Employment Pass (EP) is a type of work visa issued to foreign professional employees, managers, and owners/directors of Singapore companies. There is no quota system limiting the number of Employment Passes that can be issued to a company. This guide provides detailed information about eligibility requirements, application procedure, processing timeline, and other relevant details about Singapore Employment Pass. The terms Employment Pass and Employment Visa are used interchangeably in this document.

You can apply for Employment Pass under the following scenarios:

• You are one of the owners/directors of a Singapore company and need to relocate to Singapore to run your company operations. Note however that if the company is a newly setup company and you hold more than 30% of the shares, you can also apply for Entrepreneur Pass.
• You are hiring foreign staff for your Singapore company. In this case, your company will need to file an Employment Pass application for each such employee.

Employment Pass is normally issued for 1-2 years at a time and renewable thereafter. An EP visa enables you to work and live in Singapore and travel in and out of the country freely without applying for Singapore entry visas. Possessing an Employment Pass also opens the door for Singapore permanent residence in due course.

Singapore Employment Pass Eligibility Requirements

The key facts and requirements for an Employment Pass type of work visa consist of the following:

• With effect of 1 January 2012, a minimum fixed salary of S$3,000 and above a month.
• A tertiary degree from a reputable university and relevant professional experience. Your strong professional work experience history and good salary may compensate for lack of good education in some cases. Your proposed employment in Singapore must be relevant to your prior experience. Note that for Q1 pass holders, only those candidates who are educationally qualified from reputable institutions will be considered. The minimum salary requirement of S$3,000 is applicable to young graduates who have passed out from good quality educational institutions. However, candidates who are older in age will have to command higher salaries (i.e. in excess of S$3,000) in order to qualify.
• There is no quota system. Each application is reviewed by authorities based on the credentials of the employing company and the applicant.

With effect of 1 July 2011, the salary threshold for the following employment passes would be:

• P1 Pass: for applicants with a base salary of above S$8,000 a month.
• P2 Pass: for applicants with a base salary between S$4,000 and S$8,000 a month.
• Q1 Pass: for applicants with a base salary between S$2,800 and S$4,000 a month.

With effect from 1 January 2012, the salary threshold for the corresponding passes will be as follows:

• P1 Pass: For a base salary above S$8,000 a month.
• P2 Pass: For a base salary between S$4,500 and S$8,000 a month.
• Q1 Pass: For a base salary between S$3,000 and S$4,500 a month.

For existing EP holders whose passes expire on or after 1 January 2012 and are affected by these changes, MOM will grant a one-off renewal of up to 2 years.

Pass holders who apply for early renewal before 1 January 2012 and those who apply for renewal after 30 June 2012 will be treated equally and given the same one-off renewal. Subsequent renewal applications will be assessed based on the prevailing work pass criteria.

The above is a general guideline only and the specific type of pass issued is still at the discretion of the authorities. In practical terms, there is not much difference among the above three types of Employment Passes except for the following:

• Although all the above three types of EP work visas allow you to bring your spouse and children under 21 years old, Q1 pass holders are unable to apply for Long-Term Social Visit Pass for their significant others.
• The timing of permanent residence application filing. As a rule of thumb, P1 holders can apply for Singapore PR as early as 1 year after obtaining EP whereas P2 and Q1 pass holders should wait at least 2 years.

For immediate family members (spouse and unmarried children under 21 years of age), Employment Pass holders can apply for a family visa called Dependant Pass. The Dependent Pass (DP) applications will be approved automatically if the EP application is approved. You can file DP application(s) at the same time or anytime after your EP application is approved. The expiry date of Dependent Pass(es) will be the same as the Employment Pass.

Documents Required for Employment Pass

The following documents are required for submission of Employment Pass visa application in Singapore:

• EP Application Form 8. The application form must be endorsed by the Singapore employing company
• A copy of resume detailing the applicant’s work expereince
• Copies of educational certificates and past employment testimonials
• A passport-size photograph taken within the past three months
• A copy of the personal particulars page of the applicant’s passport
• Copy of business profile for the Singapore company
• Detailed description of the duties to be performed by the applicant
• Detailed description of activities and/or products of the company
• Tenancy agreement of the place of business operations in Singapore

Any documents that are not in English must be officially translated into English.

Employment Pass Application Procedure and Timeline

Completed applications along with the required documents must be submitted to Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) – the government body that processes EP applications. The application can be filed manually or online. The online application is quicker but does not allow for attachment of supporting documents. When we are filing your EP application, if we feel that supporting documents are going to play an important role in your application decision, we will recommend filing the application manually.

Unfortunately, many websites provide inaccurate timeline information with an objective to gain a client. The realty is that end-to-end processing time for an EP application can take anywhere between 2-6 weeks depending on a number of different factors. We hope that you make informed decisions.

Approval and Collection of Employment Pass

When your Employment Pass visa application is approved, MOM will mail In-Principle-Approval (IPA) letter to the employing company’s address as specified in the completed application form. The letter has a six-month validity and you should collect your employment pass before this time expires. You will need to come to Singapore to collect your Employment Pass.

In order to issue the EP work pass, MOM requires a copy of the IPA letter, passport, medical exam report, and any other documents that were requested in the approval letter. Typically, you will have to go through a medical test and produce the report when collecting your Employment Pass. Whether or not you need to go through a medical test will be mentioned in the approval letter (along with the list of tests). You can get the medical tests done in your own country through an established clinic/hospital or you can get it done when you arrive in Singapore.

If you are overseas and require an entry visa, a onetime entry visa will be issued to you as part of the letter so you can enter Singapore and collect your Employment Pass. If you had applied for Dependant Passes (DP) for your family, you can collect the DPs at the same time when collecting your EP.

Word of Caution: An EP application is not approved as a matter of course but is subject to review and approval by authorities. Therefore you should not make any relocation plans until you have received an In-Principle-Approval of your application.

Handling Employment Pass Rejections

The fact is that not all EP work visa applications are approved. MOM takes into account the applicant’s qualifications, work experience, and employer credentials when approving or rejecting applications. If the initial application is rejected, we will explore the rejection reasons with MON and if appropriate, file an appeal by addressing the issues raised by authorities. If the additional details submitted are satisfactory to MOM, your employment pass application will likely be approved. The processing of an appeal application can take take another 2-3 weeks.

Employment Pass Renewal Procedure

Generally two months before your EP is due to expire, an Employment Pass Renewal Form will be sent to your employer’s address. The renewal application should be completed and submitted to MOM at least four weeks before the pass expires. After your renewal application is approved, your employer will receive an approval letter. You will need to visit MOM office to collect your new Employment Pass.