Singapore Implements Point-Based System to Assess Candidates for Employment Pass
Next year, Singapore will introduce a points system for candidates applying for work visas Singapore. The main type of long-term work visa in Singapore for foreign specialists and senior managers is the Employment Pass.
Among the changes is an increase in the minimum wage for foreign specialists from the current $4,500 to $5,000 per month (Singapore Dollars), which will take place as early as September this year. It is worth noting that even now, most specialists receive approval for work visas only with a salary of at least 6,000-8,000 thousand dollars a month. The age of the candidate also affects the salary: for example, for young specialists, a company can get approval with a salary of 6000-6500 thousand per month, and for specialists of the middle age group – usually from SGD 8000; for specialists in the financial sector – SGD 10,000 per month and more. A Singapore-based company must show that it has sufficient turnover and profit margins to provide the candidate with an adequate salary, i.e. provide economic justification, among other things. The vast majority of existing work visa holders will not be affected by the higher requirements. they are already getting paid more than the bare minimum.
The purpose of the gradual increase in salaries for foreign workers is to equalize the level of pay for local and foreign specialists and high-level managers, i.e. so that companies do not give preference to foreigners just because they will be cheaper. Singapore is known for its highly skilled workforce and high standard of living, so this wage level is not unreasonably high.
The rules for obtaining work visas are approximately the same for both employees in existing companies and for the founders of their companies. First of all, it is necessary to show the reality and sustainability of the business, as well as its connection with Singapore. These may not necessarily be local partners – it is also possible to establish a headquarters in Singapore for a completely offshore business, but in this case it is necessary to show a serious presence (so-called substance – office, employees, etc.). You can read more about the rules for obtaining an Employment Pass in our respective section.
Point system (Complementarity Assessment Framework - COMPASS)
The system will consist of 4 main and 2 bonus criteria. For each of the 4 criteria, the candidate can score 0, 10 or 20 points. 0 points will mean that the candidate does not meet this criterion; 10 points – satisfies, 20 points – exceeds the requirements and adds 10 points on top, which can be used as a bonus for shortfalls in other criteria.
Main criteria:
- Salary (should correspond to the level of local specialists for a similar position)
- Qualification (must be confirmed by relevant documents)
- Diversification (the candidate must improve the multi-national diversification in the company)
- Support for the local workforce (the foreign candidate does not create an excessive bias towards the foreign workforce).
Also, 10 points are added for meeting each of the 2 bonus criteria:
Qualification bonus – points are awarded if there is an increased demand for this qualification, knowledge and experience of the candidate.
Strategic economic priorities – if the candidate participates in government business or industry development programs.
So if, for example, candidates with a salary corresponding to at least 65-90 percent of the local professional, management, engineering, technology (PMET) salary in that sector would receive a score of 10 on the Salary attribute. If a candidate exceeds expectations—for example, if his or her salary is above 90 percent, or if their educational qualifications are from “one of the top schools,” they receive 20 points.
For the Diversification criterion, a firm may score 10 if its share of employees of the same nationality as the applicant is between 5 and 25 percent. He gets 0 points if the share is more than 25 percent and 20 points if it is less than 5 percent.
On the Supporting Local Workforce criterion, an applicant receives an additional 10 points if the firm’s share of local PMETs is between 20 and 50 percent of its subsector.
That being said, small firms with fewer than 25 PMET employees are awarded 10 points by default for diversity and support for local employment attributes; those. in fact, these criteria do not apply to them.
In total, according to the new system, the candidate must score 40 points – either from 4 basic criteria, or with the help of two additional (bonus) ones.
The Ministry of Manpower has clarified that COMPASS is not intended to make it harder for companies to obtain EPs, and most applications already qualify under the new criteria.
The new system is expected to come into effect in September 2023.
Sourced from MOM – Ministry of Manpower, Singapore
