Singapore · Entrepreneur

EntrePass

EntrePass is issued by Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA). VisaAI tracks 25 official requirements for it, each traced to the government page that states it.

Last verified against the official source on .

VisaAI is not a government body and does not issue visas. It cannot decide, predict or guarantee the outcome of an application, and this page is not legal or immigration advice.

Requirements change. Confirm every item on Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA)’s own page before you apply.

Each requirement below is written in plain English by VisaAI. The indented text beneath it is quoted from Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA)’s own page, so you can check what we say against what they say. Where a quotation shows “ ... ”, text has been left out.

Conditions you must meet

  • You apply for this one yourselfThe exception among MOM's work passes. Every other one — Employment Pass, S Pass, Work Permit — is lodged by the employer. Here there is no employer, and MOM says so in the same table row the other passes use to name one.
    Who can apply Candidate can apply directly.
  • There is no minimum salaryNot a concession. The Employment Pass gates on a salary an employer has agreed to pay; EntrePass has no employer, so it gates on the business instead. The bar is not lower, it is somewhere else.
    Minimum salary No stipulated minimum salary.
  • A private limited company registered with ACRA, in which you hold at least 30%Started or intended — MOM accepts an applicant who has not incorporated yet. The 30% is a floor on the pass holder's own stake, not on the founding team's.
    Have started, or intend to start, a private limited company that is: ... Registered with ACRA (Pass holder must hold at least 30% of registered company)
  • The company must be venture-backed or own innovative technologiesThe second of the two threshold conditions, and it qualifies everything after it: the five innovation criteria are ways of evidencing this, not alternatives to it.
    Venture-backed or owns innovative technologies.
  • A company more than 12 months old is judged on the renewal criteria insteadIncorporating first and applying later is not the safe order. Past 12 months you are assessed on results rather than on a plan, without ever having held the pass.
    If the registered company is more than 12 months old as of the date of application, you will be assessed according to the renewal criteria.
  • Then you need ONE of five innovation criteria — not all fiveMOM's own structure: 'both conditions' above, then 'at least one of the following criteria'. The five that follow are alternatives.
    Meet at least one of the following criteria:
  • Criterion 1: SGD 100,000 raised in a single funding roundSGD 100,000One round, not cumulative, and it may be for any past or current business rather than this one. MOM names Seeds Capital, Vertex Ventures and Startup SG Equity partners as examples of eligible investors.
    You have raised at least SGD 100,000 from a single funding round from investors for any past or current business.
  • Criterion 2: backed by a government-recognised or internationally renowned incubator or accelerator'is or will be' — a signed incubation agreement counts before the programme starts. MOM names Startup SG Accelerator and Startup SG Founder partners, and Y Combinator, MassChallenge and Alchemist as examples.
    The business is or will be supported by an incubator or accelerator that is either: ... Government-recognised ... Internationally renowned
  • Criterion 3: you founded and sold a venture-backed or innovative-technology businessMOM requires all three legs proved separately: that you founded it, that it was venture-backed or owned innovative technologies, and that it was sold under your management.
    You have founded and sold a business that is venture-backed or owns innovative technologies.
  • Criterion 4: registered intellectual property that gives a competitive advantageRegistration with an approved national IP institution is necessary but not sufficient — MOM adds a substantive test that the IP cannot be easily replicated.
    The registered business or proposed business holds Intellectual Property (IP) that is registered with an approved national IP institution. ... The IP must provide significant competitive advantage which cannot be easily replicated to the business.
  • Criterion 5: an ongoing research collaboration with a Singapore IHL or research instituteThree conditions on the collaboration itself: your involvement, relevance to the business, and verification by a named contact at the institution.
    The business has a relevant ongoing research collaboration in Singapore with at least one of the following: ... Institute of Higher Learning (IHL) ... Research Institution (RI)
  • A contract of services is not a research collaborationMOM closes the obvious workaround explicitly. Paying a university for work does not make it a collaboration.
    Contracts of services are not considered research collaborations.
  • Six kinds of business cannot get an EntrePass at allCoffee shops, hawker centres and food courts; bars, night clubs and karaoke lounges; foot reflexology and massage parlours; acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine and herbal dispensing; employment agencies; geomancy. No funding, IP or accelerator moves a business off this list.
    The following businesses are not eligible for an EntrePass: ... Coffee shops, hawker centres, food courts ... Bars, night clubs, karaoke lounges ... Foot reflexology, massage parlours ... Acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, herbal dispensing businesses ... Employment agencies ... Geomancy business
  • The pass is not permission to register or licence the businessMOM says it plainly on its own application page. ACRA registration and any sector licence are separate applications to separate regulators, and either can refuse after the EntrePass is granted.
    Getting an EntrePass is not a guarantee that your business registration and licences will get approved.
  • A first EntrePass runs up to one yearSo does the first renewal. Only subsequent renewals reach two years — half the Employment Pass's first-pass term, on a route with no employer standing behind it.
    New pass and first renewal: Up to 1 year

Documents you must provide

  • Personal particulars page of your passport
    Personal particulars page of your passport
  • A business plan in English, ten pages or fewerMOM sets both the language and the length, and names the five sections it wants: product and service, market analysis, operation plan, management team profile, and supporting documents such as licensing agreements, certificates and patents.
    A business plan in English. It should include the following in 10 pages or less:
  • Your CV and past employment testimonialsMOM asks for these to evidence professional experience, awards and recognitions — the founder's track record, alongside the company's.
    Your curriculum vitae (CV) and past employment testimonials (if any) to elaborate on professional experiences, awards or recognitions
  • The company's latest business profile from BizFile, if it is already registered
    Company’s latest business profile or instant information from Bizfile (if applicable)
  • A latest financial statement if the company has been ACRA-registered for more than 12 monthsThe evidence side of the 12-month cliff: past that point MOM wants numbers, not projections.
    Latest financial statement (if company is registered with ACRA for more than 12 months)
  • Extra documents depending on which innovation criterion you claimInvestment agreements and shareholder certificates for funding; an incubation agreement for an accelerator; incorporation documents, a management-team letter, a business plan and a sale and purchase agreement for a founded-and-sold business.
    You need to provide additional documents depending on the innovative criteria you plan to apply under:

Steps in the process

  • Around six weeks, and your visit pass will not be extended to cover itMOM states both halves in one sentence. An applicant waiting in Singapore on a short-term visit pass that expires mid-decision has to leave.
    Processing time is around 6 weeks. You will not be able to extend your Short Term Visit Pass if it expires before your application is approved.
  • The approval letter is a single-entry visa valid six monthsSame mechanism as the Employment Pass: the in-principle approval doubles as permission to travel, and it expires.
    Is a pre-approved single-entry visa for you to enter Singapore. It gives you 6 months to enter Singapore and get your pass issued.

Government fees

  • $105 application feeSGD 105Paid by you, since you are the applicant. MOM warns that family-pass fees are lost if the EntrePass itself is rejected — so apply for family passes after approval, not alongside.
    Pay the $105 application fee by Visa, Mastercard or Amex.
  • $225 to issue the pass, plus $30 for a multiple journey visaSGD 225 · SGD 30 multiple journey visaDue after approval. Payable in the e-Service, or over the counter at the Employment Pass Services Centre if you have no Singpass account.
    $225 for each pass ... (If applicable) $30 for each Multiple Journey Visa

Official sources

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