A 5,600 Singapore dollar minimum salary for the standard track, a 6,200 dollar floor for financial services, a 40 point COMPASS framework pass mark, and a 2 year initial validity renewable to 3 years per cycle.
The Singapore Employment Pass is the primary work permit for the inbound foreign professional, manager, or specialist seeking residence in Singapore. The Ministry of Manpower issues the pass to applicants with a confirmed job offer from a Singapore registered employer, a qualifying salary, and a qualifying skill profile under the points based Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS). The Singapore country guide covers the broader move context; the Singapore city profile covers the metro detail for the inbound resident.
The COMPASS framework, introduced September 2023, scores the applicant on four individual attributes (salary, qualifications, diversity, support for local employment) and two firm level attributes (firm diversity, support for local employment). The pass mark is 40 points across all attributes; the maximum is 50 points across the four individual attributes plus 20 bonus points for the firm and shortage occupation criteria. The Shortage Occupation List bonus track adds 10 points for roles on the MOM published list.
The 2025 Ministry of Manpower throughput data shows 184,200 Employment Passes in force across Singapore at the December 2025 census date, down from the 197,400 pre COMPASS peak in December 2022 and back to the 2017 baseline. The 2026 trajectory at the May reading is tracking 180,000 to 185,000 in force passes through the end of the year. The structural pivot under COMPASS is from the volume tilt of the 2018 to 2022 window to a higher quality, lower volume policy posture.
The COMPASS framework runs six scoring dimensions plus two bonus dimensions, totaling a possible 70 points. The pass mark is 40 points, and the applicant must clear at least 10 points on the salary criterion to be eligible at all.
The four individual criteria are: salary against the 65th percentile of local PMET (Professionals, Managers, Executives, Technicians) earnings in the same sector (20 points for the 90th percentile and above, 10 points for the 65th to 90th percentile, 0 for below 65th); qualifications (20 points for a top tier institution per MOM list, 10 points for any degree from a recognized institution, 0 for no recognized degree); diversity (20 points if the applicant nationality is below 5 percent of the firm PMET workforce, 10 points for 5 to 25 percent, 0 for above 25 percent); and support for local employment (20 points if the firm has above industry average local PMET share, 10 points for at par, 0 for below).
The two firm criteria are: firm support for local PMET workforce strength (parallel to the individual criterion) and the firm diversity score. The two bonus criteria are: 20 points for a role on the Shortage Occupation List (financial services, data analytics, engineering specialist roles), and 10 points for the inbound applicant filling a Strategic Economic Priority role at a multinational anchor.
The COMPASS exempted categories that bypass the points test include: salaries above 22,500 Singapore dollars a month (the high salary exempt threshold), overseas intracompany transferees holding director or specialist roles, and applicants under 30 with a 12 month visa duration. The exempt cohort still must meet the underlying minimum salary floor and the qualifying skill test.
The Employment Pass salary floor moved from 5,000 Singapore dollars to 5,600 Singapore dollars in September 2023 for the standard cohort, and to 6,200 Singapore dollars for financial services. The floor is age tiered and rises with the applicant age band, reflecting the higher local PMET earnings curve.
The salary calculation includes the gross monthly base salary plus the fixed monthly allowances (housing, transport, fixed annual wage components). Variable bonuses, commission, employer Central Provident Fund contributions, and equity grants do not count. The Annual Performance Bonus is included only at the part that is contractually guaranteed (typically the AWS Annual Wage Supplement worth one month of base). The tax calculator runs the side by side after tax math against the inbound origin jurisdiction.
The Singapore Employment Pass filing is employer led. The inbound applicant cannot file directly; the Singapore registered employer files through the MOM EP eService portal with the applicant supplying the personal documentation. The 5 stage pipeline runs 4 to 6 weeks for the standard application from filing to in principle approval (IPA).
Stage one is the Fair Consideration Framework job advertisement. The employer must post the role on the MyCareersFuture portal for at least 28 days before filing, demonstrating the local hiring effort. The exemptions include senior roles with monthly fixed salary above 22,500 SGD, intracompany transferees, and roles filled within the 28 day window without qualified local response.
Stage two is the Employment Pass online application. The employer submits the candidate documentation: passport biodata, qualification certificates (verified by the issuing institution or accredited verification service such as Dataflow or QualifyEd for non Anglophone qualifications), employment history, the job description, and the COMPASS scoring inputs. The application fee is 105 SGD payable at filing.
Stage three is the MOM adjudication. The standard track returns the decision in 3 weeks; the COMPASS edge cases (salary or qualification scoring at the threshold) can extend to 6 weeks. The in principle approval letter is valid for 6 months and authorizes the applicant to enter Singapore and start work pending the pass card issuance.
Stage four is the Singapore entry and the work commencement. The applicant enters Singapore on the IPA letter or on a Visit Pass; the employer notifies MOM of the arrival date; the applicant attends the biometric appointment at the MOM Services Centre within 14 days of arrival.
Stage five is the Employment Pass card collection. The card issuance fee is 225 SGD; the pass card is delivered to the registered Singapore address within 4 working days of the biometric appointment. The pass is valid for 2 years on the initial grant; renewals are typically 3 years.
The total Employment Pass filing cost for a single applicant on a 2 year initial pass runs 500 to 1,200 Singapore dollars in MOM fees plus the supporting document costs. The breakdown runs as follows.
The Employment Pass does not carry an Immigration Skills Charge or a separate health surcharge analogous to the UK system. The applicant is not eligible for CPF contributions (the Singapore social security scheme), reducing the employer take home cost by 17 percent compared with a local hire. The expat insurance comparison covers the private medical cover question for the inbound resident; the EP holder is not eligible for MediShield Life (the local universal health scheme).
The Singapore tax treatment is the primary structural pull of the Employment Pass over the comparable Hong Kong, London, or Tokyo work permits. The personal income tax brackets run zero percent up to 20,000 SGD, 2 percent up to 30,000 SGD, 3.5 percent up to 40,000 SGD, 7 percent up to 80,000 SGD, 11.5 percent up to 120,000 SGD, 15 percent up to 160,000 SGD, 18 percent up to 200,000 SGD, 19 percent up to 240,000 SGD, 19.5 percent up to 280,000 SGD, 20 percent up to 320,000 SGD, and 24 percent above 1 million SGD (the top bracket raised from 22 percent in 2024).
The effective tax rate on a 150,000 SGD annual income runs 10.0 percent; on 300,000 SGD it runs 14.2 percent; on 500,000 SGD it runs 17.4 percent. The Singapore tax is territorial: foreign sourced income remitted to Singapore is generally not taxed except where the income is from a partnership or sole proprietorship. The remitted dividend from a foreign company is exempt if the dividend has been taxed in the source country and the source country headline corporate tax rate is at least 15 percent.
The Not Ordinarily Resident scheme that the foreign professional Atlas readership often references was discontinued from year of assessment 2021 (income year 2020). The Tax Equalization Plan for inbound senior executives remains available where the employer structures the package to neutralize the difference between the home and host country tax exposure.
The Central Provident Fund contributions do not apply to Employment Pass holders. The 20 percent employee and 17 percent employer CPF contributions that local citizens pay are not levied on EP holders. The total social security and tax wedge on an EP holder earning 200,000 SGD a year runs 12.4 percent, compared with the 27.0 percent total tax and CPF wedge for the equivalent Singapore citizen on the same gross pay.
The Employment Pass admits dependents on three sub categories. The Dependent Pass covers the legal spouse and unmarried children under 21 of the EP holder. The Long Term Visit Pass Plus covers the common law partner, the stepchild, the disabled child over 21, or the parent of the EP holder. The Long Term Visit Pass covers the parents of EP holders earning above 6,000 SGD a month.
The Dependent Pass requires the principal EP holder to earn a fixed monthly salary of at least 6,000 SGD; the threshold raised from 5,000 SGD in September 2020 and again to 6,000 SGD in September 2023. The Dependent Pass for parents under the Long Term Visit Pass requires the principal to earn a fixed monthly salary of at least 12,000 SGD; the threshold raised from 6,000 SGD in September 2020.
The Dependent Pass holder may work in Singapore but must apply for a Letter of Consent from MOM authorizing the employment, or convert to an Employment Pass or S Pass under the dependent own qualifying salary. The Letter of Consent route was discontinued for new applications from May 1, 2021; existing LOC holders may renew but new dependents must file their own work pass.
The dependent child of school age must enroll in a registered education institution; the international school options at the May 2026 reading run 18 fully accredited institutions across Singapore offering IB, IGCSE, AP, or national curricula. The annual fee range runs 22,000 to 49,000 SGD for IB and IGCSE pathways. The international schools ranking covers the per city school inventory for the inbound family.
The four most frequent Employment Pass rejection reasons at the MOM adjudication stage are the COMPASS scoring gap, the qualifications verification failure, the salary benchmarking shortfall, and the firm level scoring deficit. The COMPASS scoring gap occurs where the applicant clears the 5,600 SGD salary floor but does not accumulate the 40 points across the four individual criteria; the typical gap is the 10 point qualifications criterion where the applicant degree is not on the MOM recognized list.
The qualifications verification failure occurs where the issuing institution is not on the MOM accredited list or where the verification service (Dataflow, QualifyEd, or institution direct) cannot complete the credential check within the application window. The structural fix at the May 2026 reading is to file the verification request 6 to 8 weeks before the EP application, particularly for degrees from Indian, Chinese, Russian, or Eastern European institutions where the verification window can extend to 90 days.
The salary benchmarking shortfall occurs where the applicant clears the floor but does not clear the 65th percentile of local PMET earnings in the sector. The MOM benchmarks are not published; the proxy is the Ministry of Manpower Labour Force Report which publishes the gross monthly earnings by occupation and age band. The financial services 65th percentile at the age 30s band runs 11,200 SGD a month; the technology sector runs 9,800 SGD a month; the consulting sector runs 10,400 SGD a month.
The firm level scoring deficit occurs where the employer firm fails the diversity criterion (above 25 percent share of the EP holder nationality at PMET level) or the local employment support criterion (below industry average local PMET share). The applicant cannot remediate this directly; the structural fix is the firm reorganization or the move to a more nationality diverse employer. The Singapore PR guide covers the longer term path; the 2026 nomad visa guide covers alternatives for the location independent worker.
The Employment Pass works structurally for four reader profiles. Inbound professionals aged 23 to 45 with a confirmed Singapore employer offering at least 7,200 SGD a month, a recognized degree, and a role at the 65th percentile of local PMET earnings or above. Inbound senior executives earning above 22,500 SGD a month with the COMPASS exemption. Inbound intracompany transferees from multinational anchors with the COMPASS exemption. Inbound dual income couples where both partners file separate EPs (each clearing their own salary floor and COMPASS score).
The Employment Pass does not work structurally for three reader profiles. Inbound applicants without a recognized degree (the COMPASS 10 point qualifications criterion is unfilled, requiring 30 of 30 points from the other three individual criteria to hit the 40 point pass mark). Inbound applicants for roles where the employer firm sits at the bottom of the diversity or local employment criteria. Inbound applicants whose Singapore offered salary is below the age tiered minimum at the financial services or standard cohort floor.
The structural Atlas position on the Employment Pass is that it is the most efficient work migration route into the Asia Pacific region at the May 2026 baseline for the qualifying professional, on the combined dimensions of tax efficiency, processing speed, dependent rights, and lifestyle quality. The Hong Kong ASMTP comparison covers the regional alternative; the Singapore country guide covers the broader move context; the Singapore city profile covers the metro detail.
The Employment Pass is the operational best fit for the inbound professional aged 23 to 45 with a Singapore employer offering at least 7,200 SGD a month for the standard cohort or 7,800 SGD for financial services, holding a degree from a MOM recognized institution, and able to clear 40 points across the COMPASS individual and firm criteria. The 105 SGD application fee, the 225 SGD issuance fee, the 2 year initial validity, the territorial tax base, and the absence of CPF contributions combine into the most competitive tax adjusted work permit in Asia for the qualifying inbound professional.
The next stage of the reading runs through the metro detail and the regional comparison. The Singapore city profile, the Hong Kong profile, the Tokyo profile, the Seoul profile, the Taipei profile, the best cities for tech careers, the best for finance jobs, the Singapore vs Hong Kong, the Singapore vs Dubai, and the Singapore country guide cover the broader decision space. The cost of living calculator runs the after tax cost basket against the origin metro; the tax calculator runs the side by side. For the international banking side of the inbound move, the Wise and DBS multi currency account guide covers the salary conversion stack.