Your S Pass decision has separate checks: whether your fixed monthly salary meets the age- and sector-specific benchmark, whether your employer has quota capacity, and how the employer accounts for the mandatory levy and separate employer duties. A salary offer should not be read as proof of any of those other points.
Which S Pass minimum salary applies to you
This section answers which salary figure belongs to your age, sector, and application date.
MOM requires a fixed monthly salary comparable to the top one-third of local Associate Professionals and Technicians, benchmarked by age. The minimum is not one flat amount across all candidates.
For a new application submitted before 1 January 2027, use MOM’s current salary schedule below.
For a new application submitted from 1 January 2027, use the higher schedule below. For renewals, MOM expressly applies the higher schedule to renewals of passes expiring from 1 January 2028.
General sectors: current schedule
For a new application submitted before 1 January 2027, MOM lists these minimum qualifying salaries for all sectors except financial services:
- Age 23 or below: $3,300
- Age 24: $3,368
- Age 25: $3,436
- Age 26: $3,505
- Age 44: $4,732
- Age 45 or above: $4,800
MOM says the minimum increases progressively with age from the age-23 starting point and reaches $4,800 at age 45 or above on the current schedule.
General sectors: schedule from 1 January 2027
For a new application submitted from 1 January 2027, and a renewal of a pass expiring from 1 January 2028, MOM lists these minimum qualifying salaries for all sectors except financial services:
- Age 23 or below: $3,600
- Age 24: $3,668
- Age 25: $3,736
- Age 26: $3,805
- Age 44: $5,032
- Age 45 or above: $5,100
On this schedule, the explicitly stated general-sector minimum rises from $3,600 at age 23 or below to $5,100 at age 45 or above.
Financial services: current schedule
For a new application submitted before 1 January 2027, MOM lists these minimum qualifying salaries for the financial services sector:
- Age 23 or below: $3,800
- Age 24: $3,884
- Age 25: $3,968
- Age 26: $4,052
- Age 27: $4,136
- Age 28: $4,220
- Age 29: $4,305
- Age 30: $4,389
- Age 31: $4,473
- Age 32: $4,557
- Age 33: $4,641
- Age 34: $4,725
- Age 35: $4,809
- Age 45 or above: $5,650
On the current financial-services schedule, MOM’s stated top band is $5,650 at age 45 or above.
Financial services: schedule from 1 January 2027
For a new application submitted from 1 January 2027, and a renewal of a pass expiring from 1 January 2028, MOM lists these minimum qualifying salaries for the financial services sector:
- Age 23 or below: $4,000
- Age 24: $4,075
- Age 25: $4,150
- Age 26: $4,225
- Age 27: $4,300
- Age 28: $4,375
- Age 29: $4,450
- Age 30: $4,525
- Age 31: $4,600
- Age 32: $4,675
- Age 33: $4,750
- Age 34: $4,825
- Age 35: $4,900
- Age 45 or above: $5,650
For financial services, MOM’s explicitly stated 45-or-above row remains $5,650 under both the current and the from-1-January-2027 schedules, while the listed lower-age rows are higher under the latter schedule.
The reproduced age lists do not contain every intervening financial-services age between the last listed lower-age row and age 45. Do not read the last reproduced amount as a flat salary for those missing ages. MOM states that the minimum increases progressively, but no unlisted intermediate salary is interpolated here.
How to check the salary in your offer
This section turns MOM’s salary rules into an applicant-side check you can complete before accepting an offer.
Use the following sequence:
- Identify the exact age row that MOM applies.
- Determine whether the role is in financial services or in all other sectors.
- For a new application, check whether it was submitted before or from 1 January 2027.
- For a renewal, check the pass-expiry date against MOM’s transition rule for passes expiring from 1 January 2028.
- Compare the offer’s fixed monthly salary with the applicable amount.
- Ask the employer to state the fixed monthly salary and the sector schedule being used.
If the fixed monthly salary is below the applicable age-and-sector amount, it does not meet MOM’s salary criterion. Meeting the salary benchmark does not, by itself, establish that the employer has quota or has completed the other employer duties.
The quota has two separate layers
This section explains the sector DRC and the separate limit on S Pass holders.
MOM defines the dependency ratio ceiling, or DRC, as the maximum ratio of foreign workers to the company’s total workforce in a given sector.
Under MOM’s current sector DRC table:
- Construction: 83.3%
- Process: 83.3%
- Marine shipyard: 75%
- Manufacturing: 60%
- Services: 35%
For the current services-sector DRC of 35%, the total number of Work Permit and S Pass holders cannot exceed 35% of the company’s total workforce.
The S Pass itself has a separate cap within that overall framework. Under the existing quota, the number of S Pass holders may be capped at:
- Services sector: 10% of the company’s total workforce
- Construction sector: 15% of the company’s total workforce
- Manufacturing sector: 15% of the company’s total workforce
- Marine shipyard sector: 15% of the company’s total workforce
- Process sector: 15% of the company’s total workforce
Do not add the DRC percentage and the S Pass percentage to produce a headcount. The DRC is the sector’s foreign-worker ceiling, while the S Pass percentage is a separate limit on S Pass holders. MOM also calculates the company’s position from actual local-employment information, so the sector percentages alone do not establish how many individuals a particular company can hire.
MOM uses CPF account information to determine the number of local employees. Under the current quota rules, the foreign-worker quota is calculated using the average number of local employees over the last 3 months. The Local Qualifying Salary determines which local employees can be used in the quota calculation.
Under MOM’s current update cycle, the local-employee number is updated every Saturday, and the employer can check the quota balance on the next working day. As an applicant, ask whether the employer has checked the live quota balance instead of estimating a headcount from the published percentages.
The current S Pass levy is $650 per month
This section answers what the employer must pay and how MOM calculates the daily rate for a non-full calendar month.
Since 1 September 2025, MOM has harmonised the S Pass levy at $650 per month across all sectors and levy tiers.
The official payment rule is that the employer must pay the levy for all S Pass holders. The levy liability starts on the date the S Pass is issued and ends when the pass is cancelled or expires. MOM says the employer should pay the levy through GIRO.
For an S Pass holder who did not work for a full calendar month, MOM’s current daily levy rate is $21.37. The official calculation is:
($650 monthly levy × 12) ÷ 365 = $21.37 after rounding up to the nearest cent.
This daily rate is the stated method for a non-full calendar month. Do not substitute a guessed minimum charge or calculate a partial-month total without the applicable issue and cancellation or expiry dates.
S Pass and EP have a fundamental quota and levy difference
This section answers why an EP cannot be used as a comparison for S Pass quota or levy treatment.
For an S Pass, MOM says employers are subject to both a quota and a levy. The employer must pay the S Pass levy, and the company’s S Pass headcount is subject to the sector quota framework.
For an Employment Pass, MOM expressly states that no foreign-worker levy or quota is required.
That is the fundamental difference: an eligible EP does not carry the S Pass levy and quota requirements. Do not transfer EP treatment to an S Pass merely because both are employment passes held by foreign professionals.
Employer duties go beyond the S Pass salary
This section identifies what the employer must provide or complete even after the salary benchmark is met.
MOM places the following duties on the employer:
- The employer must provide medical insurance for the S Pass holder.
- The employer must buy work injury compensation insurance, if applicable.
- The employer must complete the required Primary Care Plan, or PCP, steps for workers who either stay in dormitories that can accommodate 7 or more workers, or work in the CMP sectors.
For the PCP requirement, MOM’s sequence is specific. After receiving the in-principle approval or renewal letter, the employer must buy the PCP where it applies. Before the S Pass can be issued or renewed, the employer must make the required declaration that the PCP has been bought.
The cited MOM pages do not provide an insurance premium or PCP price, so there is no official amount to quote for those items.
MOM also says an employer or appointed employment agent must apply for the applicant. If the pass holder changes jobs, the new employer must apply for a new pass.
What employers pass on: questions to ask before accepting
This section gives you offer-stage questions without predicting whether an employer will pass any cost to you.
MOM’s official payment instruction is exact: the employer must pay the levy for all S Pass holders. For your individual offer, do not infer how that duty will be reflected in the salary arrangement. Ask the employer to clarify the path in writing.
Since 1 September 2025, the current monthly levy is $650. Ask:
- Is the employer paying that S Pass levy directly?
- Does the amount stated in the offer remain the fixed monthly salary payable to you after any agreed deductions?
- Will any S Pass-related amount be deducted from your pay? If so, what is the amount and basis?
- Who is paying the $100 fee for each S Pass issued?
- Which medical insurance, work injury compensation insurance, and PCP steps has the employer completed or will complete?
- If the salary does not meet the applicable S Pass benchmark, which route is the employer pursuing?
MOM’s eligibility page also identifies a possible alternative route. With adjustments to S Pass qualifying salaries, some employers may wish to convert some S Pass holders to Work Permit holders to retain their experience and skills. For a converter, past experience accumulated while holding an EP, S Pass, or Work Permit counts toward the worker’s years of experience when MOM assesses eligibility for higher-skilled, or R1, levy status.
That language says some employers may wish to convert. It is not an automatic conversion or an automatic pass result. If the S Pass salary benchmark is an issue in your offer, ask which route the employer is actually pursuing before relying on the terms.
Processing time, fees, and pass validity
This section separates MOM’s processing or update statement from an approval promise, and shows the other time limits you should check.
For an online S Pass application, MOM states:
Processed or given an update within 10 business days.
That is the official wording for processing or receiving an update, not a promise that every application will receive an approval decision within the same period.
The cited MOM pages do not specify when applicants should check their application status. The cited MOM pages do not describe the process for additional document requests.
MOM does not quantify extended processing times for applications requiring additional documents in the cited sources. The cited MOM pages do not define a standard processing window with exceptions.
The cited MOM pages do not state the IPA validity period for S Pass candidates. The cited MOM pages do not describe the pass issuance processing time after IPA approval.
The cited MOM pages do not specify the S Pass issuance fee amount. The cited MOM pages do not list accepted payment methods for S Pass fees.
Under the current pass-duration rules, a first-time candidate may receive a pass valid for up to 2 years, while a renewal may be valid for up to 3 years. The duration remains limited by passport validity, and MOM says the pass can only remain valid until 1 month before the passport expiry date.
Your decision checklist
This section turns the official rules into the checks that matter before you accept or rely on an S Pass offer.
- Salary: Match your age row, sector, and application or renewal date to the correct MOM schedule.
- Exact offer: Confirm the fixed monthly salary rather than relying on the sector’s starting minimum.
- Quota: Treat the DRC and S Pass cap as company constraints; ask whether the employer has checked the current quota balance.
- Levy path: Ask how the employer accounts for the current $650 monthly levy in the offer arrangement.
- Issuance fee: Ask who is paying MOM’s $100 fee for each pass issued.
- Employer duties: Confirm the status of medical insurance, applicable work injury compensation insurance, and any required PCP purchase and declaration.
- Timing: Do not describe the 10-business-day statement as an approval guarantee; it is processing or an update, and additional documents may extend the process.
- Passport validity: Compare the pass duration with your passport validity and MOM’s one-month validity limit.
- Fallback route: If the salary benchmark is not met, ask whether the employer expects an S Pass outcome or is considering the Work Permit conversion route described by MOM.
FAQ
Which S Pass salary schedule applies to a new application?
For a new application submitted before 1 January 2027, the age-23-or-below minimum is $3,300 for general sectors and $3,800 for financial services. For a new application submitted from 1 January 2027, it is $3,600 and $4,000, respectively; the higher schedule also applies to renewals of passes expiring from 1 January 2028.
What are the salary endpoints at age 45 or above?
For a new application submitted before 1 January 2027, MOM’s age-45-or-above figure is $4,800 for general sectors and $5,650 for financial services. From 1 January 2027, the corresponding figures are $5,100 and $5,650.
Does the DRC or S Pass cap tell you how many people a company can hire?
No. MOM’s current DRC values range from 35% for services to 83.3% for construction and process, while the separate S Pass cap is 10% in services and 15% in the listed other sectors. A company-specific headcount also depends on the quota information MOM derives from CPF and local-employee data.
What is the current S Pass levy and daily rate?
Since 1 September 2025, the current levy is $650 per month for all sectors and levy tiers. For a holder who did not work a full calendar month, MOM states a daily rate of $21.37, calculated as the monthly rate multiplied by 12, divided by 365, and rounded up to the nearest cent.
How does S Pass treatment differ from EP treatment?
An S Pass is subject to a quota and levy, and the employer must pay the levy. MOM expressly states that an EP requires no foreign-worker levy or quota.
How long does MOM state processing takes, and what does an S Pass cost?
MOM does not publish a standard processing timeframe or extension rule for online S Pass applications in the cited sources. The cited MOM pages do not specify the issuance fee amount or the IPA entry validity period.
References
These are the Ministry of Manpower pages cited for the salary, quota, levy, employer-duty, processing, fee, and EP-comparison rules.
- Ministry of Manpower, “Eligibility for S Pass” — https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/s-pass/eligibility
- Ministry of Manpower, “S Pass quota and levy requirements” — https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/s-pass/quota-and-levy/levy-and-quota-requirements
- Ministry of Manpower, “Key facts on S Pass” — https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/s-pass/key-facts
- Ministry of Manpower, “Apply for an S Pass” — https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/s-pass/apply-for-a-pass
- Ministry of Manpower, “Key facts on Employment Pass” — https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/employment-pass/key-facts