How to Get an Employment Pass in Singapore

An Employment Pass (EP) is the primary visa route for foreign professionals you hire into managerial, executive, or specialist roles. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) regulates this system closely and requires your company to sponsor the application on your candidate's behalf.

However, securing an approval requires more than a signed offer letter. MOM assesses every application against a salary threshold and a points-based framework called COMPASS. Each of these factors is crucial to EP approval. 

This guide walks you through the full process of obtaining an EP in Singapore. We cover the rules that govern the pass, the eligibility criteria, documents you need to prepare, the application steps, and the salary changes MOM has already confirmed for 2027.

Understanding the Employment Pass Process

The EP falls under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, the legislation MOM uses to regulate every foreign work pass in Singapore. Two frameworks shape how MOM assesses an EP application specifically. 

• Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS): Scores the candidate and employer on a points system introduced in September 2023.
• The Fair Consideration Framework: Requires you to consider local professionals for the role before you turn to foreign candidates.

Within those rules, a few features define what the pass provides:

• Validity: First-time EPs run for one or two years. Renewals can extend to three years. Professionals in priority sectors sometimes qualify for five-year renewals.
• No quota or levy: Unlike the S Pass or Work Permit, the EP carries no headcount cap and no monthly levy. You can sponsor as many EP holders as your business can justify on merit.
• Family sponsorship: EP holders earning SGD 6,000 or more a month can bring a spouse and children under a Dependant's Pass. Those earning SGD 12,000 or more can also sponsor parents under a Long-Term Visit Pass.
• A path to permanent residency: EP holders can apply for PR, though approval rests on how well the applicant's profile fits Singapore's economic and social priorities.

Employment Pass Eligibility Criteria in Singapore

There are two eligibility criteria for Singapore's Employment Pass: the minimum salary threshold and the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS). Your application will have to satisfy both.

Stage 1: The Minimum Salary Requirement

The candidate's fixed monthly salary has to meet MOM's baseline for their sector and age.

As of 2026, the minimum qualifying salary for an Employment Pass in Singapore is:

• SGD 5,600 for most sectors
• SGD 6,200 for financial services roles

These figures are the baseline for a candidate around 23 years old. The threshold then rises with age, because MOM expects more experienced hires to command higher pay. By age 45 and above, the requirement reaches roughly SGD 10,700 for most sectors and SGD 11,800 for financial services.

This age-based salary progression is where many companies encounter issues. Consider a marketing manager in her late 30s set at the SGD 5,600 baseline. MOM benchmarks her against local professionals of similar age and experience, so her actual threshold sits well above the entry-level figure. 

Stage 2: The Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS)

Once the candidate clears the salary threshold, the application moves to COMPASS. This framework scores the candidate and the employer together across six criteria, and the application needs at least 40 points to pass.

Here is a summary of the COMPASS criteria and the points available under each:

Two points are worth noting before you score your own candidate:

• PMET or Professional, Managerial, Executive, and Technician roles. MOM uses this classification to benchmark salaries and workforce composition across C1 and C4. The term appears throughout EP paperwork even though MOM rarely defines it.
• Smaller companies receive a concession. If your company has fewer than 25 PMET employees, you are awarded an automatic 10 points on both C3 and C4. This helps smaller businesses reach the 40-point mark without a large local workforce.

To see how the points accumulate, consider a software engineer from Germany. Her salary lands in the 70th percentile for her role, which earns 10 points on C1. She holds a degree from a top-tier university, worth 20 points on C2. At her prospective employer, German nationals make up under 5% of PMET staff, adding 20 points on C3. She reaches 40 points before the local support criterion even applies.

Some candidates bypass COMPASS entirely. A candidate is exempt if:

• They earn a fixed monthly salary of SGD 22,500 or more
• Apply as an intra-corporate transferee, or
• Fill a role lasting under one month.

Employer Requirements for Sponsoring an Employment Pass

The MOM also assesses the sponsoring company with its own set of requirements to meet. To sponsor an EP, you must:

• Be registered and actively operating in Singapore
• Comply with the Fair Consideration Framework (FCF) by posting the role on MyCareersFuture for at least 14 days before considering foreign candidates

If your company has fewer than 10 employees, you can omit the posting. Many small businesses overlook this and either post unnecessarily or assume they can skip this step.

Documents Required for an Employment Pass Application

The required documents to apply for an employment pass come in two parts: your legitimacy as an employer and your employee’s identity and qualifications. 

As the employer, you need:

• The completed EP application form
• Your company business profile from ACRA
• The employment contract stating the role, salary, and terms

On the part of the candidate, you will need:

• A copy of the candidate's passport (personal details page)
• Educational certificates and supporting qualifications, translated into English where needed
• Education verification proof

MOM can request additional documents depending on the specifics of the application. Every qualification a candidate declares also has to be verified independently, either through a background screening company, the awarding institution's verification portal, or OpenCerts. This verification alone can take around three weeks, and you have to complete it before the application goes in rather than alongside it.

Localization and Hiring Quotas

Employers arriving from markets with fixed foreign-worker caps often expect the EP to work the same way. However, the EP carries no quota and no levy, so only merit limits how many EP holders you sponsor.

Singapore encourages a strong local workforce through the COMPASS score instead. Your company's share of local PMET staff feeds into the C4 local support criterion, and this plays out in two directions:

• A workforce weighted heavily toward foreign staff scores lower on C4, which raises the bar on every EP application you file afterwards.
• A company that has hired a healthy base of Singaporean professionals clears each new EP more easily than one that relies almost entirely on foreign talent.

The hard quota rules apply the moment you hire below EP level. The S Pass and Work Permit both fall under the Dependency Ratio Ceiling, a sector-based cap on the proportion of your workforce that can hold these passes. Both types attract monthly levies. 

MOM calculates that ceiling against your local headcount, and only local employees earning at least the Local Qualifying Salary count toward it. The Local Qualifying Salary rose from SGD 1,600 to SGD 1,800 a month on 1 July 2026.

Here is how that plays out in practice. Let’s say you run a services company and want to hire mid-skilled staff on S Passes:

• The services sector caps S Pass and Work Permit holders at a set percentage of your total workforce.
• Only local employees earning SGD 1,800 or more count toward that base.
• If several of your locals earn below that threshold, they drop out of the count, which shrinks the number of foreign hires you can support.

What's Changing for Employment Pass Salaries in 2027

Singapore's Budget 2026 announcement confirmed the next round of salary increases, and this is worth building into your hiring plans now rather than later.

Effective January 1, 2027, the minimum qualifying salary for new EP applications in most sectors rises from SGD 5,600 to SGD 6,000. For financial services, the entry-level salary threshold will increase to SGD 6,600. These confirmed increases will apply to renewals starting January 1, 2028.

This shift sits alongside a wider set of foreign workforce changes MOM flagged at Budget 2026, including a rise in the Local Qualifying Salary from SGD 1,600 to SGD 1,800 from July 2026. This affects how many S Pass and Work Permit holders a company can employ. None of this changes what you need to do today. However, it does mean any offer letter drafted for a 2027 start date should already reflect the new numbers.

How to Apply for a Singapore Employment Pass: Step-by-Step 

The EP application runs through five main stages, from advertising the role to collecting the pass card. Emerhub can act as your local filing agent and handle all five end to end. Below is an overview of what each stage involves.

Step 1: Advertise on MyCareersFuture

Our team drafts and posts your job vacancy on the MyCareersFuture portal for the mandatory 14-day window. We ensure the listed criteria, qualifications, and salary matches your eventual EP submission to prevent any processing discrepancies.

Step 2: Secure Your Qualification Verification

While your advertisement runs, we guide your candidate through the credential verification process. We coordinate and secure the required verification reports, ensuring they are completed and ready before we file.

Step 3: Submit the Application on the myMOM Portal

We will input the candidate's personal data, the company's ACRA details, the MCF job posting ID, and the verification report reference number.

During this step, you must pay the initial application processing fee of S$105 (~USD 81). Most online applications receive a decision within 10 business days. However, complex cases or newly incorporated companies can take up to three weeks.

Step 4: Receive the In-Principle Approval (IPA) Letter

Upon approval, MOM issues the In-Principle Approval (IPA) letter. This letter doubles as a single-entry visa that lets your candidate travel to Singapore, and it stays valid for six months. It also lists any final requirements, such as a medical examination the candidate completes after arrival.

We retrieve this letter for you, review the terms, and help your candidate prepare for their arrival, including coordinating any necessary local medical examinations.

Step 5: Issue the Pass and Register Biometrics

Once your candidate arrives, we request pass issuance through the myMOM portal and pay the S$225 (~USD 197) issuance fee. MOM then generates a notification letter that allows the candidate to live and work in Singapore right away. This approval letter is valid for one month while the card is prepared.

Within 2 weeks of issuance, we then secure their biometrics appointment at the Employment Pass Services Centre (EPSC). MOM delivers the physical card to your registered office address within 5 working days of that registration.

Alternatives to Employment Passes in Singapore

If your business or candidate profile does not align with the strict salary or COMPASS requirements of the standard Employment Pass, Singapore offers several other pathways. Selecting the right option depends on your investment stage, corporate structure, and professional experience.

The table below provides a comparative review of the alternative work passes available to foreign investors and professionals.

Several notable considerations:

• The ONE Pass sits above the EP. It serves senior talent earning SGD 30,000 or more a month, runs for five years, and allows the holder to work for several employers at once. It is also exempt from COMPASS, which makes it the cleaner route for relocating a regional leader or a founder.
• The S Pass covers mid-skilled roles that fall below EP requirements. It comes with an employer quota and a monthly levy. This means you need a base of local employees before you can sponsor S Pass holders.
• The EntrePass is especially designed for founders launching a business in Singapore rather than professionals joining an established company.

Get Expert Support for Your Employment Pass Application in Singapore

Most employers approach us with a specific candidate and a firm start date in mind. However, the challenges rarely come from the paperwork itself. It is watching a strong hire stall because a salary figure came in just under the age benchmark, or because qualification verification began too late to meet the target date.

That is the work we take on. Our Singapore team reviews a candidate's COMPASS score before anything is submitted, manages the document pack and verification, and carries the application through IPA to final issuance. You get a realistic start date you can plan around with confidence while we handle the application process end-to-end.

Book a free consultation with our Singapore team to walk through your hire and confirm the right pass before you extend the offer. Fill out the form below.