What Is The Process To Apply For A Personalised Employment Pass Singapore Visa?
Are you planning to work in the clean and green city of Singapore? Singapore is the perfect city for English-speaking expats. If you are looking to reside here as an expat, you need to apply for a personalised employment pass Singapore visa.
As a foreign employee, the employment pass is very important in ensuring that you are able to stay in Singapore legally, and it can even help you bring family members to join you as well. In this article, I will be going through the process for an expat like yourself to apply and obtain an employment pass in Singapore.
Key Facts about the Personalised Employment Pass Singapore Visa
Singapore Employment Pass (EP) is a work visa that allows foreign professionals and executives (of MNCs) to reside and work in Singapore. Therefore, due to its professionality, acquiring Employment Pass requires a careful approach with regards to the strict Employment Pass regulations by the Ministry of Manpower Singapore.
As per the Singapore Companies Act, if a foreigner is to be a director, manager, or specialist of a Singapore company, the foreigner must be a valid work pass holder. The most commonly selected pass for this case is Employment Pass.
Normally, the Employment Pass is issued for two years at a time and is renewable. An Employment Pass Singapore visa enables one to work and reside here and travel in and out of the country freely without having to apply for any Singapore entry pass. This increases the ease of conducting cross-border activities to conduct business. Holding Employment Pass makes it easier to apply and get approval for Permanent Resident (PR) status in Singapore as well.
What Are The Conditions to Apply for the Singapore Employment Pass?
- A company or an appointed employment agent needs to apply on behalf of the Singapore Employment Pass candidate.
- The employment work visa candidate must earn a fixed monthly salary of at least SGD $3,900 per month. More experienced candidates (Managerial level or more) are required to be offered a higher salary by the company. Expats applying for an employment pass for the first-time are permitted to receive an employment pass that is valid for (up to) 2 years.
- Eligible to renew up to 3 years.
- Eligible Employment Pass holders can bring family members into Singapore on a Dependant Pass.
Eligibility for the Employment Pass Singapore Visa
As mentioned above, due to the strict guidelines of the Employment Pass in Singapore, it is crucial to know the guidelines and eligibility well.
- All nationalities are eligible.
- The foreign professional must have a job offer in Singapore. (With a legal contract or agreement)
- The position must be for a senior position (e..g managerial or executive position within the company).
- The Employment Pass candidate must earn a fixed monthly salary of at least S$3,900 monthly. (Fresh graduates of reputable universities.) More experienced Employment Pass candidates are required to have a relatively higher salary.
- The Employment Pass candidates must have outstanding qualifications. This includes a reputable university degree and professional and well-known industry qualifications. The applicant should also have a specialised skill-set such as software engineering.
Wondering if you are eligible to apply for a Singapore employment visa? If you are a student seeking an internship in Singapore, you will need to apply for a training work permit instead.
Moreover, keep in mind that every company has a government issued quota regarding the number of Employment Pass holders that it can accept. This depends on the numbers of foreign employees and industry that the Singapore company is in.
What is the Personalised Employment Pass in Singapore?
For certain candidates, there is another type of pass known as the personalised employment pass Singapore visa. This Singapore S pass is not tied to the employer, and is only applicable for high-earning employment pass holders. Current employment pass holders who are earning over $12,000 a month or foreign professionals earning over $18,000 a month are eligible to apply for the personalised employment pass Singapore visa. It can only be issued once, and is not renewable.
There are additional benefits to holding a personalised employment pass Singapore visa. Singapore employment pass holders can stay up to an additional 6 months while job searching, and are able to attain dependent passes for certain family members, namely their legally married spouse and children under 21 years of age.
In addition, employment work visa holders need to apply for a new employment pass when they change jobs, they will only need to notify MOM of this change, which is much more convenient. While the personalised employment pass Singapore visa offers its holders more flexibility, do note that it is only valid for 3 years and not eligible for renewal.
The application to apply for a personalised employment pass Singapore visa can be done online. The procedure is much simpler if you are a current Singapore employment pass holder; just fill in the application form on MOM’s website and submit it via SingPass for review. If everything goes smoothly, the personalised employment pass Singapore visa will be yours within 8 weeks. If you only need the Singapore employment pass, read on for the full process of application.
Procedures and Timeline for the Employment Pass Application
Here are the documents you need to submit when applying for an employment pass Singapore visa:
- The personal particulars’ page of the candidate’s passport
- The company’s latest business profile (any information registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA)
- The candidate’s educational certificates (Degree Certificate, Proof of Certification, and more)
- Written consent from the Employment Pass candidate allowing the company or an employment agent to apply on his or her behalf (Usually a written contract)
- Additional documents. Please note that the Ministry Of Manpower may request for additional documents if necessary.
Generally, the Employment Pass application procedures are conducted by the Singapore company or a local employment agent experienced in applying for Singapore employment passes.
- The company must post the job opening on Jobs Bank for at least 14 days before starting an Employment Pass application.
- The company or an employment agent must submit an application.
- Locally-based businesses can apply online. (At least 3 weeks)
- Foreign businesses that do not possess a local office can apply via a local sponsor through a mail. (At least 8 weeks)
- Upon approval, the Ministry Of Manpower will send an in-principle approval letter (IPA).
- The Employment Pass applicants will receive the IPA through Employment Pass Online portal. After receiving the IPA letter, the Employment Pass candidate has 6 months to enter Singapore and apply for the Employment Pass.
Registering for the Employment Pass card in Singapore
The candidate must be in Singapore to apply for the Employment Pass. To receive the Employment Pass Singapore visa, the company or a local employment agent should submit the documents through Employment Pass Online.
As follows:
- The candidate’s passport details.
- The details of the candidate’s current Short Term Visit Pass or white card.
- The candidate’s residential address in Singapore.
- The local address where the Employment Pass card can be delivered (Usually the address of the company).
- Contact details of at least one authorised recipient who can receive an SMS or email alert with delivery details from MOM (Usually a senior member in the company).
- A fee of SGD $225.
Receive a notification letter after issuing the Employment Pass card.
It is valid for 1 month and allows the candidate to work and travel in and out of Singapore. Moreover, the notification letter will state if the candidate needs to have his or her fingerprints registered and his or her photo taken.
Register fingerprints and get a photo taken
Candidates who applied for the Employment Pass over 5 years ago are required by the Singapore government to register their fingerprints again and have their photograph taken. All candidates must make an appointment to submit their biometrics with the Employment Pass Services Centre.
At the appointment, candidates must provide the following documents:
– The applicant’s original passport.
– The applicant’s appointment letter as received.
– The notification letter.
– The list of documents listed in their IPA letter (that notifies the applicant of the pending approval of his or her Employment Pass).
Collect the Employment Pass card
The Employment Pass candidate will receive the card within at least 4 working days.
Due to the COVID regulations, it’s getting harder to meet the requirements. In terms of feasibility and ease, using a corporate services provider would be a smarter option. The employment agent would be able to assist with guidance throughout the entire Employment Pass application process and would be able to help you to attain the employment visa quickly.
Contact us if you need help with the Employment Pass application in Singapore for you or your company.