Moving to Singapore as an American: visa routes

Singapore has no retirement visa, no digital nomad visa and no way to simply buy residence. You come for a job, a business, a family member or a school, and the pass follows from that.

The short version

Americans can visit without a visa, but a visit pass isn't permission to work. Living here means holding a long-term pass from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) or the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) [1][6].
The main route is the Employment Pass (EP): a minimum of SGD 5,600 a month (about USD 4,380) at age 23, rising to SGD 10,700 (about USD 8,380) at 45 and up, plus a points test called COMPASS [1].
High earners at SGD 30,000 a month (about USD 23,480) can get the five-year ONE Pass, which isn't tied to one employer [3].
Spouses and kids come on a Dependant's Pass if the main pass holder earns at least SGD 6,000 a month (about USD 4,700). The spouse needs a work pass of their own to take a job [5].
The US–Singapore Free Trade Agreement gives Singaporeans the H-1B1 visa in the US. It doesn't create a special Singapore pass for Americans [8].

USD conversions use the Federal Reserve H.10 rate of October 30, 2026 (USD 1 = SGD 1.2776).

Visiting first: what an American passport gets you

The United States isn't on ICA's list of countries whose citizens need a visa to enter Singapore [6]. You get a short-term visit pass at the border, and the officer decides how long it runs. That's fine for house hunting, school tours and job interviews. It isn't fine for starting work, even remote work for a Singapore client, and MOM warns employers that visit passes can't be extended while a work pass is pending [1].

Here's the mindset shift from back home in the States: in the US, your visa status is mostly your own business. In Singapore, almost every long-term pass is applied for by someone else, usually your employer, and it's tied to them.

The work passes at a glance

Pass	Who it's for	Monthly salary bar (fixed pay)	Length
Employment Pass (EP)	Professionals, managers, executives	SGD 5,600 (age 23) to SGD 10,700 (45+); finance SGD 6,200 to SGD 11,800 [1]	Up to 2 years, then up to 3 on renewal
S Pass	Mid-skilled staff	SGD 3,300 (age 23) to SGD 4,800 (45+) [2]	Set by MOM
ONE Pass	Top earners and standouts in arts, sports, research	SGD 30,000, or "outstanding achievements" [3]	Up to 5 years, renewable for 5 [3]
EntrePass	Founders of venture-backed or innovative startups	No salary bar; must meet an innovation test [4]	Set by MOM

The salary bars go up on January 1, 2027 for new applications, and for renewals of passes expiring from January 1, 2028. The EP floor rises to SGD 6,000 (about USD 4,700) at 23 and SGD 11,500 (about USD 9,000) at 45 and up; the S Pass floor rises to SGD 3,600 (about USD 2,820) at 23 and SGD 5,100 (about USD 3,990) at 45 and up [1][2]. If you're negotiating an offer now for a 2027 start, plan for the new numbers.

The Employment Pass

The EP is how most Americans land here: a regional role at a bank, a tech company or a consumer brand's Asia headquarters. Your salary must clear the age-based floor (Stage 1), then the job must score 40 points on COMPASS (Stage 2), based on your pay against local benchmarks, your degree, how many people of your nationality the company already employs, and how much it hires locals [1]. Jobs paying at least SGD 22,500 a month (about USD 17,610) skip COMPASS, and so do intra-company transferees [1]. Our guide to the Employment Pass and COMPASS goes through the points one by one.

The S Pass

The S Pass is for mid-level technical jobs. The salary bar is lower, but employers pay a monthly levy and face a quota on how many S Pass holders they can hire, so many won't sponsor one for a role an EP could cover [2]. For most American professionals, the EP is the realistic target.

The ONE Pass

The Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass is the closest thing Singapore has to a talent green card, though it isn't permanent. You qualify with a fixed monthly salary of at least SGD 30,000 over the previous 12 months, or a Singapore job offer at that level. There's also a route for people with outstanding achievements in arts and culture, sports, academia and research [3]. It's exempt from COMPASS and from the job advertising rule, and the employer pays no levy and faces no quota. Your spouse can work on a simple Letter of Consent instead of a full work pass [3].

The EntrePass

For founders. The company must be a private limited company registered with ACRA, and you must own at least 30% of it. You then need at least one of these: SGD 100,000 (about USD 78,270) or more raised in a single round from investors, backing from a recognized incubator or accelerator, a previous tech exit, registered intellectual property, or a research collaboration with a Singapore university or institute [4]. A solo consultant with a good idea and savings won't fit. If your US LLC has real traction and investors, it might.

Bringing your family

The family passes hang off the main pass holder's salary, not household income [5].

Family member	Pass	Main holder's minimum fixed monthly salary
Legally married spouse	Dependant's Pass	SGD 6,000 (about USD 4,700) [5]
Unmarried children under 21, including adopted	Dependant's Pass	SGD 6,000 [5]
Common-law spouse, unmarried stepchildren under 21, unmarried children 21+ with a disability	Long-Term Visit Pass	SGD 6,000 [7]
Parents	Long-Term Visit Pass	SGD 12,000 (about USD 9,390) [7]

These figures apply to EP and S Pass holders. The big catch for American couples: since May 2021, a Dependant's Pass no longer lets a spouse work on a simple letter. They need an EP, S Pass or Work Permit of their own, with narrow exceptions for business owners [5]. Our guide to the Dependant's Pass covers working as a trailing spouse in detail.

A heads-up for intra-company transfers: MOM says family members of EP holders who came in as overseas intra-corporate transferees under WTO or free trade agreement commitments generally can't get a Dependant's Pass or Long-Term Visit Pass unless the agreement covers them [5]. If your company is moving you on that basis, ask HR how they're filing before you pack the kids' stuff.

Studying in Singapore

Full-time students need a Student's Pass from ICA. ICA says the requirements differ by the type of school, so start with your school's admissions office once you have an offer [9]. That includes universities such as NUS and NTU. Kids who come with an EP-holding parent normally hold a Dependant's Pass instead. US federal student aid rules and tuition grants are covered in our guide to universities in Singapore.

What the US–Singapore FTA does, and doesn't, do

The free trade agreement matters a lot for Singaporeans heading to the US: it created the H-1B1 visa, with up to 5,400 Singaporean professionals a year [8]. The USTR's fact sheet also says the number of US professionals allowed into Singapore "is not limited" under the agreement [8]. In practice, though, Americans apply for the same EP or S Pass as everyone else, against the same salary floors and COMPASS. The agreement's trade-in-services commitments show up mainly in the intra-company transferee route mentioned above.

The FTA also isn't a tax treaty. There is no US–Singapore income tax treaty: Singapore doesn't appear on the IRS's list of treaty countries [10]. And there's no Social Security totalization agreement either. Uncle Sam still wants your return every year, wherever you live; see our guides to filing from abroad and to Singapore taxes. A US expat tax preparer can check your situation.

A move-in checklist

Pick your route from the tables above and check the salary bar for your age, including the 2027 increase if your start date is close.
Let the employer file. The EP, S Pass and family passes are submitted by the employer or an appointed agent, not by you [1][5].
Collect documents: degree certificates, a marriage certificate and kids' birth certificates, with English translations where needed.
Enter on the approval letter (the in-principle approval), then get the pass issued in Singapore.
Register with STEP at the US Embassy Singapore so you get alerts, and ask questions in our community group for Americans in Singapore.

Permanent residence is a separate ICA application that many long-term EP holders make after a few years; ICA doesn't publish a points formula, so treat it as a possibility rather than a plan.

Moving to Singapore as an American: the pass you need, and who gets it