Working in Brunei as a French National: Work Pass, Salaries, Tax and Social Protection

The Immigration and National Registration Department issues work passes. Its work pass division specifies that the application is filed through an approved recruitment agency, with in particular the application form, a copy of the worker’s passport (valid for at least six months), a copy of the agency’s licence and the visa approval. The Ministry of Health issues, after a medical examination carried out before arrival (blood tests for communicable diseases and chest X-ray), the medical fitness certificate for employment that conditions issue of the pass; the screening also applies to renewals.

The Immigration Department also describes long-stay passes: long-term social visit for foreigners linked to a citizen or a permanent resident, business visit for executives and investors who meet the criteria, and the professional pass for specialists whose expertise serves national development. According to the Labour Department, foreign workers must also have work accident insurance and health insurance, proof of which is attached at the signing of the contract; the document consulted is undated and specifies no ceiling. See also the page living in Brunei.

The Employment (Minimum Wage) Order, amended by an order published in Gazette no. S 4 of 2025 and in force since 1 April 2025, sets a minimum of BND 500 per month for a full-time employee and BND 2.62 per hour for a part-time employee (under 30 hours per week). The Labour Department guide specifies that these amounts are understood excluding allowances and before deduction of pension scheme contributions. The text applies to employees in the listed sectors (the full list appears in the order); the initial 2023 order, in force since 12 July 2023, excluded in particular the State, apprentices, certain foreign workers holding certain visas or passes, and domestic workers. A French national therefore checks with the employer and the Labour Department whether the minimum applies to their pass.

Salary levels for foreign managers and technicians depend on the employer and the sector, and no official salary statistics were used for this page. The Department of Statistics publishes the annual labour force survey report: about two thirds of the working-age population participate in the labour market.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy states that no tax is levied on personal income, that is, on any gain by an individual from employment, self-employment, dividends or interest, nor on capital gains. Corporate income tax is 18.5% of the taxable profit of companies incorporated under the Companies Act. The Income Tax Act nevertheless defines residence: a person present or employed in Brunei for 183 days or more in the year preceding the year of assessment is a resident, which counts for tax declarations and the exchange of tax information.

The list of tax treaties concluded by France, published in the BOFiP (the French tax administration’s official doctrine), does not mention Brunei. No treaty rule therefore allocates the right to tax between the two states. French law determines tax residence according to the home, the main place of stay, the main professional activity and the centre of economic interests: an employee who keeps their tax residence in France remains taxable in France on their worldwide income, even if Brunei levies nothing. Before departure, the situation should be confirmed with the tax office, starting from the “International” section of impots.gouv.fr.

According to the US Social Security Administration (International Update), employees and employers each contribute 5% of monthly salary to the TAP provident fund and 3.5% to the SCP scheme; the SCP covers citizens and permanent residents aged 18 and over. The same publication indicates that Brunei planned a national pension scheme (SPK) to replace these two schemes, with an employee contribution of at least 8.5% of monthly salary. The Labour Department guide still cites TAP, SCP and SPK together: the applicable situation should be confirmed with the Employees Trust Fund. No source consulted specifies the participation of a foreign employee who is not a permanent resident in these schemes.

France has no social security agreement with Brunei (CLEISS list; CLEISS is the French Centre for European and International Social Security Liaison): no posting certificate, no totalisation of periods. The seconded employee retains, in principle, the French scheme under a secondment outside an agreement, to be confirmed with the Urssaf (the French social security contributions collection body) and CLEISS. See the glossary entries on the posted worker and the local contract.

The passes described by the Immigration Department (work, business visit, professional visit) define what is permitted; visa-free entry for up to 90 days is not an authorisation to work. A self-employed person or digital nomad chooses their status with the Immigration Department before invoicing a local client. Even though the Ministry of Finance applies no personal income tax, sole proprietorships and partnerships are not taxed either, but a company comes under corporate income tax of 18.5%. For a French employer, remote work from Brunei raises questions of tax residence and social protection, to be dealt with them before departure. The page digital nomad insurance presents suitable health contracts.

• Which pass is planned, who applies for it (the employer, through an approved recruitment agency) and how long will it take?
• What is the base salary, excluding allowances, with regard to the BND 500 minimum for the listed sectors?
• Does the contract provide for the health insurance and work accident insurance required of foreign workers, with what limits and which hospital network?
• Does the employee remain a French tax resident, and is the social security scheme (French retained or local) written into the contract?
• Is medical evacuation guaranteed, since France Diplomatie states that serious cases may require it?
• What are the local rules of life (alcohol, dress, Ramadan) that the employer recommends knowing?

These questions are asked before signing, when the employer can still adapt the offer; they avoid gaps in cover between the first day of work and enrolment in a scheme.

The Brunei dollar (BND) is pegged at par to the Singapore dollar by the 1967 interchangeability agreement; the Monetary Authority describes a currency board regime fully backed by foreign exchange reserves, which explains why Singapore’s monetary policy influences monetary conditions in Brunei. The Department of Statistics publishes labour market indicators, national accounts and the Brunei Darussalam Key Indicators; the main benchmarks (growth, inflation, unemployment, exchange rate) appear in the “Economic indicators” block of this page.

For a professional project, the outlook is read employer by employer and sector by sector; the guide healthcare reimbursement in Brunei details health cover by status, and Expavy compares the solutions suited to each.