Employment Pass eligibility and minimum salary calculator

The short version: pay S$22,500 a month or more and any candidate meets the salary and points rules for an Employment Pass (EP). Their age, sector, job, experience and education stop mattering, and so does the size of the company hiring them.

That's because three of the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) rules are either met or switched off at that number:

• The candidate doesn't need to pass COMPASS, MOM's points test for EP applications.
• They clear the minimum salary for any age and any sector. The highest minimum is S$12,700 a month (financial services, age 45 or above, from 1 January 2027).
• The employer doesn't have to advertise the job in Singapore first (more on that below).

Below S$22,500, salary is still what matters most. Everything else on the application only changes how much salary is needed. The calculator above works out that number for your candidate, and the rest of this page explains how MOM gets there. If you'd rather we check a candidate for you, that's part of our Employment Pass service.

There are two tests, and the application has to pass both.

1. The minimum salary. MOM sets a minimum monthly salary based on the candidate's age, and it's higher in financial services. Miss it and the application fails, no matter what else it has going for it.
2. COMPASS. A points test. The application needs 40 points, and salary is one of the things that earns them.

For both tests, salary means fixed monthly salary: basic pay plus any fixed monthly allowances, such as a housing allowance. Bonuses, commission, overtime, variable allowances and stock options don't count.

There's also a step before you apply. Under MOM's Fair Consideration Framework, the employer has to advertise the job on MyCareersFuture, the government jobs portal, for at least 14 days in a row, and consider all candidates fairly. You can skip this if the company has fewer than 10 employees, the salary is S$22,500 or more, the role lasts a month or less, or the candidate is moving from the same company overseas. MOM lists every exemption on its fair consideration page.

MOM sets a separate minimum for every age from 23 to 45, so it goes up a little with each year. A 29-year-old needs S$6,991 a month today, not the S$5,600 starting figure some tools quote. MOM calls this the qualifying salary.

All sectors except financial services

Financial services

Source: MOM, Eligibility for Employment Pass.

Use the calculator

The higher minimums don't start on the same day for everyone. It depends on what you're applying for:

• New applications use the higher figure if they're submitted on or after 1 January 2027.
• Renewals use the higher figure if the current pass expires on or after 1 January 2028.

Here's what that means in practice. A pass that expires in December 2027 renews at today's rate. One that expires in January 2028 renews at the new rate. For a new hire, what counts is when the application goes in, not when the offer was agreed. If you'll apply on or after 1 January 2027, plan the offer around the higher number.

The salary benchmarks COMPASS uses are a separate set of figures with their own dates. The set MOM released in August 2025 covers new applications in 2026, and renewals of passes expiring between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027. The set released in August 2026 covers new applications from 1 January 2027, and renewals of passes expiring from 1 July 2027. Both are on MOM's salary benchmarks page.

COMPASS scores six things. Four are worth up to 20 points each, and two are bonuses. The more points an application picks up elsewhere, the fewer it needs from salary, and the lower the salary it has to offer.

Two of the scores look at the company's PMETs: its Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians, which is where most EP holders sit. MOM labels the six scores C1 to C6, which you'll see in its own tools.

A few things to note.

• The job title doesn't score. Nothing in COMPASS looks at the candidate's job title, how senior they are or how many years of experience they have. The only way the role itself matters is the shortage occupation bonus, and most roles aren't on that list. So for the vast majority of applications, calling the hire a Director rather than a Manager changes nothing. Our view on why: job titles cost nothing to hand out. A company could appoint 20 CTOs and wouldn't get a single extra point. Salary is the part an employer has to pay for, so that's what MOM measures.
• Small companies start with 20 points. If the company has fewer than 25 PMETs, it gets 10 points for nationality mix and 10 for local hiring automatically. Pay a salary in the top 10% for the candidate's sector and age, and that's 40: enough to pass without any help from qualifications.
• The salary score is about the top of the market. A salary in the middle of the range for the candidate's sector and age scores nothing. It has to reach the top 35% to earn any points.
• No single score has a minimum. An application can get 0 on one of them and still pass on the total.

MOM lists three situations where the candidate skips the points test:

• They earn a fixed monthly salary of S$22,500 or more.
• They're moving from the same company overseas. MOM calls this an intra-corporate transferee.
• The role lasts a month or less.

They still need to meet the minimum salary for their age.

We see these often enough in other tools and guides that they're worth checking against MOM's own rules.

• Using five-year age bands. MOM sets a minimum for every single age. Treating a 29-year-old as S$5,600 leaves the offer S$1,391 a month short, which is enough to get the application rejected.
• An "80-point waiver". It doesn't exist. The pass mark is 40, and there's no minimum on any single score to waive.
• A flat 20 points for any shortage occupation. The full 20 only applies when the candidate's nationality makes up less than a third of the company's PMETs. Otherwise it's 10.
• Ignoring the small-company rule. Companies with fewer than 25 PMETs get 10 points each for nationality mix and local hiring automatically. Tools that ask for workforce percentages instead get this wrong.
• Calling them "2026 thresholds". The minimum salary changes once, on 1 January 2027, and which figure applies depends on the application or expiry date. It doesn't go up every year. The COMPASS salary benchmarks are a separate set of figures, and MOM released a new set in August 2026.
• Extra exemptions. There are three, listed above. Trade agreements aren't one of them.

The S Pass is MOM's pass for skilled workers who don't meet the EP criteria. Its minimum salary is lower, and there's a cap (a quota) on how many S Pass holders an employer can have.

Today the minimum is S$3,300 a month, rising to S$4,800 at 45 or above (S$3,800 to S$5,650 in financial services). From 1 January 2027 it goes up to S$3,600, rising to S$5,100 (S$4,000 to S$5,650 in financial services). The same new-application and renewal dates apply as for the EP. Details are on MOM's S Pass page.

Duellix is a private employment agency licensed by MOM (EA Licence 25S3033), and we handle EP applications for clients. This calculator is our own, not an MOM service. It uses MOM's published minimum salaries and COMPASS benchmarks, and it's free to use, with no sign-up. MOM's own check is its Self-Assessment Tool, which employers and employment agents can use before applying.

If you're comparing who to use, we've also written up the work visa agencies in Singapore. For founders weighing other routes, our guide to Singapore work visas for business owners compares ten of them. To have us check your case, see our Employment Pass service.