The WP is for foreigners who:

• Want to work in Singapore; and
• Earn a monthly basic salary of not more than $1,800.

The prospective employer must first submit an application for the Work Permit with the Controller of Work Permits before employing a foreign worker. All foreign workers must be at least 16 years old at the time of the WP application.

All foreign workers must be at least 16 years old at the time of the WP application.

An employer who wishes to employ a Malaysian worker who already holds a valid WP must apply for a separate WP:

• Upon approval, the new employer will be issued an In-Principle Approval (IPA) letter stating when the new WP should be collected; and
• The existing employer must cancel the worker’s existing WP on or before the scheduled date of WP collection.

Foreign workers from NAS/NTS/PRC cannot be in Singapore when their WP applications are being submitted.
Employers can only bring these workers in after:

• Obtaining the IPA; and
• Providing a security deposit of $5,000 per worker.
• Security deposits can be made in the form of a Banker’s Guarantee or Insurance Guarantee payable to the Controller of Singapore Immigration.

Under the Employment Act, the minimum age for an employee is set at 16 years old. This condition is applicable to both local and foreign workers.
For the purpose of Work Permit application, Malaysians must be below 58 years old while non-Malaysians must be below 50 years old at the time of the application.

A skilled foreign worker is one who possesses at least a SPM qualification or its equivalent, or a NTC-3 (Practical) Trade Certificate [also known as ITE's Skills Evaluation Certificate (Level 1) from July 2002] that is relevant to the worker’s occupation.

[For NAS workers as well as those from PRC, they should have at least high school education or diploma qualifications to be considered as a skilled foreign worker, unless otherwise stated*.]

* For NAS/PRC workers who work in construction sector, the worker must possess at least an SEC/SEC(K) qualification in order to be considered as a skilled worker.
* For PRC workers, who work in the marine sector, the workers must possess at least a NTC-3 (Practical) Trade Certificate [also known as ITE's Skills Evaluation Certificate (Level 1) from July 2002] to be considered as a skilled worker.

The following foreigners do not need to apply for a WP:

• Singapore Permanent Residents;
• Dependant’s Pass holders under the Employment Pass scheme* ;
• Full-time matriculated or registered students who are on vacation; and
• Full-time matriculated or registered students from approved institutes of higher learning whose working hours do not exceed 16 hours a week.

* Dependant’s Pass holders should apply for a Letter of Consent from the Work Pass Division to work in Singapore.

The number of Work Permit (WP) and S Pass holders employers may recruit depend largely on the industry they are classified under. Business employers who have never applied for WPs or S Passes before are required to submit an application for Industrial Classification*, prior to submitting the WP/S Pass applications. Due to the shorter processing time, we encourage you to submit the application for Industrial Classification electronically.

*For more info, please refer to Ministry of Manpower Singapore www.mom.gov.sg