Employment Pass - Work Permit For Professional Employees & Business Executives

Singapore Employment Pass (EP) is a work visa issued to foreign professional employees, managers, and directors of Singapore companies. There is no official quota system limiting the number of Employment Passes that can be issued. The terms employment pass, EP visa, and work visa are used interchangeably in this document. You will apply for Employment Pass work visa under the following scenarios:

• You are hired by an employer in Singapore. In this case, your employer will normally take care of filing your EP application.
• You own a Singapore company and are hiring foreign professionals. In this case, your company will need to file a separate EP application for each foreign employee you are hiring.
• You are one of the owners/directors of a Singapore company and need to relocate to Singapore to run your company operations. In this case, your company will need to file an EP application for yourself.

A foreign entrepreneur who wants to setup a business and relocate to Singapore can also apply for another type of employment pass known as EntrePass. EntrePass is meant for those entrepreneurs who don't have good educational qualifications. For details of EntrePass, refer to Singapore Entrepreneur Visa.

An EP work visa in Singapore 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 EP work permit also opens the door for Singapore permanent residence in due course.

EP Eligibility Requirements and Categories

The minimum requirements for an EP work permit consist of the following:

• A fixed salary of more than S$2,500 a month.
• Normally a tertiary level educational from a reputable university is expected. However, your strong professional work experience history and good salary may compensate for lack of good education.
• If you have strong educational background, your employment history (i.e. the number of years & position held) will play a lesser role.

Depending upon your salary, education, and experience, you will be issued one of the following three types of employment passes:

• P1 Pass: typically for foreigners with a base salary of above S$7,000 a month.
• P2 Pass: typically for foreigners with a base salary between S$3,500 and S$7,000 a month.
• Q1 Pass: typically for foreigners with a base salary between S$2,500 and S$3,500 a month.

In practical terms, there is not much difference between the above types of Singapore employment passes except for the following:

• Although all three types of EP work visa allow you to bring your spouse and children under 21 years old, Q1 pass holder 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 6 months after obtaining their EP work permit, whereas, Q1 pass holders should wait at least 2 years.

Other compensatory factors such as skills and years of experience may also be considered in lieu of educational qualifications on a case-by-case basis when Singapore authorities are reviewing your EP application.

Employers in Singapore are generally aware of the employment pass eligibility criteria and may not be willing to proceed if they are uncertain about your approval chances. If you are looking for a job in Singapore, you can significantly improve your chances of landing a job by first getting pre-qualified for an EP employment visa through so called Employment Pass Eligibility Certificate (EPEC).

Visa For EP Holder's Family

Both P and Q type EP work visa holders can apply for dependent passes for their spouse and children under 21 years of age. The dependent pass (DP) applications will be approved automatically along with the EP work permit application. You can file the 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 your employment pass.

Documents Needed for EP Application

The following documents are required for submission of EP work permit application in Singapore:

• EP Application Form 8. The application form must also be endorsed by the Singapore employing company.
• 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.

Any documents that are not in English must be translated into English by an official translation service.

EP Application Procedure & 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 submitted either online or via post. The online submission requires opening an online account with MOM first. If you are an employee who is being hired by a company in Singapore, your employer will take care of filing for your EP application. However, if its your own company, you can file the EP application on your own or hire a professional firm to handle the application filing.

Once submitted, the processing of EP work visa applications can take anywhere between 1-6 weeks. The more established the employing company, the quicker is the processing time. The result of the EP application will be mailed to the employer at the address provided in the application form. After about 10-14 days of the application submission, you can check the status of your application online at MOM website. MOM may require additional documents while the application is still under review.

EP Approval & Collection

When your EP work visa application is approved, MOM will mail In-Principle-Approval 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 can either collect the pass by visiting MOM office personally or authorize somebody to do it for you.

MOM requires the original approval letter, passport, medical exam report, and any other documents that were requested in the approval letter in order to issue the EP work pass. 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. 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 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 employment pass. Passes 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.

EP Rejection

The fact is that not all EP work visa applications are approved. MOM takes into account your qualifications, work experience, potential economic contribution and employer track record when approving or rejecting applications. They will 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 EP application is rejected. You are then asked to address the deficiencies as mentioned by MOM and submit additional details as necessary. If the additional details you submitted are satisfactory to MOM, your employment pass application should be approved. The processing of an appeal application can take take another 2-4 weeks.

EP Renewal

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 in Singapore to collect your new employment pass.

Should You Hire A Professional Firm?

It depends. First of all, if you are an employee who is offered a job by a Singapore company, your employer will handle the EP application matter so you don't need to worry about this. If however, it's your own company that's hiring you, you will have to make this decision in light of the following benefits that a professional firm can offer you:

• An experienced professional firm knows the process and pitfalls to avoid so your chances of EP application approval will be maximised.
• The firm will submit and track your application status with authorities, find out the reasons in case the application is rejected and file an appeal accordingly.

Permanent Residence

An EP work permit is the most popular path to permanent residence in Singapore. More than 400,000 people became Singapore permanent residents in 2006, the majority of them via the EP scheme. Singapore PR allows you to enjoy almost all of the benefits of a full Singapore citizen.

Final Thoughts

The Employment Pass visa programme allows foreigners with a range of qualifications, skills and experience to join the Singapore workforce. The EP work permit scheme offers a convenient and benefit-laden system for foreigners including an avenue to permanent residence in Singapore.