A family moves to Singapore as one package, but its legal status is not uniform. The Employment Pass holder works; the spouse lives on a Dependant's Pass, which is permission to reside without a right to paid work. Until 2021 that gap was bridged by a letter from an employer; that route is now closed, and the question of whether the spouse can work has to be settled before the move rather than after it.
Several figures already carry an announced revision date: the EP qualifying salary rises from 1 January 2027, and the levy structure changes from 2028.
Concept
A Dependant's Pass is issued to the spouse and children of an EP or S Pass holder and is tied to that pass: its duration, renewal and very existence depend on the main holder. A right to work is not part of the status. From 1 May 2021 MOM aligned the requirements for working DP holders with those applying to every other foreigner: an applicable work pass is required. The Letter of Consent survives in two narrow corridors — for spouses of ONE Pass holders and for DP holders genuinely running their own business.
Key parameters of the status:
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Right to sponsor a DP | EP or S Pass holder with a fixed monthly salary from S$6,000 |
| Who it covers | Legally married spouse and unmarried children under 21, adopted children included |
| Schooling | Child attends as an international student; S$1,035/month at a government primary school (2026, non-ASEAN) |
| DP holder's work | Since 1 May 2021, only via EP, S Pass or Work Permit; general LOC for employment closed |
| EP salary minimum | S$5,600–10,700 by age; S$6,200–11,800 in financial services |
| Minimum increase | S$6,000 and S$6,600 for new applications from 1 January 2027 |
| COMPASS | Cleared at 40 points; salary criterion worth up to 20 points |
| DP-Work Permit | No minimum salary or security bond; runs for as long as the DP does |
Who gets a DP and who gets an LTVP
The right to bring family in is tied to the main holder's salary. A DP is sponsored by an EP or S Pass holder earning a minimum fixed monthly salary of S$6,000 — his own salary, since combined household income does not enter the test — with an established Singapore-registered company as sponsor (MOM). It covers a legally married spouse and unmarried children under 21, adopted children included. A Dependant's Pass does not by itself place a child in the local school system on citizen terms: the child attends as an international student, and monthly fees at a government primary school in 2026 run to S$1,035 for an international student outside ASEAN, against S$330 for a permanent resident and nothing for a citizen (MOE). What a status is worth beyond entry — tuition, admission and a child's citizenship — is set out separately.
The Long-Term Visit Pass covers what does not fit into a DP: a common-law spouse, unmarried handicapped children aged 21 and above, and unmarried step-children under 21. Parents sit behind a separate threshold — the holder's fixed monthly salary must be at least S$12,000 (MOM). Families of those who entered as overseas ICTs under WTO GATS or a free trade agreement have no DP or LTVP entitlement at all unless the agreement expressly provides for it.
The break of 1 May 2021
Before that date a DP holder obtained a Letter of Consent from an employer and worked without a pass of his own. MOM's 2021 Budget factsheet set out the logic of the change: requirements for working DP holders were being brought into line with those for all other foreigners. From 1 May 2021 any DP holder wishing to work must obtain an Employment Pass, S Pass or Work Permit, unless he is a business owner meeting separate criteria (MOM). Existing LOCs ran to expiry, after which employers had to apply for a pass with the full apparatus of qualifying salary, quota and levy.
The practical consequence: hiring the spouse became an application to MOM subject to the same filters as hiring a foreigner from abroad.
Three routes and what each costs
| Route | Who it suits | Threshold on the candidate | Constraint on the employer |
|---|---|---|---|
| EP or S Pass | A professional position | Qualifying salary and COMPASS | COMPASS, Fair Consideration Framework |
| DP-Work Permit | Positions below EP criteria | No minimum salary | DRC quota and monthly levy |
| Business-owner LOC | One's own business | At least 30% shareholding, or sole proprietor or partner | Hiring a local to renew |
The rows differ in where the constraint lands: on the first two routes the barrier is held by the employer, on the third by the applicant himself.
The spouse's own EP or S Pass
EP qualification runs in two stages. Stage one is salary: outside financial services the minimum is S$5,600 a month at age 23 and below, rising with age to S$10,700 at 45 and above; in financial services it starts at S$6,200 and rises to S$11,800 (MOM). For new applications from 1 January 2027 and renewals of passes expiring from 1 January 2028 the entry bar moves to S$6,000 and S$6,600, with the upper figures at S$11,500 and S$12,700. Stage two, unless the application is exempted, is the points-based COMPASS, which must be cleared at 40 points, with the salary criterion alone worth a maximum of 20. A candidate who fails stage one gets no EP whatever his COMPASS score.
When an EP or S Pass is issued the Dependant's Pass is cancelled. That is the main prize of this route: the spouse's residence stops depending on whether the main holder is still with the same company. The adjacent statuses for senior professionals — ONE Pass and Tech Pass — reach the same result through a different set of criteria.
The DP-Work Permit
For positions that do not clear the EP or S Pass criteria there is a Work Permit variant tied to the DP. The candidate may be of any nationality; no minimum qualifying salary applies; the six-monthly medical examination and the security bond are not required; and separate employer-provided medical insurance is unnecessary where the worker is already covered by a policy meeting MOM's minimum. The DP-WP runs for as long as the DP does.
The weight shifts entirely onto the employer. A sectoral Dependency Ratio Ceiling applies, together with a monthly levy aligned to the lowest rate in each sector: S$200 in Process, S$250 for off-site construction, S$300 in construction, S$350 in marine shipyards; S$250, S$350 or S$550 in manufacturing by quota tier, and S$300, S$400 or S$600 in services. The quota ceilings are 83.3% in construction and Process, 75% in marine shipyards, 60% in manufacturing and 35% in services (MOM). From 2028 the first and second tiers in services and manufacturing merge, at S$400 and S$300 respectively (MOM). Changing employer requires the previous one to cancel the existing DP-WP first.
The business-owner LOC
The third route is open to a DP holder genuinely running an ACRA-registered business as a sole proprietor, a partner, a company director holding at least 30% of the shares, or a member of a Company Limited by Guarantee (MOM). Renewal turns on two conditions: at least three months of DP validity remaining, and at least one Singaporean or permanent resident hired at no less than the Local Qualifying Salary — currently S$1,800 a month for full-time work, or S$10.50 an hour part-time (MOM) — with CPF contributions for three consecutive months before the submission date. A first LOC runs for the shorter of one year from issue and the remainder of the DP; on renewal it runs to the DP's expiry. The LOC lapses with the DP and when the business ceases to be active, though it still has to be cancelled.
One requirement sits apart: s.145(1) of the Companies Act 1967 obliges every company to have at least one director ordinarily resident in Singapore, and the section itself supplies no definition of that phrase. A DP holder needs to settle that question at the point of incorporating the company, before applying for the LOC. Once the business crosses the turnover threshold, GST registration is added to the list.
Spouses of ONE Pass holders keep a wider LOC: it covers both employment and running a business, is issued free of charge, takes up to four weeks in most cases, and runs to the expiry of the DP (MOM). Other dependants of a ONE Pass holder work only on a work pass.
Tax and the exit through PR
A DP holder's income from work in Singapore is taxed under the ordinary rules of personal income tax. As a rule, when employment ends, an overseas posting begins, or the employee leaves Singapore for more than three months, the employer must seek tax clearance: file Form IR21 at least one month before the event and withhold all monies due to the employee (IRAS). The rule applies to every work pass holder, DP-WP included.
Permanent residence removes the constraints altogether: a PR works without a pass, changes employer without an application to MOM, and depends on nobody else's status. The price is entry into CPF, where contributions begin on the grant of PR and are softened by two transitional years (the rate schedule). How these routes compare with other jurisdictions is set out in the relocation matrix.
National Service after the move to PR
Every male Singapore citizen and permanent resident becomes liable for National Service at the age of thirteen; registration follows at sixteen and a half and enlistment at eighteen. Living overseas does not lift it, and a son holding another citizenship is liable all the same (CMPB). Second-generation male dependant permanent residents sit expressly within the liable class: a father's PR creates his son's liability (ICA).
From thirteen, leaving the country runs through a permit regime. An absence of two years or more requires an exit permit together with a bond of S$75,000 or fifty per cent of both parents' combined annual gross income for the preceding year, whichever is higher. Between thirteen and sixteen and a half a permit is needed for an absence of three months to two years, and from sixteen and a half for any absence of three months or more (CMPB). Singapore does not recognise dual citizenship: a son who keeps his Singapore citizenship at twenty-one renounces his foreign one.
Q/A
Can a spouse work on a Dependant's Pass without a separate pass?
No. Since 1 May 2021 a DP holder who wants to take employment must obtain his own Employment Pass, S Pass or DP-Work Permit, and the employer files the application. The exceptions are spouses of ONE Pass holders and DP holders running their own business on a Letter of Consent. Unpaid volunteering for a charitable purpose requires no pass.
Which is better for the family: the spouse's own EP or a DP-WP?
An own EP detaches the spouse's status from the main holder, but demands a qualifying salary from S$5,600 and 40 COMPASS points. The DP-WP sets no salary bar, yet stays tied to the DP's validity and runs into the employer's quota and levy. A professional role usually takes the first path, a role below the EP criteria the second.
What are the conditions for the business-owner LOC?
The applicant must be a sole proprietor, a partner, or a director holding at least 30% of an ACRA-registered business. Renewal requires at least three months of DP validity remaining and at least one Singaporean or PR hired at no less than the Local Qualifying Salary (S$1,800 a month) with CPF contributions for three consecutive months. A first LOC runs for up to a year or to the end of the DP, whichever is shorter.
Can parents be brought in on a Dependant's Pass?
No, parents are outside the DP. The Long-Term Visit Pass covers them, and the bar is higher: the main holder's fixed monthly salary must be at least S$12,000, where a DP or an ordinary LTVP needs S$6,000.
What happens on the tax side when leaving Singapore?
As a rule, the employer must seek tax clearance when a non-citizen employee ceases employment, goes on an overseas posting, or leaves Singapore for more than three months: Form IR21 is filed at least one month before the event and monies due are withheld pending settlement with IRAS. The rule applies to every work pass holder, DP-WP included.