Employment Pass - Before you apply

About the Pass

Enhanced Employment Pass Framework

From 1 January 2012, the qualifying salary for the Q1 Pass will be increased from $2,800 to at least $3,000 for young graduates, while older applicants would have to command a higher salary to qualify, commensurate with the work experience and quality they are expected to bring. The qualifying salary for the P2 Pass will be raised from $4,000 to $4,500. There will be no change in the qualifying salary for P1 Pass which remains at $8,000. Concurrently, educational qualifications requirements will be tightened. For more information, please refer to our press release.

The Employment Pass (EP) is a work pass for foreign professionals working in managerial, executive or specialised jobs.

Who is eligible

Foreigners who are interested to work and has a job offer in Singapore may apply for an Employment Pass (EP). To qualify for one of these EP, the applicants must meet these basic requirements:

Pass type	Examples of eligibility criteria
P1 Employment Pass	Fixed monthly salary ≥ $8,000 Possesses acceptable qualifications
P2 Employment Pass	Fixed monthly salary ≥ $4,500 Possesses acceptable qualifications
Q1 Employment Pass	Young graduates from good institutions could qualify if they earn at least $3,000 Older applicants would have to command higher salaries to qualify, commensurate with the work experience and quality they are expected to bring

Information for foreign job-seekers

Foreign job-seekers may refer to our Strategic and Skills-in-Demand List which compile jobs expected to be high in demand in Singapore over the next few years.

Self-Assessment Tool

Employers are encouraged to use the online Self-Assessment Tool to check if the applicant meets the requirements. This tool gives you a preliminary indication of whether the applicant qualifies.

This assessment does not guarantee the actual outcome of the application as it needs to be subjected to further checks (e.g. immigration and fraud checks).

Employment Pass Self-Assessment Tool	Check Online

Note to employers

Food-stall licensees operating in hawker centres, coffee shops and food courts are not allowed to employ foreign workers on Employment Passes. Such operations are considered small scale and can be manned by owners or family members.

Who can submit

The employer or the appointed agent may submit the Employment Pass application.

Note to overseas employers

If the applicant’s employer is based overseas and does not have a registered office in Singapore, another Singapore registered company can act as the sponsor and submit the application on behalf. Find out how you can apply.

Passes for Family Members

Successful applicants can bring in their families under one of these passes:

If you are a	Which pass?	For who?
P Pass Holder	Dependant's Pass	Spouse Unmarried or legally adopted children under 21 years old
	Long Term Visit Pass	Common-law Spouse; Unmarried daughters above 21 years old Handicapped children above 21 years old Step-children under 21 years old Parents Parents-in-law
Q1 Employment Pass	Dependant’s Pass	Spouse Unmarried or legally adopted children under 21 years old

A separate application for each family member should be submitted. The application can be submitted together with the Employment Pass application or separately.