Working in Singapore as a French National: Employment Pass, COMPASS, Tax and Economy

The path starts with a job offer: the employer, or their agent, files the pass application with the MOM. Before applying for an Employment Pass, they advertise the job on the national portal MyCareersFuture and fairly consider all applications (MOM).

Three contractual situations coexist for a French national: the local contract with a Singapore company, which gives the right to a work pass, secondment by a French employer and expatriation under a group contract. The guide to seconded or expatriate helps tell them apart, and the guide on working abroad lists the points to check in a contract. Life on the ground is detailed in the page on living in Singapore.

The Employment Pass targets professionals, managers and executives holding a job offer. The assessment takes place in two stages (MOM).

Stage 1, the qualifying minimum salary: the required fixed monthly salary rises with age. In general sectors, it runs from 5,600 SGD at 23 to 10,700 SGD from 45 on; in financial services, from 6,200 SGD to 11,800 SGD. From 1 January 2027, these thresholds run from 6,000 SGD to 11,500 SGD and from 6,600 SGD to 12,700 SGD.

Stage 2, the COMPASS framework: the application must total 40 points across five criteria of 20 points each, plus a bonus of 10 points.

• C1, salary: 20 points from the 90^th percentile of local salaries of managers and professionals in the sector, 10 points from the 65^th to the 90^th, 0 points below.
• C2, qualifications: 20 points for a degree from a top-tier institution (QS top 100 ranking, autonomous universities of Singapore), 10 points for another degree at bachelor level.
• C3, diversity: 20 points if the candidate’s nationality represents less than 5% of the company’s managers and professionals, 10 points from 5% to 25%, 0 points above.
• C4, local employment: 20 points if the share of local professionals at the company reaches the 50^th percentile of its sector, 10 points from the 20^th to the 50^th.
• C5, rare skills: 20 points for a post on the shortage occupation list when the nationality accounts for less than a third of the workforce concerned, 10 points above.
• C6, strategic economic priorities: 10-point bonus for an employer taking part in an eligible programme.

A fixed salary of at least 22,500 SGD a month, an intra-corporate transfer or an assignment of one month or less exempts you from COMPASS. The pass lasts 2 years at most on the first application, 3 years at most on renewal and up to 5 years for rare technology profiles; the employer pays no levy and has no quota, and the family can obtain a Dependant’s Pass. The MOM specifies that the employer chooses whether or not to provide health insurance: the page on reimbursement in Singapore details the checks to make in the contract.

• S Pass: for mid-level profiles, with a minimum fixed monthly salary of 3,300 SGD at 23, up to 4,800 SGD from 45 on (3,800 to 5,650 SGD in finance). On 1 January 2027, this minimum rises from 3,600 to 5,100 SGD (4,000 to 5,650 SGD in finance). A holder earning at least 6,000 SGD a month can sponsor a spouse and children (MOM).
• ONE Pass (Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass): for talents in all sectors. The salary route requires a fixed salary of at least 30,000 SGD a month for 12 consecutive months before the application. An alternative route recognises outstanding achievements in sport, arts and culture or academic research; an “artificial intelligence and technology” route opens on 28 January 2027. Renewal requires on average 30,000 SGD a month over 5 years, or a Singapore company employing at least 5 locals (MOM).
• EntrePass: for founders of a venture-capital-backed company or one holding innovative technologies. The main criterion is funding of at least 100,000 SGD raised in a single round from investors (venture capital funds, business angels, public programmes), with at least 30% of the capital of a company registered with ACRA. Other routes rest on a recognised incubator, registered intellectual property or a research partnership (MOM).

For a freelancer, a founder or a ONE Pass holder, health insurance is a personal matter: see the expat health insurance comparison.

The MOM offers the Work Holiday Programme, a temporary work stay open to students and recent graduates of recognised universities in Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The candidate is 18 to 25 at the time of application; the pass authorises staying and working for up to 6 months, within a limit of 2,000 holders at any time (MOM). The page on working holiday visa insurance details health protection for this type of stay.

The spouse holding a Dependant’s Pass has three options (MOM): an Employment Pass or an S Pass if they meet the criteria, with the Dependant’s Pass then cancelled; a Dependant’s Pass Work Permit, without minimum salary or nationality restriction but with quotas and a sector levy of 200 to 600 SGD a month for the employer; or a Letter of Consent to set up or run their own business.

The Progressive Wage Model (PWM) raises wages through skills upgrading and productivity. It applies to citizens and permanent residents in eight sectors: cleaning, security, landscaping, lifts and escalators, retail, food services, waste management and, by occupation, administrators and drivers. For other local employees, the employer hiring foreign workers complies with a Local Qualifying Salary (MOM).

For a French manager, the pass thresholds structure the pay scale: an Employment Pass starts at 5,600 SGD a month and an S Pass at 3,300 SGD, with an age-related rise up to 45. An offer is compared with these floors, with the cost of housing presented in the page on living in Singapore and with the contract’s health cover.

Tax residence: a foreigner is a tax resident if they stayed or worked in Singapore for at least 183 days in the previous calendar year, or for 3 consecutive years even with fewer than 183 days in the first and third years, or if employment spanning two calendar years totals at least 183 days (IRAS). Otherwise, they are a non-resident.

Resident scale (since the 2024 year of assessment, by taxable income band):

• 20,000 SGD at 0%, 10,000 SGD at 2%, 10,000 SGD at 3.5% then 40,000 SGD at 7% (up to 80,000 SGD);
• 11.5% up to 120,000 SGD, 15% up to 160,000 SGD, 18% up to 200,000 SGD, 19% up to 240,000 SGD, 19.5% up to 280,000 SGD, 20% up to 320,000 SGD;
• 22% up to 500,000 SGD, 23% up to 1,000,000 SGD and 24% above.

Gross tax on a taxable income of 120,000 SGD comes to 7,950 SGD under the IRAS scale, before any reliefs. For a non-resident, employment income is taxed at the flat rate of 15% or at the resident progressive scale, whichever is higher; other income (directors’ fees, consulting fees, rents, pensions) is taxed at 24% since the 2024 year of assessment (IRAS).

CPF: Central Provident Fund contributions concern employees who are citizens and permanent residents, with 17% for the employer and 20% for the employee under 55 earning more than 750 SGD a month on 1 January 2026 (CPF Board). A French national on a work pass therefore organises their own health protection and retirement: see the guide on quarters worked abroad and the page on retiring in Singapore.

Singapore relies on finance, which makes it a regional anchor point. According to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) survey, assets under management rose by 10% to reach 6,700 billion SGD in 2025, with 1,320 managers; 76% of these assets come from abroad. This base explains the demand for profiles in banking, asset management, insurance and business services, which most often fall under the Employment Pass.

The Singapore dollar rests on a monetary policy driven by the exchange rate rather than by a policy interest rate: the MAS adjusts the slope, the width and the centre of a fluctuation band for the trade-weighted dollar (S$NEER). In July 2026, it very slightly steepened the pace of appreciation of the band, without changing its width or its centre, and described stronger-than-expected growth in the second quarter. Core inflation stood at 1.5% year on year in the second quarter, and the MAS projects 1.5% to 2.5% for 2026, for core inflation and headline inflation alike.

Pay is in Singapore dollars (SGD): the EUR/SGD rate in the “Economic indicators” block above gives the order of magnitude in euros, and a transfer to France should be planned together with its cost.