The Singapore Employment Pass is a visa issued to foreign businessmen, shareholders, managing directors, supervisors, and employees with specialized skills, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
To prove their eligibility, foreign applicants are required to provide MOM with these following documents and certificates:
Educational certificates, and if applicable, testimonials from their previous employers.
All the documents and testimonials should be in English, if not, these should be translated into this language by an authorized translation service.
A completed Employment Pass Application form which is downloaded from MOMs official website.
For professionals: In case that their employer is a Singapore-based company, they should be sponsored by this business entity. However, if their employer is an overseas company which does not operate a local office, they should get sponsorship from a local company which must sign the EP form and stamp this with its company seal.
A company should provide its latest business profile which must be registered to the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA). However, if a company is not yet registered to this agency, it should provide at least the registration papers from its respective professional body.
The applicants passport-sized photograph which must be taken within the past three months.
Relevant travel documents and passport particulars of an applicant.
It is important to note that MOM usually requires additional documents and certificates to foreign entrepreneurs. For example, they are required to secure an approval letter from the International Enterprise Singapore if they are planning to setup a representative office.
The approval letter should state the purpose of the application, duration of an applicants assignment, and activity for the maintenance and repatriation of an applicant.
Meanwhile, foreign professionals such as doctors, dentists, school teachers, nurses, lawyers, and pharmacists are also required to submit supporting documents provided by their respective accreditation agency or professional body.
Requirements for EP Applicants
One of the most important requirements is a college diploma from a reputable university. However, passing in this qualification does not guarantee a successful EP application since MOM also considers other factors.
For professionals, they should have several years of work-related experience, specialized skills, and at least a fixed monthly salary of S$2,500. And for businessmen, strong entrepreneurial skills and their companys reputation, background, and paid-up capital will determine their eligibility for this visa.
In some cases, MOM also considers an applicants age, roles and responsibility in a company, and current citizenship.