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2025-07-28-18:01:03

Non-Traditional Sources (NTS) Occupation List

Firms in Manufacturing and Services sectors can hire Work Permit holders from NTS for a restricted set of occupations in the NTS Occupation List.

What is the NTS Occupation List

Firms in the Manufacturing and Services sectors can hire Work Permit holders from the following countries or regions:

  • Malaysia
  • People’s Republic of China (PRC)
  • North Asian sources (NAS):
    • Hong Kong (HKSAR passport)
    • Macau
    • South Korea
    • Taiwan

Under the NTS Occupation List, firms will be allowed to hire Work Permit holders from the following countries or regions for a restricted set of occupations:

  • Bangladesh
  • Bhutan
  • Cambodia
  • India
  • Myanmar
  • Philippines
  • Sri Lanka
  • Thailand
  • Laos

Requirements

Firms must meet all of the following requirements:

NTS Occupation List

The NTS Occupation List comprises:

  • Cooks in Indian restaurants. This will better support our multi-ethnic food culture.
    Restaurants (Services sector) can already hire Work Permit holders from Malaysia, PRC and North Asian countries or regions.

MOM has put together a panel comprising industry and government stakeholders in Indian cuisine to assess firms’ eligibility. To be eligible for the Non-Traditional Source Occupation List (NTS-OL) for cooks in Indian Restaurants, restaurants must meet the following requirements:

  • Have a valid SFA food licence with a Business Trade Description as 'Restaurant', 'Restaurant with catering', 'Small Restaurant' or 'Coffeeshop/eating house'.
  • Serve primarily Indian cuisine, such as biryani, prata, or Indian snacks e.g. vadai, paniyaram.

To see if your firm is eligible, please apply online. 
Upon approval, you can apply to hire cooks from NTS.

Indian restaurants will be able to hire cooks from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the Work Permit level under the NTS Occupation List.

You can apply for a Work Permit for the other NTS occupations listed below.

  • Housekeeping workers and porters in licensed hotels
  • Food processing workers
    Excludes:
    • Food processing supervisors and general foremen.
    • Other food and beverage jobs like tasters, graders, bakers, pastry-cooks and confectionery makers.
  • Workers in manufacturing firms, working as:
    • Sheet metal workers
    • Welders and flame cutters
    • Metal moulders and coremakers
    • Riggers and cable splicers
    • Structural metal preparers and erectors
Occupation You need to ensure that
Cooks (This will replace 'Cooks in Indian restaurants')
  • The company is in the Services sector and has a valid Singapore Food Agency (SFA) Food Shop licence.
  • The licence must be under the company's name.

Food processing workers, but excluding:

  • Food processing supervisors and general foremen.
  • Other food and beverage jobs like tasters, graders, bakers, pastry-cooks and confectionary makers.
  • The company has a valid SFA Food Processing Establishment or Slaughterhouse licence.
  • The licence must be under the company’s name.

Heavy vehicle drivers, such as:

  • Trailer truck drivers
  • Lorry drivers
  • Workers have a class 4 or 5 licence as of 1 September 2025.
  • Workers should not be driving cars or light good vehicles which are considered as Class 3
Housekeeping workers and porters Workers are working in licensed hotels.

Manufacturing workers, such as:

  • Assemblers
  • Machine operators
  • Metal moulders and coremakers
  • Quality checkers & testers
  • Riggers and cable splicers
  • Sheet metal workers
  • Structural metal preparers and erectors
  • Welders and flame cutters

 The company has a work pass account under the Manufacturing sector.

Levy requirements

You must pay a monthly levy for Work Permit holders. For your worker to qualify for higher-skilled worker levy, they must meet the requirements for their respective sector:

For more information