The Employment Pass qualifying salary rises on 1 January 2027.
Announced at Budget 2026. It affects new applications from 1 January 2027 and renewals for passes expiring from 1 January 2028, and the age escalation means the change is larger than the headline figure suggests.
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In short
From 1 January 2027 the qualifying salary for a new Singapore Employment Pass rises from S$5,600 to S$6,000 a month for most sectors, and from S$6,200 to S$6,600 for financial services. The change was announced at Budget 2026. It applies to new applications made from that date and to renewals for passes expiring from 1 January 2028. The qualifying salary also rises progressively with age from 23: under the current schedule it reaches S$10,700 for most sectors and S$11,800 in financial services at age 45 and above, and the upper end of the schedule rises to S$11,500 and S$12,700 respectively. Meeting the qualifying salary remains only the entry condition, as an application must also score at least 40 points under COMPASS.
The headline is a S$400 increase, which sounds modest. For most candidates it is. For two groups it is not, and they are worth identifying early.
This is a dated note rather than an evergreen guide. The figures below are those announced at Budget 2026 and current as at September 2026; check MOM's own page before relying on them.
What changes
The entry-level qualifying salary moves, and so does the whole age-graduated schedule that sits above it.
- Most sectors: from S$5,600 to S$6,000 at the entry level, with the top of the age schedule moving from S$10,700 to S$11,500.
- Financial services: from S$6,200 to S$6,600 at the entry level, with the top of the schedule moving from S$11,800 to S$12,700.
- New applications: affected from 1 January 2027.
- Renewals: affected for passes expiring from 1 January 2028.
Who this actually affects
Most Employment Pass holders are paid well above the qualifying salary and will not notice. The two groups who will are worth naming.
The first is candidates sitting just above the current floor. A role offered at S$5,700 today clears the threshold and would not clear it from January 2027. If you are negotiating an offer in that range for a start date near the end of the year, the timing of the application is not a detail.
The second, and the larger group, is older candidates. Because the schedule rises with age, a candidate in their forties needs close to double the entry figure. That is the part most people do not realise, and the increase applies across the whole schedule rather than only at the bottom of it.
What it means for renewals
A renewal is assessed against the criteria current at the time of renewal, not those that applied when the pass was first issued. A pass holder whose salary has not moved for several years may find the threshold has moved instead.
For passes expiring from 1 January 2028, the higher figures apply. If your pass expires in that window and your salary sits close to the line, a conversation with your employer about it is better had well before the renewal than during it.
What it does not change
COMPASS still applies and still requires 40 points. Clearing the higher qualifying salary is the entry condition, not the assessment: an application can meet the salary comfortably and still fail on the employer's diversity or local employment score.
It also has no bearing on a Permanent Residence application. ICA assesses Permanent Residence holistically and against no published salary threshold at all. A higher Employment Pass floor does not raise any PR bar, though a higher salary is one of the factors ICA weighs.
Criteria, fees and timelines are set by the Singapore authorities and are revised from time to time. Please confirm the current requirements directly.