Overview: Employment Pass in Singapore in 2024-25
Singapore has a well-growing economy. Here, employees are allotted different types of passes depending on their works and post. Employment pass in Singapore is a type of work pass which is allotted to foreign companies to pass their employees in Singapore. Passes and permits are issued by the Ministry of Manpower of Singapore.
This pass is a very versatile work pass that covers the biggest group of foreign professional employees who are currently working in Singapore. There is no quota required for a work pass, but there are some other requirements that are to be fulfilled for work passes in Singapore.
These passes are valid for 1-2 years and can be renewed for up to 3 years. An employee can visit outside Singapore without applying for a visa again and again. There is no levy required for employment passes in Singapore.
Ministry of manpower of Singapore takes approximately 3 weeks to process the application of employment pass.
An employee also gets an employment pass under the “overseas sponsorship pass”. This case is only possible when an overseas-based sponsored company has a related or client’s company in Singapore.
Some qualifications are required to be fulfilled for Employment pass issuance.
Our ODINT Consultancy is here to provide you with detailed information about the E pass. Read the full article to learn more about employment pass.
Key Facts about Singapore Employment Pass
Employment pass is issued for foreign professionals who are working in Singaporean companies and who fill all the criteria. The employers or the third party who is appointed to apply on the behalf of the candidate. For this, employees have a fixed salary of at least $4500 per month. It is valid for up to 2 years and in case of renewal of an employment pass then it is valid up to 3 years. In this case, employers will decide whether to give medical insurance not likely in the case of s pass.
Types of Employment Pass in Singapore
There are three types of employment pass. The employment pass allotted to foreign employees depends on the criteria they fulfilled. These types and their criteria are-
- P1 pass-
For qualifying for this pass, the candidate must have a fixed monthly salary of $8000 or more and also have acceptable qualifications.
- P2 pass-
For qualifying for this pass, the employee must have a fixed monthly salary of $4500 or more and also have acceptable qualifications.
- Q1 pass-
For qualifying for this pass, the employee must be a young graduate from a reputed institute and have a monthly fixed salary of at least $3500, and work experience and quality will be considered. More experience more the limit of minimum salary to qualify this criterion.
Steps involved for providing employment pass before and after steps
- Fairly consider candidates from all over the world
- Checking the eligibility and requirements
- Seek the required documents
- Before the arrival of the candidate apply for an employment pass.
- Once the employee arrived, get the pass issued.
- Register employees with fingerprints and photographs.
- Receive the Employment pass card
- After that, employers required to notify MOM Singapore
Fair consideration framework
The fair consideration framework seeks for the fair placement of foreign employees. It set out the requirements for employers of Singapore and consider fairly job opportunities for employees. It checks that employers should not be biased or discriminate between employees based on gender, color, nationality, or race. All employers are expected to follow a tripartite policy.
Consider all candidates fairly
It is important to consider candidates fairly for fair employment practice, improve transparency in the labor market. For this, all the employers are required to submit employment pass applications that must be advertised first on MyCareerFutures.
Requirements for advertising
The advertisement should disclose the factors related to the job. Employment pass related to discriminatory jobs is rejected and not issued with passes.
Advertisement must not be biased or discriminatory words not to be used while advertising. It should contain the details related to the occupation provided for the employment pass and the application is also filled for the same.
Salary offered to should be clear to all and not hidden for anyone. The maximum salary can be nit exceed 2 times the minimum salary. Advertisement must contain the salary provided for employment pass holders.
This must be opened for at least 28 consecutive days for applying for a vacancy and viewing this advertisement. If there is any change in advertisement then it should be opened for another 28 consecutive days from the date of change take place to aware jobseekers about the change and have a chance to apply for the job.
An advertisement which is closed for 3 months or more than cannot be used for fulfilling vacancies by employment pass applications. One has to advertise it again. If there is an advertisement for multiple employment pass applications and the number of applications cannot exceed the number of vacancies.
Advertisement requirement exemptions
All employers must have fair practice for hiring employees for vacancies. If any company meets any of the requirements, then it will be exempted from the requirement of advertising. These are-
- A company that has 10 or fewer employees.
- Having fixed monthly salary of $20,000 to the vacancies
- Employment is only for short term
- This vacancy is fulfilled by the local employee
- This vacancy should be filled by the candidate who had applied for overseas intra-corporate transfer under the World Trade Organization’s General contract.
Eligibility Criteria for Singapore Employment Pass
Employment pass is issued by employers or third party who is authorized. If an over the sea employer is not having a registered office in Singapore, then is required to get registered before applying for an E pass. Employment pass is issued to the foreign employees who are working in Singaporean company but only who qualified in the following criteria-
- Having a managerial, executive, or specialized job.
- Having a minimum fixed monthly salary of $4500. And more the experience requires more the salary for qualifying.
- Having acceptable qualifications and skills.
Acceptable Qualifications For Employment Pass in Singapore
Qualifications only from accredited institutions are acceptable only qualifications from unaccredited institutions are not acceptable.
To check whether the institute is accredited or not there are some agencies. These are-
- Global verification agencies
- International accreditation bodies
- Awarding the country’s educational authorities.
They choose applications of candidates based on merits and the basis of other major factors such as salary, track records, work experience, skills, and global and country rankings of institutions.
Self-assessment tools
A self-assessment tool is a tool that is used to assess and check whether the candidate is qualified or not. With the help of this tool, the employer can make a self-assessment for the eligibility criteria.
In case, by using self-assessment tool candidates will qualify then there are approximately 90% chances of getting an employment pass issued.
But, by using the self-assessment tool, a candidate will not qualify for the eligibility criteria then an application for an employment pass will be rejected.
Family passes for E pass holder’s families
Dependents in the family of employment pass holders also get a pass in Singapore but if the pass holder has a monthly fixed salary of at least $6000 per month.
For applying for family passes, the employer has to apply with an E pass application, or he can also file a separate application for a family pass.
Documents required for applying for Singapore Employment Pass
For applying for an employment pass, employers should require the following documents of the candidate-
- Candidate’s personal particulars page of his passport.
- In case the personal information in the passport is different from other documents then an explanation letter is required
- Latest business profile of company and instant registered information with ACRA
- Educational certificates according to the country of their origin.
- Candidate’s contact details in Singapore
- Candidate’s immigration or short-term visit pass.
- Residential address of candidate in Singapore
Employers are responsible for the verification of the documents of candidates and the qualifications are genuine and from accredited institutions.
Additional documents required are-
- Copy of approval letter from enterprise in Singapore for setting up an office.
- A letter having details about the application from the representative’s office headquarters.
- For healthcare professionals, lawyers, players, and coaches a health care documents.
- For employees in a food, the establishment is required to submit a copy of the application for a food shop license.
Applying for an Employment pass in Singapore
An employer or appointed employment agent can apply for the issuance of an employee’s past. It cost about $105 per pass for submission of application and for getting the issued pass it costs about $225 for each pass and for multiple visa pass $30 per pass is charged.
In most cases, it takes a time of 3 weeks for approval of the application, but sometimes it takes a period as long as 8 weeks.
Submission of application-
For submission of application for employment pass-
- The employer needs the written consent of the candidate
- Log in to my mom portal and fill the form with the required documents
- Pay $105 as fees per pass through GIRO, VISA, or Mastercard.
- Check application status after 3 weeks. Also, it might take a longer time.
- Once the pass is approved, log in to EP online and print the in-principle approval letter.
Now employers can bring candidates to Singapore for this, they have to submit an entry application for candidates and also ensure that candidates will comply with all the required documents.
For getting the pass issued
- Log in to my mom portal and fill the form with required information and documents
- Pay fees according to the requirements.
- $225 for getting the pass
- $30 for multiple visit pass
- After this, you will get a notification letter which is valid for up to 1 month. This letter allows candidates to work and travel in Singapore.
Register photo and fingerprints
For this registration, the employee needs to have an appointment in the employment pass service center. The candidate requires applying for this after 2 weeks after the pass is issued.
For this, the candidate is required to have-
- Appointment letter
- Notification letter
- Original passport
Receiving the card-
After fulfilling all the required details the card is delivered to the given address within 4 working days. The candidate should be notified through SMS 1 day before the delivery of the card. Candidates can also check the delivery of cards through EP online portal.
If the delivery of cards is unsuccessful two times, then the candidate has to collect his card from EPSC. For this, they do not need an appointment. The candidate has to collect his card within the next 3 working days.
For this, the candidate has to bring-
- Original passport
- Notification letter
If the candidate authorized someone to collect his card, then he must bring-
- An authorized letter
- Passport for verification or NRIC.
Appeal against the rejection of Singaporeemployment pass application
Employers or third-party agent who is authorized can make inquiries or appeals. If they want to apply for rejection should mention the issues to the rejection advisory. They can use self-assessment tools for deciding whether to apply for a rejection or not.
Employer or authorized employment agent can apply within 3 months for rejection. If that period is missed, then they need to fill a new application.
After appealing, you can check your application status by logging in to the EP portal. Then check the status and print the outcome letter.
An appeal can take 3 weeks in most cases. But in some cases, it may take a longer period.
Renewal of Employment Pass Singapore
Employers or third-party authorized agents can apply 6 months before the card expires. The duration of renewed pass is of 3 years. Duration of renewal of employment pass does not affect the duration of the passport.
It takes approximately takes 3 weeks in most of the cases but sometimes it may take a longer period of 8 weeks.
Renewal of employment pass is not guaranteed as qualifying criteria are checked and, on this basis, they are allotted with the pass. For submission of renewal of application, they have to log in to EP color and file application with the other requirements.
After the successful registration for renewal-
- After 3 months, a letter of the in-principle approval letter will be sent which is valid for 3 months.
- Now, they have to follow all the instructions for the renewal of the pass.
After getting the pass issued, the pass must be cut into two parts and discarded for prevention from misuse. The card must be kept with the cardholder.
Cancellation of Employment Pass
Employers or third-party employment agents can apply for cancellation of employment pass within one week after the last day of notice. The pass will be canceled immediately but, in some cases, it may take a longer period.
Before canceling the pass, the employers must make sure that all the dues of tax will be cleared and dues related to the employment contract also cleared. The employer should mention the reason for the cancellation of the employment pass. And he also has to buy a ticket and pay for the traveling expenses.
For cancellation of employment passes, employers have to log in to my mom portal and submit the application for cancellation with the other requirements.
Candidates can also apply for a short-term visit pass to stay in Singapore for a short period. This pass will be received through email.
Replacement of Employment Pass Singapore
If the employment pass is stolen, lost, or damaged then employers or authorized employment agents can apply for replacement of the pass. For a damaged card it costs about $60. For the lost card, it costs $100 for the first loss and in case of subsequent loss, $330 is charged. In the moat of the cases, the card is immediately replaced, but sometimes it takes about 4 working days.
Requirements for replacement of employment pass are –
- Original passport
- Card replacement letter
- Damaged card (if having)
- Declaration form
- Police report (in case of stolen card)
You can also send some other person for the collection of cards. But they have to bring-
- Authorized letter
- NRIC, pass, or passport
For submission of replacement applications, employers have to log in to the EP portal. Pay the fees for the replacement through online mode which is irrefutable. Then print the replacement letter. It will take time of 1 week.
Notifying to MOM
Every employer needs to notify MOM about the information of employment pass holders. It includes name and address, occupation, salary, and residential address. And also, the change in any of the following –
- Change in the salary of the employment pass-holder
- Change in the company’s name
- Change in the company’s financial information
- Change in the company address
- Change in a business entity
- Transfer of the pass holder to any other related company
- Change in the occupation of the pass-holder
- If pass holders are missing
- Change in the pass holder’s residential status
- Change in the pass holder’s contact details
- Change in the personal particulars of the pass holder.
Read More: Singapore Work Visa
FAQ’s
Can employment pass holder work for another company?
Yes, an employment pass holder can work for another company. But he has to obtain a letter of consent from MOM.
Is an employment pass a work pass?
The employment pass is the main pass for the employees who work in Singapore. This is issued to professionals, skilled workers, or owners of the company.
How long does it take to get an employment pass in Singapore?
In most cases, it takes 3 weeks to get an employee pass in Singapore but in some cases, it may take a longer period of time.