Home » Blog » Who needs a work visa in Singapore?
Quite often our prospective clients are not sure if they require a work visa in order to incorporate a Singapore company. We thought it would be useful to explain it here for the benefit of all our site visitors.
All foreigners who plan to work in Singapore for any duration of time require a work visa in Singapore. This includes foreign owners of a Singapore company who plan to relocate to Singapore.
Foreigners who own a Singapore company but don’t plan to relocate to Singapore are not required to apply for any work visa. They are free to operate their company from overseas and travel to Singapore on a short-term and as-needed basis (on a normal social visit pass) to handle their company matters.
The main type of work visa in Singapore under professional category is called Employment Pass (EP). This applies to both professionals who are working for a Singapore employer as well as company owners. Company owners can apply for Employment Pass as an employee of their own company after its incorporation. EP is subject to review and approval by authorities. For details, see Singapore Employment Pass guide.
Company owners who lack good education but have prior business background are eligible to apply for another type of work visa called Entrepreneur Pass (EntrePass). Note that EntrePass has more stringent paidup capital and renewal requirements than Employment Pass. For more details, see Singapore Entrepass guide.
Interested in doing business in Singapore? Find out how to setup a Singapore company.
