Employment Pass Guide 2026: Singapore Salary, COMPASS & How to Apply

This employment pass guide covers Singapore’s Employment Pass (EP), the main route for skilled professionals, managers, and executives to work there — and unlike many work visas, it isn’t a single salary threshold you either clear or don’t. Since September 2023, every EP application has to pass two separate tests: a minimum qualifying salary, and a points-based framework called COMPASS that scores the candidate and the hiring company together. Missing either one means refusal, regardless of how strong the job offer looks on paper.

Use this guide to Singapore’s Employment Pass as your reference for both tests, who actually applies (the employer, not you), what the timeline looks like end to end, and what changes are already locked in for 2027.

Who the Employment Pass is for

The EP is for foreign professionals with a firm job offer from a Singapore-registered company, in a managerial, executive, or specialist role. It sits above the S Pass (for mid-skilled roles, subject to a quota and levy) and the Work Permit (for lower-skilled work) in Singapore’s foreign-workforce hierarchy. There’s no self-sponsorship route — an employer or a licensed employment agent must submit the application on your behalf through MOM’s EP eService.

Stage 1: the minimum qualifying salary

Singapore benchmarks the EP salary floor against the top third of local PMET (professional, manager, executive, technician) salaries, and the bar rises with age on the theory that more experienced hires should command higher pay. As of the official MOM Employment Pass eligibility page, the 2026 monthly minimums are:

These floors are already scheduled to rise again from 1 January 2027 — to S$6,000 (non-financial) and S$6,600 (financial services) at the entry level, climbing to S$11,500 and S$12,700 respectively at age 45+. If your job search or offer negotiation stretches into next year, plan around the higher figure, not the current one.

Stage 2: the COMPASS points test

Clearing the salary floor only gets you to the starting line. Every application (unless exempt) is then scored under COMPASS across four required criteria, each worth up to 20 points, plus two bonus criteria:

• C1 — Salary: how the offered salary ranks against local peers of the same age and sector.
• C2 — Qualifications: degree tier and relevance, or equivalent skilled experience.
• C3 — Diversity: whether the employer’s existing foreign workforce is concentrated in one nationality.
• C4 — Support for Local Employment: the employer’s share of local PMET hires relative to its industry.
• C5 — Skills Bonus (up to 20 extra points): shortage-occupation roles on MOM’s list.
• C6 — Strategic Economic Priorities (up to 10 extra points): roles tied to MOM-designated priority programs.

You need at least 40 points across the four core criteria to pass. Candidates earning a fixed monthly salary of S$22,500 or more, intra-corporate transferees, or roles lasting one month or less are exempt from COMPASS entirely.

How the application actually runs

1. Job advertisement: unless exempt, the employer must post the role on MyCareersFuture, Singapore’s national job bank, for at least 14 consecutive days, stating the actual salary on offer, and give fair consideration to local applicants under the Fair Consideration Framework.
2. Eligibility pre-check: the employer checks the candidate against the salary floor and estimates the COMPASS score before submitting — a weak score is worth fixing (higher stated salary, better-matched qualifications) before applying rather than after a rejection.
3. Submission via EP eService: the employer or an authorized employment agent files the application online through MOM’s portal.
4. In-Principle Approval (IPA): if approved, MOM issues an IPA letter, which lets the candidate enter Singapore and complete formalities.
5. Pass issuance: the EP is collected in person after arrival, typically alongside a medical check if required for the role.

How long it takes

Processing runs around three weeks for employers already registered and established in Singapore. If the sponsoring company has no local office — for example, a fully overseas employer applying on a new hire’s behalf — expect closer to eight weeks, since MOM applies extra scrutiny to firms without an established Singapore presence.

Bringing family: the Dependant’s Pass

EP holders who meet MOM’s minimum family-sponsorship salary can bring a spouse and unmarried children under 21 on a Dependant’s Pass, or unmarried children over 21, parents, and common-law spouses on a Long-Term Visit Pass. The sponsorship salary threshold is separate from — and higher than — the base EP qualifying salary, so a pass holder at the entry-level salary floor may not automatically qualify to sponsor family; check the current threshold on MOM’s site before counting on it.

Dependant’s Pass holders can also apply separately for their own Letter of Consent (LOC) to work in Singapore without needing a separate work pass of their own, provided the LOC application is approved by MOM — this is a common follow-on step for spouses who want to work rather than a requirement of the Dependant’s Pass itself. Renewal of the Dependant’s Pass is tied to the EP holder’s own pass remaining valid, so if the EP lapses or isn’t renewed, dependant passes lapse with it.

What can go wrong

Two mistakes account for most EP refusals that catch applicants by surprise:

• Applying before the job ad requirement is satisfied. Employers sometimes submit the EP application before the mandatory 14-day MyCareersFuture posting window has run its course, or before giving fair consideration to local applicants as the Fair Consideration Framework requires — MOM can reject on this basis alone, independent of salary or COMPASS.
• Underestimating COMPASS while over-indexing on salary. A salary comfortably above the floor does not guarantee a COMPASS pass — qualifications mismatch (C2), a workforce already concentrated in one nationality (C3), or a weak local-hiring record (C4) can still sink an application. Ask your employer to run the pre-check honestly, not optimistically.

FAQ

Can I apply for an Employment Pass myself, without an employer? No. Only the hiring company (or its licensed employment agent) can submit an EP application. If you’re job-hunting from abroad, you need a firm offer before the process starts.

What’s the difference between the Employment Pass and the S Pass? The S Pass targets mid-skilled roles at a lower salary floor, is capped by a company-level quota, and carries a monthly foreign-worker levy the employer pays. The EP has no quota or levy but demands a materially higher salary and the COMPASS score.

Does COMPASS penalize hiring from one particular country? The Diversity criterion (C3) scores lower when an employer’s existing foreign headcount is heavily concentrated in a single nationality — it’s a company-level measure of workforce mix, not a judgment on any individual candidate’s nationality.

What’s the quickest way to check if I’d pass before my employer applies? There isn’t an official self-check tool from MOM — the pre-check happens on the employer’s side using the salary benchmarks and COMPASS criteria in this guide. The most reliable early signal is comparing your offered salary against the age-banded floors above and honestly scoring your qualifications and the employer’s local-hiring mix against C1-C4; a candidate who clears the salary floor comfortably but is weak on C2-C4 should ask the employer to run the actual MOM pre-check rather than assume the salary alone is enough.

Salary floors, COMPASS weightings, and processing times are set and updated by MOM and can change between hiring cycles — always confirm current figures at mom.gov.sg before relying on them for an offer negotiation. For a broader look at accessible international work routes, see our easiest work visas round-up. VisaMet isn’t a law firm and this isn’t legal advice — when we launch, our eligibility check will help you estimate your likely COMPASS score before your employer files. Join the waitlist for early access.