Only eligible candidates will be considered for an Employment Pass. Criteria include earning a salary of at least $5,000, which is benchmarked against the top one-third of the local professional, managers, executives and technicians (PMET) salaries by age. Use the Self-Assessment Tool to check a candidate’s eligibility before you apply.
Who is eligible
The Employment Pass is for foreign professionals who:
- Have a job offer in Singapore.
- Work in a managerial, executive or specialised job.
- Have acceptable qualifications, usually a good university degree, professional qualifications or specialised skills.
- Earn a fixed monthly salary comparable to the top one-third of the local PMET workforce by age, as shown below:
| Sectors |
Current minimum qualifying salary for new applications.
(This also applies to renewals from 1 September 2023)
|
Minimum qualifying salary for renewals before 1 September 2023. |
All
(except financial services) |
At least $5,000
(increases progressively with age from age 23, up to $10,500 at age 45 and above) |
$4,500
(increases progressively with age from age 23, up to $8,400 at age 45 and above) |
| Financial services |
At least $5,500
(increases progressively with age from age 23, up to $11,500 at age 45 and above) |
$5,000
(increases progressively with age from age 23, up to $9,300 at age 45 and above) |
Application for an Employment Pass is open to all nationalities or citizenships.
Use the Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) to check if the candidate qualifies for the pass.
If you are a fast-growing tech company that is newly expanding to Singapore and the region, you may be eligible for the
Tech@SG Programme.
Qualifications
You will be asked to provide details of qualifications and work experience when submitting your candidate's work pass applications. We do not accept qualifications from unaccredited institutions.
To check if an institution is accredited, you can approach background screening companies.
We encourage you to use the Self-Assessment Tool (SAT) to get an indication of whether a candidate meets the Employment Pass requirements. Candidates can also use the tool to assess their eligibility.
If the SAT shows that the candidate is not eligible, you shouldn't apply for the Employment Pass because it will be rejected.
If the SAT shows that the candidate is eligible, there is around a 90% chance that the candidate will get a pass.
Who can apply
To promote fair employment practices and improve labour market transparency, employers making Employment Pass applications must first advertise on MyCareersFuture and fairly consider all candidates. Find out more about the advertising requirements.
An employer or authorised third party has to apply for a candidate’s Employment Pass.
If you are an overseas employer that does not have a registered office in Singapore:
- You need to get a Singapore-registered company to act as a local sponsor and apply on your behalf.
- The local sponsor must submit the application.
The candidate will still need to meet the Employment Pass criteria.