Singapore Law Blog

The Ministry of Manpower will introduce a Personalised Employment Pass (PEP) from 1 January 2007 to help us better attract and retain global talent. The PEP will facilitate selected Employment Pass holders to continue working in Singapore. The PEP will be granted to suitable EP holders or foreigners who have graduated from our institutions of higher learning, and have worked in Singapore for a period of time.

2. Currently, the issue of an Employment Pass (EP) is tied to a specific employer. Any change of employer requires a fresh application. If an EP holder leaves the company, his EP is cancelled and he must leave Singapore unless he finds employment with a new company. In contrast, the new PEP is not tied to any employer and will be granted on the strength of an EP holder’s individual merits. The PEP allows the holder to remain in Singapore for up to six months in between jobs to evaluate new employment opportunities. This helps us to retain selected global talent who would otherwise have to leave Singapore.

3. There is intensified global competition for talent, and the PEP will strengthen Singapore’s attractiveness to highly skilled foreigners. This will help grow the overall economic pie in Singapore, creating more jobs and opportunities for Singaporeans. Other destinations for foreign talent such as Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia have similar schemes which offer them the flexibility to stay or enter the country for a fixed period of time.

4. The following groups of EP holders will be eligible for a PEP, if they had earned a basic salary of at least S$30,000 in the preceding year:

P1 and P2 pass holders

P Pass holders that have at least two years’ working experience on a P Pass.

Q1 pass holders

Q1 pass holders with at least five years’ working experience on a Q1 pass; and

Foreign students from institutions of higher learning in Singapore

Foreign graduates from institutions of higher learning in Singapore with at least two years’ working experience on a P or Q1 Pass.

(MOM will be flexible in considering individual cases that do not meet the minimum criteria but merit the issuance of a PEP. Refer to Annex A for a summary of the PEP scheme features.)

5. The PEP will be issued only once with a validity of 5 years. It will be non-renewable. A PEP holder will retain the dependant privileges of his original EP type and the minimum annual basic salary requirement of S$30,000 will continue to apply throughout the 5-year duration.

6. More information on the PEP is available on the Ministry’s website at http://www.mom.gov.sg or Call-Centre at 6438 5122.