S Pass eligibility criteria changes

Changes are being made to the criteria for the S Pass programme in Singapore, which is a programme that allows “mid-level skilled” staff to work there.

The criteria to be met in order to be eligible for the S Pass is:

• Currently earning a fixed month salary of at least $2,300. However salary should reflect experience, more experienced applicants would need a higher salary than this to qualify.
• Have a degree or diploma, technical certificates such as courses for qualified technicians or specialists are also accepted. The certification should require at least 1 year of full time study.
• Have relevant work experience.

Changes are being made to the salary requirement, it will be increasing to $2,400 in January 2020 for all new applications. However, there will be a transitional period for renewal applications depending on when the S Pass expires:

• Expires before January 2020 – able to renew with no change to eligibility criteria
• Expires between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2020 – able to renew with no change to eligibility criteria, however the Pass will only be granted for one year.
• Expires from 1 July 2020 – changes to the eligibility criteria will apply

If you would like any further information please do reach out to your BDO contact.

Soo Mee Wu
soomee@bdo.com.sg