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Employment Pass & S Pass Applications
Foreigners holding acceptable degrees and professional qualifications (and whose monthly basic salary is at least S$1,800) are eligible to apply for employment pass to work in Singapore. There are various types of employment passes, based on income brackets and qualifications:
P Pass
For foreigners who hold acceptable degrees, professional qualifications or specialist skills and are seeking professional, specialist, executive or managerial jobs.
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A P1 Pass will be issued if the applicant's fixed monthly salary* is more than S$7,000. |
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A P2 Pass will be issued if the applicant possesses recognized qualifications and his/her fixed monthly salary* is more than S$3,500 and up to S$7,000. |
*Fixed monthly salary refers to the total regular monthly payments to a foreign employee, including the basic salary. The fixed monthly salary must not vary in quantum from month to month, and must be paid to the foreign employee on a monthly basis, regardless of his/her performance.
Q1 Pass
For foreigners whose fixed monthly salary is more than S$2,500 and possess acceptable degrees, professional qualifications or specialist skills. Compensatory factors such as skills, fixed monthly salary, and years of experience may be taken into consideration.
S Pass(A new category of Work Pass introduced in 2004, which replaces the Q2 Pass)
For foreigners whose fixed monthly salary is at least S$1,800. SPass applicants will be assessed on a points system, taking into account multiple criteria including salary, education qualifications, skills, job type and work experience.
A levy of S$50 per month will apply to the hiring company for each S Pass holder employed.
Note: The number of S Pass holders a company can employ is capped at a sub-quota or Dependency Ceiling of 25% of the company’s total workforce. And from July 2010 onwards, there will be a two-tier levy for S Pass holders - Basic Tier and Tier 2. If the company has more than 20% of S Pass holders in its workforce, it would have to pay more to hire such workers.
For more information, please contact us.
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Validity Period (of EP or S Pass Issued)
A first-time applicant may be issued an Employment / S Pass for up to two years. However, from our experience, Q1 Employment Pass and S Pass are usually granted for only one year. Subsequently, the Employment / S Pass may be renewed for a period up to three years. The period of renewal is at the discretion of the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
Processing Time
For Employment Pass and S Pass applications, the processing time for manual submission is at least five weeks from the date of the application form being submitted to SingPost. Electronic submissions by registered users of EP Online accounts are significantly faster (within 4 to 14 days). For both Employment Pass and S Pass applications, a $10 administrative fee is to be paid to MOM (via SingPost/online print gateway) on submission of each application.
Upon approval, MOM will send an In-Principle Approval (IPA) Letter to the successful applicant (or it can be downloaded from EP Online) for the Employment Pass, which is valid for three months from the date of the letter.
For an S Pass application, the In-Principle Approval Letter is valid for three months from the date of the letter. The successful applicant cannot engage in temporary employment before the Pass is issued, as the employer must pay the levy before the applicant starts working.
Documents Required
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Employment Pass applications must be sponsored by an established Singapore Company (which is also usually the employing company). The form must be endorsed with the company’s stamp/seal and signed by both the applicant and an authorized officer from the sponsoring company.
For S Pass applications, an Employer Declaration Form is to be completed and attached. The application form must also be endorsed with the company’s stamp/seal and signed by both the applicant and an authorized officer from the sponsoring company, and the employer (if different from the sponsor). |
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A copy of all the applicant's educational documents and past employment testimonials (Translated into English if they are in other languages) |
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A recent passport-sized photograph of the applicant taken within the last three months |
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A copy of the Travel Document page showing the applicant's personal particulars |
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Additional documents if requested on a case-to-case basis. |
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Business Profile / Instant Information from ACRA/ registration papers from their respective professional bodies for sponsoring company of applicant. |
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If the applicant is a regional representative, the following documents must also be submitted:
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A copy of letter from the International Enterprise Singapore giving approval for the setting up of the Representative Office; and |
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A letter from the Representative's Office Headquarters stating the purpose of the application, the duration of the applicant's assignment and an undertaking for the maintenance and repatriation of the applicant. |
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Applicants for the nursing, medical, teaching and legal professions must submit a copy of the Certificate of Registration with the respective vetting professional bodies / accreditation agencies or relevant documents as stated:
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Doctors – Singapore Medical Council |
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Dentists – Singapore Dental Council |
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Pharmacist – Singapore Pharmacy Board |
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Nurses – Singapore Nursing Board |
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Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner – TCM Practitioners Board |
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Lawyers – Singapore Attorney-General’s Chambers |
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Football Player/Coach – Singapore Sports Council |
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Child care Teacher – Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) |
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School Teacher – Ministry of Education |
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Foreigner working for Representative Office – International Enterprise of Singapore |
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| Please Note: |
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Applicants from food establishments must obtain a copy of the establishment’s National Environment Agency (NEA) License. |
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Food stall licenses (held by an individual) are not allowed to employ foreigners on S passes. As compared to restaurant operators, food stall licensees normally operate small stalls in hawker centers, coffee shops or food courts. It is deemed by MOM that a food stall can be operated by the licensees themselves or with family assistance, and therefore, does not require specially skilled foreign workers. |
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For shipbuilding and ship-repairing companies, an original letter from the main shipyard should indicate its support for the number of S Pass applications (not applicable if the company submitting the S Pass applications is the main shipyard). |
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