Entrepreneur Pass - Work Visa For Business Entrepreneurs

The Singapore Entrepreneur Visa, or EntrePass, is like a work permit and business visa rolled into one package. If you are a foreigner looking to relocate to Singapore and start an enterprise at the same time, then the Singapore government's EntrePass may be your ideal route. The other alternative is to apply for Employment Pass. The terms Entrepreneur Pass, Entrepreneurs Visa, and Business Visa all refer to EntrePass and are used interchangeably in this document. Few key points to note about EntrePass business visa:

• It's a visa for relocation purposes to Singapore if you are starting a business in the city-state. If you only want to setup a company in Singapore but not relocate, you don't require any work visa such as EntrePass or Employment Pass.
• EntrePass visa is just another type of employment pass. It has the same privileges as an employment pass and is not considered better or worst in any way.
• EntrePass is primarily meant for entrepreneurs that don't have tertiary level education in the relevant field. Foreigners with good educational background in a field relevant to the business being started can apply for Employment Pass instead. The application for employment pass is easier and quicker as long as you have good education from a reputable university.

The EntrePass programme was launched in 2004 to lure foreign entrepreneurs. It is part of Singapore's overall plan to become a regional business hub and attract the best business and entrepreneurial minds to the country.

An EntrePass visa is, in essence, similar to an employment pass and gives you the right to apply for dependent passes for your spouse and children under 21 as well as permanent residence in due course. Eligibility for entrepreneur visa in Singapore is quite flexible in terms of financial commitment and you don't have to register your company until your application is approved. You will need relevant documents and follow the correct application procedure, after which you can expect a result within 4-6 weeks. There are avenues available by filing an appeal if your application is initially rejected.

Eligibility Requirements

Any foreigner is eligible to apply for an EntrePass business visa. You should, however, fulfill the following requirements.

• Be willing to relocate to Singapore and operate your Singapore business.
• Start a business in Singapore.
• Physically operate the business from inside Singapore.
• The business must be an entrepreneurial enterprise with the potential for growth.
• It must be a legal business and not involve gambling, prostitution or narcotics.
• It must be a new business or it must not have been registered for more than six months when you submit your application.

Investment Requirements

When applying for Entrepreneur Pass, you need to commit sufficient capital to ensure your business can support itself, along with your salary, during the early stages. Apart from the investment, you must show an entrepreneurial background and show a solid business plan.

Depending on the type of your business, the required investment capital can range anywhere from 10K - 200K or more. You will be required to inject this startup capital into your business bank account at the time of registering your business. This investment is considered working capital and you are free to utilize it towards any valid business expenses.

Documents Needed

To apply for EntrePass business visa, the following documents are required:

• Completed EntrePass Application Form 8, which can be download from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) website.
• A good business plan in the prescribed format (see next section)
• A copy of your company's latest business profile printout, if you have already registered it with ACRA.
• A passport-sized photograph taken within the past three months.
• A copy of the personal particulars page of your passport.
• Documentary evidence of your previous employment(s) and/or business venture(s), if any.
• Copies of your educational certificates
• Supporting Documents: these include licensing agreements, MOUs with potential customers/suppliers, product certifications, endorsements and anything else that will solidify your application.

All documents submitted must be in English or translated into English by a certified translation body. If your Entrepreneur Pass application is approved, you will also be asked to provide a banker's guarantee of S$3,000 upon collection of the pass. The banker's guarantee is available from Singapore banks by opening a fixed deposit account and depositing at least S$3000 into it. Otherwise, your EntrePass business visa application must be sponsored by a well-established Singapore-registered company, which should endorse your application with its seal or stamp on the application form.

Business Plan

Along with your EntrePass application form, you need to furnish a comprehensive yet concise business plan of not more than 10 pages in a prescribed format as below:

• Business Idea: a short, self-explanatory summary covering your proposed business concept.
• Product/Service: details of product(s) and service(s) you are offering.
• Market Analysis: analysis of your industry potential in Singapore, target customers, key competitors, and potential for growth
• Marketing Plan: description of how the product/service will be marketed or distributed.
• Operational Plan: the operational plan description deals specifically with the internal operations and resources necessary to produce your product or service.
• Management Team: summary of key management individuals who will run the business along with their roles.
• Financial Projections: projected sales and net profit before tax for three years and the estimated break even point.

It's important to note that the business plan required for the purpose of filing your EntrePass visa application is not the same as you would prepare when planning to raise for example venture funding for the business. Instead, it's a much simplified version of it and often the complexity will depend on the nature and size of the business you are planning to start. Still, preparing a good business plan might take considerable amount of your time and writing might not your forte. You might want to hire a professional service provider in Singapore that has considerable experience in this regard.

Application Procedure

The processing body for Entrepreneur Pass application is MOM, however, the busness in-turn is reviewed by Spring Singapore - a governmental agency dedicated to the promotion of Singapore's economic growth and productivity. The completed application along with the rest of the documents must be submitted to MOM. The application procedure involves the following stages:

• Submit the completed EntrePass business visa application to MOM through any SingPost office. An administrative fee of S$40 will be charged and can be paid by cash, NETS or CashCard.
• If your application is successful, you will be issued with an Approval In-Principle (AIP) letter, after which you have to register your business with ACRA within 30 days if you haven't done so already.
• After receiving your company's Business Profile from ACRA, you should make a copy and send it, or fax it, along with your AIP letter, to MOM.
• MOM will send you another letter notifying that you can collect your EntrePass from MOM office anytime within 6 months of the date of the letter. 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 Entrepreneur Pass.

Timeline

Once submitted, the processing of Entrepreneur Pass application on the average takes about 4 weeks. After about 10-14 days of submission, you can check the status of your application online at MOM website. The result of your application will be mailed to you at the address you entered on the application form.

Business Registration Requirements

You are not required to register a business in Singapore until your EntrePass business visa is approved. This works really well for those entrepreneurs who are less confident of there approval chances and don't want to incur business registration expenses unless they are sure that they will be able to relocate to Singapore to run their business. However, once you have received Approval-In-Principle (AIP) letter from authorities, you are required to register your business within 30 days and provide proof to them before you can collect your EntrePass.

EntrePass Approval & Collection

After your application has been approved, MOM will send you an approval letter. The letter has a six-month validity and you should collect your EntrePass before it expires. To collect your entrepreneur visa, you must go personally to the MOM office in Singapore and produce your approval 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 EntrePass. 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. There are number of clinics in Singapore that can give you the medical report on the same day while others can take few days to a week.

If you had applied for dependant passes (DP) for your family, you can collect the DPs at the same time when collecting your EntrePass. EntrePass visa can be collected from MOM office from Monday to Fridays between 8am and 4pm and on Saturday before 12pm. Same day collection is possible if you submit the documents before 3pm on weekdays and 11am on Saturday. The process usually takes about three hours.

Rejection Of EntrePass Application

Your entrepreneur visa application may be rejected if it fails to meet the requirements of authorities. MOM will normally not comment on individual cases. However, you can submit an appeal in which case MOM is likely to provide you with some details on why the application is rejected. You are then asked to address the deficiencies as mentioned by MOM and submit additional details as necessary.

If your desire to start a business in Singapore is genuine and you have the necessary background, it's unlikely that will be rejected after the appeal. The processing of an appeal application can take take another 2-4 weeks.

Should You Hire A Professional Firm?

It depends. If you are tight on budget and have the necessary time and confidence to deal with preparing the business plan, going through application requirements, submitting an appeal in case of rejection, etc. you can file the EntrePass business visa application on your own. Although it will cost you some money, hiring a professional firm to handle your EntrePass application will provide the following benefits:

• An experienced professional firm knows the process and pitfalls to avoid so your chances of application approval will be maximised.
• The firm will help you prepare the business plan as prescribed by authorities. Normally, you will need to give them the basic information about your proposed business idea and they will be able to draft a business plan accordingly.
• The professional firm will normally sponsor your entrepreneur pass application so you won't required to provide S$3000 banker's guarantee to authorities.
• The firm will submit and track your application status with authorities, find out the reasons in case the application is rejected and file the appeal accordingly.

EntrePass Renewals

The entrepreneur pass is issued for one or two years at a time. A renewal form will be sent to you by MOM before it expires. You should file the renewal application at least four weeks before it expires. EntrePass renewal applications typically require the following documents (the requirements will be listed in the renewal reminder letter):

• Latest copy of company registration information from ACRA.
• Latest financial statements of the company declared to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.
• Documentary evidence on the company's activities such as office rental agreement, invoices, contracts, payments, employee salary payments, etc. Authorities want to make sure that you are actively doing business and that it's not just a paper company.

Your business must be engaged in business activities as per the original business plan. MOM must be alerted if the nature of your business has changed. Once you are ready to apply, you should submit the completed EntrePass renewal application form to MOM. It takes at least three weeks to process a renewal application and the outcome will be sent to you. If you have dependant pass holders, you will need to apply for their renewal at the same time.

Permanent Residence

The EntrePass is a type of employment pass, which means you are eligible to apply for permanent residence. Before you file your PR application with Singapore immigration authorities, it's recommended that you wait for at least a year and demonstrate that you are running a viable business and that you will not become a financial burden on Singapore.

Final Thoughts

An EntrePass business visa is an ideal relocation package for those with an entrepreneurial spirit (and don't necessarily have good educational background) who would like to settle down and do business in Singapore.