed pass may be valid for up to 3 years.
Who is eligible for applying Employment Pass?
The employment pass is for foreign professional workers who:
Have a job offer in Singapore
Work in a managerial, executive or specialised job
Earn a fixed monthly salary of at least $3,600 (more experienced candidates need higher salaries)
Have acceptable qualifications, usually a good university degree, professional qualifications or specialist skillsNote:
- A foreign – owner of Singapore company intends to come Singapore for managing the company can apply Employment Pass. However, the owner should apply EP when the Singapore company is incorporated at least 6 months to be more successful.
- Application for an Employment Pass is open to all nationalities.
An Employment Pass (EP) holder is permitted to act as a local Director of a Singapore Company provided that he/she is holding an EP under the same Singapore Company.
Employment Pass (EP) holder is permitted to be Partner of an LLP or LP and to act as the local resident Manager of the same LLP or LP that sponsors his/her EP.
Note: An EP holder is not allowed to act as a Local Director for another company that is not his/her sponsoring company/employer.
Family members of the EP holder can live and work in Singapore if:
- The EP holder with a minimum salary of S$5,000 will be able to apply the following passes for their family members:
- The family members need pass types below:
When you intend to apply work passes and permits in Singapore, you can use the SAT (Self-Assessment Tool) on website of Ministry of Manpower to check if you qualify for which passes you are suitable before you apply. Please note that it is for reference only and a result of application for work pass will be depended on an approval of Ministry of Manpower (MOM) when you apply for a work pass.
