Personalized employment pass (PEP)

PEP is Personalized Employment Pass that is issued to individuals who are not linked to any particular employer. It is available to highly qualified professionals who plan to be employed in Singapore. You can apply for this visa on your individual merit. After approval you can shift to Singapore and look for suitable opportunities for work in Singapore.

Information and relevant points about PEP

  1. Holders of PEP pass are not permitted to engage in any form of business in Singapore. They are not allowed to start their own business either in their own name or in the name of their family members;
  2. An individual holding PEP can be a director of a company not under his or her ownership;
  3. PEP eligibility requirements are stricter compared to Employment Pass requirements;
  4. PEP is valid for 3-years by which time the holder must earn a fix rate of S$144,000 per annum.
  5. PEP holders can move from one employment to another without the need to secure a work visa every time. The period of unemployment allowed between each job is only six months. If they cannot find a job for this six months then they must leave Singapore and their PEP gets cancelled
  6. PEP holders can apply for Dependant’s Pass (DP) for their children who are below 21 years of age and their spouses. Long Term Visit Pass (LTVP) is also available for the parents of PEP holders.
  7. PEP holders must earn minimum of 144,000 SGD per year through their employment. So even if they can be unemployed for some period of time, they must still need to achieve this figure every year.

Eligibility Requirements

PEP is available to individuals who are:

  1. Holders of an existing Employment Pass with a minimum monthly salary of S$12,000. Those people who are already in Singapore on a company sponsored employment pass and earn more than 12000 SGD per month can apply for PEP
  2. Foreign professionals whose last monthly salary from his/her employment is equivalent to S$18,000. The last salary received by the applicant must not be more than six months from the time s/he applies for PEP. These are the people who are applying for PEP from abroad.

Required Documentation

Applicant’s educational certificates


Employment contract of new and/or previous employment (if any)

Past employment contract will be beneficial to prove salary levels

Employment history / CV


Latest three months’ salary slips and bank account statements


Latest tax statement


A copy of the personal particulars page of the applicant’s passport/travel document


Bank account statement for the past three months (showing salary credit)


(Non-English documents must be accompanied by an official English translation done by a certified translator, High Commission/Embassy or a notary public.)

Processing Timeline

Approval of PEP takes anywhere from four to six weeks upon submission of application and other required documents. Once approved, an In-Principle Approval (IPA) letter will be sent by MOM to the applicant. The applicant is then given six months to secure personally his or her pass from the office of MOM in Singapore. S/he is also required to bring all other requirements as stated in the letter like original copy of the previous documents submitted, medical test reports, and others. The issued EP is valid for three years.

Your responsibility as PEP holder

  1. Change in Employment. The Work Pass Division of MOM must be informed when a PEP holder has another employer through a Notification Form. It must be sent within a week from the change of the employment status. The same notification form must also be submitted by the current and previous employer.
  2. Change in Local Contact. The Notification Form must also be used when there are changes in the PEP holder’s local contact.
    Declaration of Salary. Within a month after the end of each calendar year, a PEP holder is required to declare his/her annual salary through the Notification Form.
  3. Travel Documents. An Amendment of Personal Particular form must be filled and submitted to MOM if there are changes in a PEP holder’s travel documents.
  4. Replacement of PEP card. Damaged or lost PEP cards must be replaced by applying through EP-Online.
  5. Residential address. MOM must be notified through EP-Online about any change of residential address

PEP is one time only. It can not be renewed.

PEP is only issued once and cannot be renewed. Holders of expiring or expired PEPs must apply for either an Employment Pass or Permanent Residence should they decide to continue their work in Singapore. Cancellation of PEP is also possible if the holder decides so, but s/he cannot re-apply to secure a new PEP.

Frequently asked questions about PEP

Technically you don’t need a Singapore based company to sponsor your PEP. You are sponsoring PEP for yourself. This is an excellent choice for high salary earning individuals who intent to shift to Singapore. Singapore is fast becoming a center for banking, financial services, IT and high level technological sectors. So for people already in these sectors and earning high salary it’s an excellent choice.

As a PEP holder you are not allowed to start your own business. What that means is you or your dependent pass holders cannot be directors of the company in which you (or your dependent pass holders) hold shareholding.
Still if you wish to start your business we can help you to convert your PEP to a normal EP sponsored by your own company. Please get in touch with us for more details. Keep in mind though, the decision of approval of EP is with ministry of manpower Singapore.

Every PEP holder must attain 144000 SGD annual salary. If you are unemployed for a short time of up to 6 months, it’s still ok. However salary earned in other periods must compensate the non-earning period and in total you must reach total salary earning of 144000 SGD. If you fail to reach this limit then your PEP will get cancelled.

Yes. You can bring your spouse and dependent children on dependent pass in Singapore.

Local contact person is a requirement by Ministry of Manpower Singapore. This local contact person must be a Singapore citizen or a Singapore permanent resident. If you do not have a local person then Transcend can provide you one.
If you are seriously considering shifting to Singapore for work and if you pass all qualifying conditions then PEP is an excellent option. If you apply for Singapore based jobs from overseas then most of the companies usually ask for work authorization. Having PEP in this case increase your chances of getting a Singapore job significantly as companies need not sponsor your employment pass.