singapore employment pass
Singapore Employment Pass: the salary bar, COMPASS, and the 2027 increase
Singapore assesses Employment Pass candidates in two stages, and the first is a hard gate: a candidate who misses the qualifying salary is ineligible regardless of how well they would have scored on COMPASS. The salary bar is indexed to age, starting at S$5,600 a month and reaching S$10,700 at 45 and above, with a higher scale in financial services. Both scales rise for new applications from 1 January 2027. Stage two is COMPASS, a 40-point framework in which a company with fewer than 25 local professionals banks 20 points automatically.
Two stages, and the first one is a gate
The Ministry of Manpower assesses Employment Pass applications in two stages. Stage one is the qualifying salary, benchmarked to the top third of local professional, manager, executive and technician salaries by age. Stage two, unless exempted, is the points-based Complementarity Assessment Framework, known as COMPASS.
The relationship between them is the thing to understand first, and MOM states it without ambiguity: candidates who do not meet stage one are not eligible for an Employment Pass regardless of the points they would have scored under COMPASS. A brilliant COMPASS profile does not compensate for being a hundred dollars under the salary line.
So the sequence for anyone assessing their own chances is fixed. Establish whether the offered salary clears the bar for your age. Only then does the points framework become worth modelling.
The salary bar moves with your age
The qualifying salary is not one number, and this is the detail that catches candidates and employers out most often. It starts at S$5,600 a month for candidates aged 23 or below and rises steadily with age to S$10,700 at 45 and above. Financial services runs a separate and higher scale, from S$6,200 up to S$11,800 across the same age range.
The consequence is that the identical role, at the identical salary, qualifies a 26-year-old and fails a 42-year-old. At 26 the bar is about S$6,295; at 42 it is about S$10,005 outside financial services. An employer who has hired at a given package before cannot assume the same package works for the next candidate.
The rationale is the benchmark itself. Because the bar tracks the top third of local PMET salaries by age, and local salaries rise with experience, the pass is designed to require that a foreign hire is paid at least as well as the better-paid locals of the same age. Experienced applicants are therefore the ones most likely to be caught short.
The bar rises for applications from 1 January 2027
MOM has published the next increase, which matters to anyone planning a move across that boundary. For new applications from 1 January 2027, and for renewals of passes expiring from 1 January 2028, the general scale rises from S$5,600 to S$6,000 at the youngest band and from S$10,700 to S$11,500 at 45 and above.
Financial services rises in step, from S$6,200 to S$6,600 at the bottom and from S$11,800 to S$12,700 at the top. In percentage terms that is roughly a seven to eight percent uplift across the range.
Two practical consequences follow. A candidate sitting just above today's bar may sit below the 2027 one, so an offer negotiated now against the current figure should be checked against the future figure if the start date or the first renewal falls the other side of it. And because the renewal trigger is the pass expiry date rather than the application date, existing pass holders are affected on a different timetable from new applicants.
COMPASS: 40 points, and where a small company quietly wins
COMPASS requires 40 points to pass. Four criteria are scored individually and two bonus criteria can add to the total. The individual criteria award 0, 10 or 20 points each.
C1 is salary, benchmarked against local PMET salaries in your sector: 20 points at the 90th percentile and above, 10 points from the 65th to below the 90th, nothing below that. Note this is a different and higher test than the qualifying salary in stage one. C2 is qualifications: 20 points for a degree from a top-100 QS-ranked university, another highly reputed Asian university, a Singapore autonomous university, or an institution endorsed by a relevant agency, and 10 points for other degree-equivalent qualifications.
C3 and C4 are where firm size changes everything. C3 rewards nationality diversity and C4 rewards support for local employment, and for both, an organisation employing fewer than 25 PMETs scores 10 points by default. A small company therefore banks 20 points automatically and needs only 20 more from salary and qualifications to pass. Larger firms are scored properly: C3 gives 20 points where the candidate's nationality is under 5 percent of the firm's PMETs, 10 points from 5 to under 25 percent, and nothing at 25 percent or above, while C4 scores the firm's local PMET share against its sector, with a floor guaranteeing at least 10 points to any organisation whose local PMET share reaches 70 percent.
The bonus points, and the employer's own obligations
C5 is the skills bonus, awarded where the job sits on the Shortage Occupation List. It is worth 20 points where the candidate's nationality is less than a third of the firm's PMETs, and 10 points where it is a third or more. The bonus is not automatic: the candidate must actually perform the listed duties, the employer must select an eligible job title in the application, and MOM checks job duties, past experience and qualifications where the bonus points are needed to pass or where a five-year pass is sought for a tech occupation on the list.
The obligations that sit on the employer rather than the candidate are easy to overlook. Employers must meet the Fair Consideration Framework job advertising requirement before submitting a new Employment Pass application, and MOM provides a Self-Assessment Tool that lets employers and employment agents check a candidate's eligibility before applying. Running the tool first is free and avoids the most common cause of wasted applications.
For a founder rather than an employee the whole picture changes shape, because the employer is a company you have to create. An Employment Pass is applied for by a Singapore entity on a candidate's behalf, so self-sponsorship means incorporating first, and the incorporation carries its own requirements — a director ordinarily resident in Singapore, a company secretary within six months, and the ACRA fees.
An Employment Pass is applied for by a Singapore employer, so a founder self-sponsoring needs the entity to exist first. Sleek handles incorporation together with the resident director and corporate secretary the Companies Act requires, and offers Employment Pass support alongside. This link applies a S$100 referral discount. Incorporating creates no pass eligibility by itself: MOM assesses the salary bar and COMPASS on their own criteria.
Common questions
What is the salary requirement for a Singapore Employment Pass?
It depends on your age, because the bar is benchmarked to the top third of local PMET salaries by age. It currently starts at S$5,600 a month for candidates aged 23 or below and rises to S$10,700 at age 45 and above. Financial services uses a higher scale, from S$6,200 to S$11,800. Meeting the salary is only stage one, and a candidate who misses it is ineligible regardless of their COMPASS score.
Is the Singapore Employment Pass salary requirement going up?
Yes. For new applications from 1 January 2027, and for renewals of passes expiring from 1 January 2028, the general scale rises from S$5,600 to S$6,000 at the youngest band and from S$10,700 to S$11,500 at 45 and above. Financial services rises from S$6,200 to S$6,600 and from S$11,800 to S$12,700. If your start date or first renewal falls the other side of that boundary, check the offer against the future figure rather than today's.
What is COMPASS and how many points do you need?
COMPASS is the points-based Complementarity Assessment Framework that forms stage two of Employment Pass eligibility. You need 40 points to pass. Four criteria are scored at 0, 10 or 20 points each — salary against sector benchmarks, qualifications, workforce nationality diversity, and support for local employment — and bonus points are available where the job is on the Shortage Occupation List or supports strategic economic priorities.
Can a startup or small company get an Employment Pass approved?
Often more easily than founders expect. Under COMPASS, an organisation employing fewer than 25 PMETs scores 10 points by default on both the diversity criterion and the support-for-local-employment criterion. That is 20 points banked before the candidate is assessed at all, so a small firm needs only 20 more from the salary and qualifications criteria to reach the 40-point threshold. The stage-one qualifying salary still has to be met in full.
Does meeting the qualifying salary mean the Employment Pass will be approved?
No. The qualifying salary is a threshold for eligibility, not a decision. Candidates must also pass COMPASS unless exempted, the employer must have met the Fair Consideration Framework job advertising requirement, and MOM assesses each application on its own facts. Employers can use MOM's Self-Assessment Tool before applying, which is the cheapest way to find out whether an application is worth submitting.
What is the Shortage Occupation List bonus worth?
Twenty points where the candidate's nationality is less than a third of the employer's PMETs, and ten points where it is a third or more. It is conditional rather than automatic: the candidate must perform the duties listed for that shortage occupation, the employer must select an eligible job title in the application, and MOM verifies duties, experience and qualifications where the bonus is needed to pass COMPASS or where a five-year pass is sought for a tech occupation on the list.
Does an Employment Pass lead to permanent residence in Singapore?
It is the main published route. ICA's eligibility list for permanent residence names holders of an Employment Pass or S Pass among those who may apply, alongside family of citizens and permanent residents, certain students, and investors under the Global Investor Programme. ICA weighs family ties, economic contribution, qualifications, age, family profile and length of residency, publishes no points table or qualifying period, and gives no reasons for refusals.
Official sources to verify
- Eligibility for Employment PassMinistry of Manpower, Singapore
- Becoming a Permanent ResidentImmigration & Checkpoints Authority, Singapore
- Service and transaction fees: CompaniesAccounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority, Singapore
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