Singapore

How the system works

1. Step 1: The employer must first advertise the job on MyCareersFuture

   The application is made by the employer. Before applying for an Employment Pass, the employer must advertise the job on MyCareersFuture and consider all candidates fairly. This obligation sits with the employer but directly shapes the timeline, and a candidate cannot bypass or accelerate it.

   mom.gov.sg/key-facts

2. Step 2: Clear the qualifying salary, which rises with age

   The minimum qualifying salary is not one figure: it rises progressively with age from 23, and financial services sits above every other sector. On the current rates, non-financial roles start at S$5,600 a month and reach S$10,700 at age 45 and above; financial services starts at S$6,200 and reaches S$11,800. For the same role, an older applicant needs close to twice the salary a younger one does.

   mom.gov.sg/eligibility

3. Step 3: Pass COMPASS — two of its criteria score the employer, not you

   After the salary threshold, an application must also pass COMPASS unless exempt, and needs 40 points. Salary (C1) and qualifications (C2) are about you, but diversity (C3) scores your nationality's share among the firm's professionals, managers and executives, and support for local employment (C4) scores the firm's local PMET share against its sector. A strong candidate can therefore fail on the employer's workforce composition — the part hardest to assess from outside and most often overlooked.

   mom.gov.sg/eligibility

4. Step 4: Check whether an exemption applies, and note the pass length

   COMPASS is waived for candidates with a fixed monthly salary of at least S$22,500, for intra-corporate transferees, and for roles lasting one month or less. The Employment Pass is issued for up to two years first time and up to three years on renewal, and passes are available for eligible family members.

   mom.gov.sg/eligibilitymom.gov.sg/key-facts

Key requirements and figures

Figures change. Each row shows the period it applies to and the source it came from.

What commonly blocks an application

These are frequent reasons a route is closed. Absence of a listed problem is not an eligibility decision.

• Planning against the entry-level threshold. The qualifying salary rises with age from 23, and at 45 and above it is close to double the starting figure.

  mom.gov.sg/eligibility

• Using the general threshold for a financial services role. Financial services sits above every other sector at each age.

  mom.gov.sg/eligibility

• A strong candidate held back by the employer's COMPASS score. Diversity and support for local employment are scored on the firm's workforce, which the applicant cannot change.

  mom.gov.sg/eligibility

• Treating the qualifying salary as the whole test. It is only the first stage; unless exempt, the application must also reach 40 COMPASS points.

  mom.gov.sg/eligibility

• Planning against the pre-2027 thresholds for an application submitted later. The higher rates apply to new applications from 1 January 2027 and to renewals from 1 January 2028.

  mom.gov.sg/eligibility

• Treating the Employment Pass as an automatic path to permanent residence. PR is assessed separately by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

  ica.gov.sg/reside

Reviewed programs

• Singapore Employment Pass — Singapore's two-stage Employment Pass assessment: first the qualifying salary, which rises with age and differs by sector, then COMPASS — two of whose criteria score the employer's workforce rather than the applicant.
• Singapore S Pass — Singapore's S Pass qualifying salary is benchmarked against the top third of the local associate professionals and technicians workforce by age, rising with age and set higher for financial services. The thresholds rise from 2027.

Official sources

• Reside in SingaporeImmigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) · Reviewed 2026-09-03
• Passes and permitsMinistry of Manpower (Singapore) · Reviewed 2026-09-03
• Employment Pass eligibilityMinistry of Manpower (Singapore) · Reviewed 2026-09-06
• Employment Pass key factsMinistry of Manpower (Singapore) · Reviewed 2026-09-06