Singapore Work Visas Guide 2023

Singapore has been a top destination for foreign professionals and entrepreneurs and the statistics show. With more than 1.2 million of foreigners choosing the city-state their preferred destination to work, understanding and choosing the right work visa in Singapore is crucial.

Singapore has become a highly attractive place to work as it is now a world leader in business freedom and innovation. Singapore has a great reputation to entice the best and brightest foreign workers, and its success is mainly because nearly 40% of its workforce is made up of foreign workers and students.

All work visas are issued by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) with a total of 5 visas falling into this category, all of which are long-term visit passes. They are:

Singapore introduced a new Tech.Pass in 2021 to attract high calibre e-commerce, AI, and cybersecurity foreign professionals to supplement the existing local work force. This work pass is issued by the Singapore Economic Development Board. If you’re a professional in this space, this may be the right visa for you.

The table below breaks down the various work passes available according to 3 characteristics

*The minimum qualifying salary will be raised from S$4,500 to S$5,000 in September 2022.

As there are many different types of work visas for a foreigner who possesses a degree or have a higher education background, let’s uncover the 3 types in detail below.

1) Employment Pass
The most common work visa in Singapore among degree holders is the Singapore Employment Pass. This work pass is most suitable for foreigners who are experts or specialists in their field. MOM has outlined a few success pointers for approval such as:

• Comparison of their skills compare against the local workforce and if they are able to contribute to the local economy
• Measurement of their salary against their job scope

Below is a list of requirements that must be met by foreign workers in Singapore:

Foreign workers in Singapore must also comply with the following:

Moving forward, MOM announced a new employment pass framework that is point-based under the Complementarity Assessment Framework (COMPASS). It is to launch in September 2023.

2) Entrepreneurship Pass
The next work visa is specifically tailored for 3 groups of individuals. They are foreigners or existing work pass holders who plans to start a new venture-backed or owns innovative technology businesses in Singapore.

• Entrepreneurs – individuals who have secured venture capital funding, have a demonstrated history of entrepreneurial experience or who is already in an acceleration in Singapore start-up programme
•  Innovator – individuals who hold an intellectual property (IP) or is a technical expert that has an ongoing research collaboration with Singapore research institution
• Investor – individuals with good track record of investing in businesses with the aim of growing new or existing businesses in Singapore by starting an investment-related company

3) Personalised Employment Pass
The last work visa in the professional category is curated for top-tier professionals with an exceptional technical or domain expertise. As the name suggests, the PEP is a self-sponsored working visa that is not tied to any company, however, not renewable. They are most suitable for:

• Existing employment pass holders who earn a minimum monthly salary of S$12,000
• Overseas-based foreign professional with a last drawn monthly salary of S$18,000.

As the PEP is a self-sponsored Singapore working visa, it is straight-forward when it comes to understanding the requirements. Let’s take a deeper look into the 2 others – Employment Pass and Entrepreneur Pass.

The similarities for the 2 work visas are detailed below:

While both passes are similar in nature, there are distinctive differences that every foreigner should take note of:

1) Applicant’s position

• Singapore EP: Intended for company staff and executives
• EntrePass: For business owners or founders of a new company who holds at least 30% shares

2) Timing of application

• Singapore EP: Only can be applied after company incorporation
• EntrePass: Can be applied before company is set up or 6 months within date of incorporation

3) Main evaluation criteria

• Singapore EP: Recognised and relevant qualifications to job, including your company’s background
• EntrePass: Innovative business plan, future hiring plan, meeting spending requirements, and a proven entrepreneur track record
• Note: Educational qualifications are more important for Singapore EP as compared to EntrePass

4) Salary

• Singapore EP: Minimum S$4,500 fixed monthly salary – this will be increased to S$5,000 in September 2022
• EntrePass: No salary requirement

5) Validity

• Singapore EP: Valid for up to 2 years and renewable subject to approval
• EntrePass: Valid for up to 1 year but is subject to renewal on a yearly basis depending on the criteria

6) Processing time

• Singapore EP: Typically 2-4 weeks – however, longer time is expected during peak periods or if additional documents are requested by MOM
• EntrePass: Typically 5-8 weeks

The other work visa that is widely applied is the S Pass, targeted at skilled and semi-skilled workers. There are no restrictions of nationalities and S Pass holders are usually individuals who have fulfilled the requirements as specified by the company.

All companies in Singapore are subjected to a quota system that limits the number of S Pass holders in a company. For example, a company in the service sector must have more than 10% of their staff as S Pass holders. It is also mandatory for employers to pay a certain amount of monthly levy depending on the number of S Pass holders who have been employed.

The most basic work pass is the Singapore Work Permit (WP). A work permit allows low to semi-skilled workers in labour-intensive sectors such as the following to work in Singapore:

Similar to the S Pass, there is also a quota system for this work visa. The employer is required to pay a foreign worker levy, fulfil the foreign worker quota, and provide medical insurance for employees. Upon issuance, this pass is valid for up to two years and is renewable thereafter.

If you are in a dilemma of whether you need a professional tier working visa in Singapore, we would recommend the Singapore Employment Pass which has long-term benefits.

Although both the Employment Pass and EntrePass grant you the ability to bring in dependants, the validity of the EntrePass is only a year but is renewable thereafter. Holders of EntrePass will not be able to bring in dependants on the first year. Only after renewing the pass, they will be able enjoy the dependant privileges.

For Personalised Employment Pass, there are 2 key disadvantages in the long run:

Therefore, Employment pass visa gives you more flexibility and advantages as a job seeker or as a foreign entrepreneur who plans to start their business in Singapore.