Singapore S Pass minimum salary: it rises with your age, and again on 1 January 2027

Anyone older than 23 needs more than the figure above: the minimum rises progressively with age, up to the level at 45. From 1 January 2027 new applications face a higher scale, and a pass expiring from 1 January 2028 is renewed only on it, so a salary that qualifies today may not qualify at renewal.

A job offer that meets the minimum now can fall below it within two years, though nothing in the offer changes. The Ministry of Manpower raises the qualifying salary in steps, and each step reaches renewals one year after it reaches new applications. The present step applied to new applications from 1 September 2025 and to passes expiring from 1 September 2026. The next was announced on 3 March 2026: new applications from 1 January 2027, renewals of passes expiring from 1 January 2028. The ministry has also said it expects the minimum to keep rising towards 2030.

Your age sets your figure

The ministry ties the salary to the top third of local associate professionals and technicians of the same age. That is why the headline is a starting point, not your bar: the minimum climbs with age and stops climbing at 45. Financial services has its own, higher scale, shown above as well. The ministry's Self-Assessment Tool returns the figure for a given age and salary, and the ministry says an employer should not apply when the tool shows a candidate as ineligible.

The test reads fixed monthly salary. A spouse or children can come on a Dependant's Pass only if that fixed salary reaches a separate, higher level the ministry sets for dependants, above both figures shown above, at any age.

Employer charges and agency charges

You cannot apply yourself: the employer, or an employment agency it appoints, files the application. The ministry's own charge is the fee shown above, an application fee and an issuance fee together. The employer also pays a monthly levy for each S Pass holder and must insure your medical costs, and the ministry states that the insurance cost cannot be passed on to you.

An agency in Singapore may charge you, the worker, at most one month of fixed salary per year of your pass or contract, counting whichever is shorter, and never more than two months in all. The ministry's guide adds that the cap does not reach the part an agency abroad collects and keeps.

Ask the employer or agency:

1. Which age is the salary tested at, and what does the ministry's tool show for it?
2. Is the whole offered salary fixed monthly pay, or does part of it depend on commission or bonus?
3. Will the salary still meet the scale that applies when the pass comes up for renewal?
4. What is the agency charging you, and is any part of it collected by an agency abroad?
5. Does the employer pay the levy, and the medical insurance without passing its cost to you?

The box does not read job offers or employment contracts, but it will take an employment agency's fee quote or service agreement: answer yes at its first question and the agency's charges are compared with the published rules. Holding only a job offer, answer no, enter the monthly salary it states, and choose per month. The check compares a document or a figure with the published rules, and does not look at your application or advise on it; for advice on your own case, speak to a qualified immigration lawyer.

General information, not legal advice.