Singapore's Employment Pass: COMPASS, salary thresholds, and the road to PR
Singapore is the closest thing to a familiar-system move for a Hong Kong or Taiwan professional: English-speaking workplaces, a common-law system, the region's finance and tech hub, famously low personal taxes and no capital-gains tax. It is also the country where the pass you hold decides almost everything — what your family can do, how easy job changes are, and how plausible permanent residence becomes. The Employment Pass (EP) is the main door for professionals, and since 2023 it has been gated twice: a salary floor that rises with your age, and the COMPASS points test that scores both you and your employer. Here is how the gates work, what ONE Pass buys, and the PR questions — National Service included — that families with sons must ask before they move, not after.
This guide is educational only — rules change, so treat the official sources linked below as the authority before you act.
Key takeaways
- EP needs a fixed salary of at least S$5,600/month (S$6,200 in financial services), rising with age to S$10,700/S$11,800 at 45 and above; new applications move to S$6,000/S$6,600 from 1 January 2027.
- COMPASS needs 40 points, drawn from salary versus sector benchmarks, qualifications, the firm's nationality diversity, and its share of local professionals — salaries of S$22,500+/month are exempt.
- EP carries no quota and no levy, but the employer must advertise the role on MyCareersFuture first.
- ONE Pass (top tier): S$30,000/month for 12 consecutive months or an outstanding-achievements route; 5 years, held by you rather than the employer.
- PR is discretionary — no published waiting period or points — and male second-generation PRs owe National Service.
The Employment Pass: two gates, not one
Stage one is the qualifying salary: at least S$5,600 a month across the economy, S$6,200 in financial services — and the floor scales up with age, reaching S$10,700 (S$11,800 in finance) at 45 and above, because Singapore expects a mid-career foreign professional to out-earn a fresh graduate. From 1 January 2027 the floor for new applications rises to S$6,000, and S$6,600 in financial services.
Stage two is COMPASS, the points test an application must clear with 40 points. Two of the four base criteria are personal: salary measured against sector benchmarks, and qualifications — a degree from a top-tier institution scores most. The other two belong to the firm: how diverse its professional staff is by nationality, and how its local professional share compares with the sector (firms with fewer than 25 professionals get default points on both). A shortage-occupation bonus exists on top. In practice, a mid-career Hong Kong finance or tech professional on an above-benchmark salary with a good degree clears COMPASS without drama; a borderline salary at a heavily foreign firm is where applications die. Earn at least S$22,500 a month and COMPASS does not apply at all.
Two EP features matter for planning: there is no quota or levy (unlike S Pass), and the employer must advertise the role on MyCareersFuture and consider all applicants fairly first — time-sensitive offers need that window built in.
S Pass: the tier below
The S Pass covers skilled associate-professional and technician roles that do not meet EP criteria. New candidates need at least S$3,300/month, with higher floors for older candidates and in financial services. Crucially, S Pass sits inside the employer's quota and levy system — the Dependency Ratio Ceiling caps how many S Pass holders a firm may employ, and a monthly levy applies. For a professional weighing an offer, the practical difference: an EP is yours, transferable to any employer who will pay the bar; an S Pass is rationed — a firm that has hit its quota cannot hire you at all.
The three passes at a glance
| Pass | Salary floor | Second gate | Quota and levy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment Pass | S$5,600/month (S$6,200 finance), rising with age | COMPASS — 40 points | None; MyCareersFuture advertising first |
| S Pass | S$3,300/month, higher for older candidates and finance | Sector and job rules | Quota (DRC) + monthly levy |
| ONE Pass | S$30,000/month for 12 consecutive months, or outstanding achievements | None | None — 5 years, personalised |
ONE Pass: the top tier
The Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass is for people the system wants regardless of any single employer: a fixed monthly salary of at least S$30,000 for 12 consecutive months with your current or most recent employer (or a Singapore offer at that level), or an outstanding-achievements route in sport, arts, or academia and research. It runs 5 years, renewable in 5-year blocks, and is held personally — you can change employers without a fresh application. Your spouse may work without a separate work pass. For a Hong Kong banker or tech leader it is the closest thing Singapore offers to "status first, job second"; the criteria are on MOM's ONE Pass page.
The PR clock — and the NS question for families
Permanent residence is applied for through ICA, not MOM, and it is discretionary: no fixed waiting period, no published points. In practice, most successful applicants build a track record first — commonly six months to two years of living and working there — and approvals are widely understood to weigh salary, age, family, and roots (property, schooling, time served). Nothing is guaranteed, which is why the pass you hold, and the salary it documents, matter long before you apply.
The NS question, plainly
ICA's own wording is blunt: "All male applicants who are granted Singapore citizenship (SC) or Singapore permanent residence (PR) status as a foreign student or under their parents' sponsorship are liable for NS." Registration follows at 16½, enlistment around 18 — and renouncing PR without serving carries consequences for future immigration facilities. If you have sons, this belongs at the centre of the family decision, not in a footnote. Source: ICA — becoming a PR.
Citizenship: not really the plan
Naturalisation is by application only and the numbers are small; citizenship requires renouncing your original nationality — for Taiwanese men, that reaches back into Taiwan's own conscription rules. Treat Singapore as a pass-then-PR plan; citizenship is a separate question for later.
Key numbers last verified: October 2026
- EP qualifying salary: S$5,600/month all sectors except financial services (S$6,200), rising with age to S$10,700/S$11,800 at 45 and above; S$6,000/S$6,600 for new applications from 1 January 2027. Source: MOM — Employment Pass eligibility
- COMPASS: 40 points to pass across salary, qualifications, firm diversity, and local-employment support; salaries of at least S$22,500/month are exempt, as are most intracorporate transferees. Source: MOM — Employment Pass eligibility
- S Pass: at least S$3,300/month for new candidates; subject to quota (Dependency Ratio Ceiling) and levy. Source: MOM — S Pass
- ONE Pass: fixed monthly salary of at least S$30,000 for 12 consecutive months (or outstanding achievements); renewable in 5-year increments. Source: MOM — ONE Pass eligibility
- National Service: male applicants granted PR as foreign students or under parental sponsorship are liable for NS; registration at 16½. Source: ICA — becoming a PR
Rules change — always confirm with the official portal before you apply.
Related reading
- How to choose your emigration route — the five-door framework if you are still comparing countries
- Tax residency in your first year abroad — the year-one decisions that follow any move, Singapore included
- Moving with family — spouse work rights, schooling, and the ledger nobody totals until too late
- The UK's BN(O) and Skilled Worker routes — the other familiar-system move for Hong Kongers