IntraConnect Singapore

Business Immigration to Singapore

Work Passes, Investment, and Permanent Residence

Learn more about EP, EntrePass, PEP, OnePass, PR & GIP. Full 2026 Guide
Business Immigration to Singapore

Singapore offers several distinct routes for founders, professionals, and investors who want to live and work there — each suited to a different situation. This guide covers all of them: the Employment Pass, EntrePass, Personalised Employment Pass, ONE Pass, how to bring your family, and the path from work pass to Permanent Residence and citizenship, including the direct investment route.

In this article:

  • How to Move to Singapore: 4 Practical Paths
  • Employment Pass (EP) — The Most Common Path
  • EntrePass — For Startup Founders
  • Personalised Employment Pass (PEP)
  • Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass (ONE Pass)
  • Other Work Passes: S Pass and Work Permit
  • Bringing Your Family: Dependant’s Pass and Long-Term Visit Pass
  • Permanent Residence and Citizenship
  • Which Path Fits Your Situation?

How to Move to Singapore: 4 Practical Paths

Before getting into individual pass types, it helps to think in terms of your actual situation. In practice, there are four common paths:

  • Find a job with a Singaporean employer and obtain an Employment Pass (EP) through them. Suitable for specialists with in-demand skills in finance, IT, engineering, and many other industries.
  • Working in your own company. Register a company in Singapore and obtain an Employment Pass from it — the most common path for business owners, including small ones.

EntrePass. For founders of innovative startups, this visa does not require prior company registration, but imposes strict requirements on the project itself.

Investment — Global Investor Programme (GIP). A direct path to Permanent Resident (PR) status through significant investment in the Singapore economy, bypassing the work-pass requirement entirely.

Employment Pass (EP) — The Most Common Path

The Employment Pass is Singapore’s primary work visa for foreign professionals, executives, and company directors, and by far the most widely used route into the country for business purposes.

  • Minimum qualifying salary: S$5,600/month in 2026, rising to S$6,000 from January 2027 (S$6,200 → S$6,700 for financial sector roles)
  • Validity: up to 2 years for new passes, up to 3 years on renewal; up to 5 years for experienced tech professionals in shortage occupations meeting a S$10,500 minimum salary
  • Approval is assessed individually by MOM — salary, qualifications, experience, role, and the COMPASS framework all factor in. Meeting the minimum salary does not guarantee approval
  • Applies whether you’re joining an existing employer or your own newly incorporated company

For the full application process — eligibility assessment, credential verification, MOM submission, and appeals — see our Employment Pass application service guide.

EntrePass — For Startup Founders

The EntrePass is designed for entrepreneurs with a genuinely innovative business, and its key advantage is that you don’t need to register your company before applying — you can apply first and register only once approved (within 6 months), or apply with an existing company that’s no more than 6 months old.

Applicants qualify under one of three categories:

  • Entrepreneur — your company has received at least US$100,000 in funding from an accredited VC, angel investor, or government-backed source, plus a relevant entrepreneurial track record
  • Innovator — you hold registered intellectual property with practical, technological value, or have relevant research collaboration with a Singapore university or research institute
  • Investor — a demonstrated investment track record, or at least 8 years in a senior leadership role at a growing or innovative company

A few practical points worth knowing before applying: you must own at least 30% of the company’s shares, and certain sectors are excluded entirely — coffee shops, bars and nightclubs, massage and reflexology parlours, traditional Chinese medicine practices, and employment or geomancy agencies, among others. The pass is first issued for 1 year, then renewable for 2 years at a time (up to 10 times), with escalating business-spending and local-hiring requirements at each renewal.

Personalised Employment Pass (PEP)

The PEP offers more flexibility than a standard EP — notably, you can change employers without reapplying — but it comes with a significant trade-off worth flagging clearly: PEP holders cannot start or run their own company in Singapore. If your plan involves owning a business, an EP through your own company or an EntrePass is the better fit.

  • Eligibility: existing EP holders need to have earned at least S$12,000/month in Singapore; overseas candidates need the equivalent of S$18,000/month
  • Valid for up to 3 years, and cannot be renewed — holders typically transition to another pass type or PR before it expires
  • You apply for it yourself; no employer sponsor is required, unlike the standard EP

Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass (ONE Pass)

Launched on 1 January 2023, the ONE Pass targets top-performing professionals across business, arts, sports, technology, and research.

  • Standard route: minimum monthly salary of S$30,000
  • Alternative route: the “Outstanding Achievements” track, for candidates with recognised achievements in arts and culture, sports, science and technology, or research and academia — no salary threshold required
  • Valid for up to 5 years, and renewable — the longest validity of any of these passes
  • You can apply directly, or have an employer or employment agent apply on your behalf

Tech.Pass and the Incoming ONE Pass (AI and Tech) Track

If you’re a senior technology leader specifically, there’s a related but distinct route currently in transition. The Tech.Pass, administered by the Economic Development Board since 2021, has no employer sponsor requirement and lets holders work, invest, start a company, and mentor concurrently — but it’s being phased out.

  • Current Tech.Pass criteria: a fixed monthly salary of S$22,500, plus at least 5 years in a senior leadership role at either an established tech company with a market value or funding of at least US$500 million, or a tech-focused VC/PE firm with at least US$500 million in assets under management
  • From 28 January 2027, EDB will stop accepting new and renewal Tech.Pass applications. Existing holders can remain on their current pass until it expires
  • From January 2027, a new ONE Pass (AI and Tech) track replaces it — offering 5-year validity with 5-year renewals (versus the Tech.Pass’s current 2-year term), and for the first time allowing vested equity and stock options to count toward the salary threshold, not just fixed cash salary
  • If you’re considering the Tech.Pass now, the practical question is timing: applying before the cutoff locks in the current criteria, while waiting means qualifying under the new track’s (currently unpublished in full) eligibility rules

Other Work Passes: S Pass and Work Permit

For completeness, two more MOM-administered passes exist below the Employment Pass — but neither is a realistic route for a self-funded founder or professional to bring themselves to Singapore. Both require an existing Singapore employer to sponsor the application; there’s no self-application route the way there is for EP, EntrePass, PEP, or ONE Pass.

S Pass

  • For mid-skilled roles — technicians, supervisors, associate professionals — typically requiring a diploma rather than a degree
  • Minimum qualifying salary: S$3,300/month in most sectors, S$3,800 in financial services (2026 rates), rising to S$3,600 / S$4,000 from January 2027. The threshold rises with age, up to roughly S$4,800 for candidates in their mid-40s
  • Unlike the EP, it’s capped by quota (up to 10% of workforce in services, 15% in other sectors) and carries a monthly levy paid by the employer, roughly S$550–650

This is fundamentally a tool for hiring mid-skilled staff, not a founder-immigration route — see our guide to hiring employees in Singapore if this is the angle you need.

Work Permit

For lower-skilled roles, restricted to specific sectors (construction, marine shipyard, manufacturing, process, and parts of services), with no fixed minimum salary but strict headcount quotas (the Dependency Ratio Ceiling) and nationality restrictions in some sectors. Like the S Pass, this exists to let Singapore employers hire foreign labour within controlled limits — it isn’t a path a business owner would use for their own relocation.

Bringing Your Family: Dependant's Pass and Long-Term Visit Pass

Dependant’s Pass (DP)

Allows EP, EntrePass, PEP, and ONE Pass holders to bring their spouse and unmarried children under 21 to live in Singapore. Valid for the same period as your main pass, and can be applied for alongside your main application or afterward.

Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP)

Covers relationships DP doesn’t: a common-law spouse, stepchild, or handicapped child. Requires the main pass holder to earn at least S$6,000/month; bringing parents requires at least S$12,000/month. Valid up to 2 years, renewable. Processing typically takes at least three weeks and includes an interview at the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

Permanent Residence and Citizenship

The Standard Path: From Work Pass to PR

Most PR holders arrive via the Professionals/Technical Personnel and Skilled Workers (PTS) scheme, open to EP and S Pass holders after a period of working and living in Singapore. There’s no fixed, published waiting period — the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) assesses each case on factors including length of residence, economic contribution, family ties, and community integration. This is the path most long-term EP holders eventually pursue.

The Direct Path: Global Investor Programme (GIP)

The GIP is Singapore’s investment route to PR, administered by the Economic Development Board, and is distinctive in that it grants PR directly — without first requiring a work pass. It’s designed for established investors and entrepreneurs, not passive capital, so a genuine business or investment track record is required. Applicants qualify through one of three routes:

  • Invest at least SGD 10 million in a new or existing Singapore business, creating at least 30 jobs (at least 50% for Singaporeans), while holding at least 30% ownership
  • Invest at least SGD 25 million into an EDB-approved GIP-Select Fund
  • Establish a single-family office in Singapore with at least SGD 200 million in assets under management

The application fee is S$20,000, effective since 5 May 2025. Successful applicants and their immediate family receive PR, initially under a five-year Re-Entry Permit, conditional on maintaining the qualifying investment.

From PR to Citizenship

After holding PR for a period, holders may apply for Singapore citizenship. As with PR itself, approval is discretionary rather than automatic or time-triggered, assessed by ICA on similar factors — economic contribution, family ties, and integration into the community.

Which Path Fits Your Situation?

  • Have a job offer or plan to work through your own company? → Employment Pass
  • Building a genuinely innovative startup and haven’t registered a company yet? → EntrePass
  • Already earning a high salary and want flexibility to change employers freely, and don’t plan to own a company? → PEP
  • A top performer in your field with a very high salary or recognised achievements, want the longest validity available short of PR? → ONE Pass
  • Have significant capital and a genuine business or investment track record, and want PR without going through a work pass first? → Global Investor Programme

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the most common way for foreign entrepreneurs to move to Singapore?

Registering a company and obtaining an Employment Pass through it is the most common path, particularly for small and medium-sized business owners.

No — this is EntrePass’s key advantage over other routes. You can apply first and register the company only after approval (within 6 months), or apply with an existing company no older than 6 months.

Yes, in most cases. EP, EntrePass, PEP, and ONE Pass holders can typically bring a spouse and unmarried children under 21 via a Dependant’s Pass, and other family members via a Long-Term Visit Pass, subject to salary thresholds.

The Global Investor Programme is the only route that grants PR directly without first requiring a work pass — but it requires a minimum SGD 10 million investment and a genuine business track record. For most people, the realistic path is working in Singapore on an EP or S Pass first, then applying for PR under the standard PTS scheme.

Get Expert Guidance on Your Immigration Path

Every path here interacts closely with company incorporation and compliance. We handle company registration, Employment Pass applications, and nominee director arrangements together, so the pieces are coordinated rather than handled separately.

Get in touch for a free consultation on which path fits your situation

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