my name is Jen and welcome to my channel happy haa for those of you that are new to my channel I'm an Asian-American young professional living in Singapore I created this channel to not only document my experience living in Singapore but also to share advice with all of you it's hard to believe that I've already lived in Singapore for 2 years one of the most common questions that I get asked is how did I move to Singapore so I wanted to make a video to share more about my journey moving to Singapore as well as ways that you can move to Singapore too before we get into the details I'm going to lay out some of the ways expats that I've met here have moved to Singapore the first is the academic route Singapore has many world-renowned universities where you can pursue a postgraduate degree a very popular one is inad which offers an MBA or MERS in Business Administration and they're well known for having a very Global diverse cohort of students the next is the dependent route another common scenario is when your spouse has gotten a job and will be moving to Singapore you can join them on a dependent pass which is typically called a DP there are a few caveats to this pass though one is that you need to have a legal marriage that is recognized in Singapore two is this pass does not give you the right to work in Singapore previously you would be able to use this pass for employment but as of 2021 the government changed the rules so you need to additionally get a work permit to legally work on this kind of pass the third is the employment route this is one of the most common ways that expats move to Singapore by getting a job this video is going to focus on the employment route which is the path I took myself and I'm going to share more about the different types of work permits that you can get so I'll be focusing on work permits that are more relevant if you're a white collar worker but there are lots of different types of employment passes that you can get and you can find more information on the ministry of Manpower website I'm going to talk about five different types of work visas the employment pass the personalized employment pass the overseas networks and expertise pass entra pass and Tech pass and to help you understand which work visa is right for you I'm going to share more information about eligibility criteria salary requirements and benefits that each pass offers the employment pass is the most common type of work visa in Singapore this pass is valid for 2 years and it is renewable to qualify for this Visa you'll need to earn a minimum monthly salary of $5,000 Singaporean dollars though this does increase depending on your age so for every year that you're above 23 you have to add- on an additional $250 per month if you're in financial services which is one of Singapore's most popular sectors then the starting salary is slightly higher at $5,500 Singaporean dollars per month the government has continued to modify what this monthly minimum salary amount is so it's important that you check the latest in 2025 the minimum monthly salary amount is going to increase to $5,600 Singaporean dollars so as you can see the trend is that the requirement is only getting higher and higher which is making it less attractive to hire foreign Talent over local talent where there are no income minimums the way that getting this Visa works is that your employer will need to apply on your behalf so you'll already have to have signed your contract before starting the visa application process the skill set is where it gets a little bit complicated the government has added something called Compass to ensure that employers are selecting high quality foreign Talent this is a point system that includes both individual related attributes and firm related attributes and you need at least 40 points to pass within individual attributes the government is looking at two foundational criteria one is how your income compares to the local higher equivalent of your role the more you're getting paid the more points you earn second is your qualifications you get maximum points if you attended a top tier institution which is defined as the top 100 universities globally based on the Qs World university rankings in the US this includes obviously the IV leagues as well as competitive schools like Stanford and U Chicago the last individual attributes category is a bonus one based on your skill set if you have highly specialized skills that are in shortage in Singapore like developing carbon projects or software development and you'll be using them in your job you'll be awarded extra points again Compass is related to not only your individual attributes as an employee but also your employer so I wouldn't worry too much about this last component one important consideration is that this Visa is tied to your job so if you change employers your new employer will need to reapply for an employment pass for you the personalized employment pass or p is designed for high earning professionals that want more flexibility than what an employment pass can offer this pass is valid for 3 years but it is not renewable so you can only apply for it and get it once to qualify for this pass you need to earn at least $22,500 Singaporean dollars which is about $270,000 Singaporean dollars annually or $200,000 that is obviously a lot of money and it's tough because the pass recently had lower requirements what makes this Visa so lucrative is that it is not tied to an employer and you don't even need a job to apply for the pass the requirements are basically that you can't be unemployed for more than 6 months while you're holding the pass and that your annual income needs to be at least $270,000 Singaporean dollar so for most people you would need to be employed for an entire year to even fulfill the minimum income requirement anecdotally I have heard that it is slightly easier to get this pass if you are already employed in Singapore on an ep the overseas Network and expertise pass is also called the one pass and it's designed for top talent and high earning individuals the pass is valid for five years and it is renewable if you thought the personalized employment pass had high income requirements just wait for this one one to qualify for this Visa you need to have earned at least $30,000 Singaporean dollars per month for the past 12 consecutive months which is $360,000 Singaporean dollars annually or about $260,000 annually alternatively you can also demonstrate that you will be earning at least $30,000 Singaporean dollars per month with your future employer in Singapore are two paths to this Visa one is the income path which we just covered and the second is the tal path so you can also qualify for this Visa if you have outstanding achievements in certain sectors which includes arts and culture Sports and Academia and research it's not entirely clear what counts as an outstanding achievement but some of the documents of proof include patents some other perks of this Visa is that it is exempt from some of the regulations required to hire foreign talent that some of the other visas require which makes it more flexible to hire foreign workers you don't need to reapply for a pass if you change jobs and it gives you the flexibility to work for multiple companies at the same time as well as start your own company if you're an entrepreneur So speaking of entrepreneurs there is a Visa designed specifically for entrepreneurs called Entre paath this is designed for entrepreneurs who want to start venture-backed businesses or ones that focus on Innovative Technologies the pass is valid for one year and it is renewable before you apply make sure that your startup is eligible because there are some businesses that are exempt like bars or acupuncture Services a huge benefit of this Visa is that there is no minimum salary requirement another benefit is that you don't need to have a job or offer of employment in Singapore because it's focused on entrepreneurship I know it sounds too good to be true but you do need to meet at least one of the following requirements to prove that you are an entrepreneur raised at least 100,000 from a single funding round for your current or past business your business is or will be part of an incubator like y combinator you've successfully founded and sold a business that's venture-backed or focuses on Innovative Technologies your business holds IP that provides significant competitive Advantage the business has a relevant ongoing research collaboration in Singapore something to note is that successful applicants are also encouraged to contribute to the local entrepreneurial ecosystem in Singapore by doing things like speaking at workshops or mentoring other startups okay now our last pass so Tech pass is another entrepreneur related Visa but this one has a specific focus on entrepreneurs that have founded tech companies or created Tech products with mass adoption so to qualify for this Visa you need to meet at least two out of three criteria you earn at least $22,500 Singaporean dollars per month which if you remember is the same requirement as the P personalized employment pass you have at least 5 years of experience in a leading role at a tech company with a valuation or market cap of at least $500 million or has at least $30 million us of funding raised you have at least 5 years of experience in a leading role in the development of a tech product that has at least 100,000 monthly active users or at least $100 million in annual revenue a leading role means that you made major contributions to the development design and deployment of a tech product to apply for this Visa like I said earlier you don't need a job and it's not tied to any employer and this Visa gives you the flexibility to take on employment start a company or invest in a company in Singapore okay so now how did I move to Singapore so I moved to Singapore at the start of 2022 but I actually didn't find a new job the company that I was working for in the US was opening a new branch in Singapore and asked if there were any current employees that would be willing to relocate to Singapore to help train and hire new employees I had been interested in living in Asia for several years and I'd also been keeping up to date with my firm's Global expansion it took over a year from when I did my initial coffee chats with leaders sharing my interest in pursuing an opportunity like this to when I actually received the offer letter to relocate to Singapore I've also made a couple of other videos talking about my experience moving to Singapore that I'll link if you want to learn more about how I feel about moving to Singapore and some of the pros and cons of moving here moving this way meant that I didn't have to face a lot of obstacles when it comes to finding employment in Singapore like applying to a ton of jobs going through interviews and inevitably facing rejection and so that's why it's the number one way that I recommend people move to Singapore when they reach out to ask me how there's two reasons for this the first is that you will be a much more compelling candidate because you already have the specific skills and expertise that it takes to do that job and you have knowledge of the company's culture and ways of working if you're in a situation like I was when starting a new office those skills become even more important the second is that there are slightly less restrictive regulations for internal transfers or incorporate transfers which makes it a bit easier to get Visa sponsorship so you've already taken the first step in watching this video to understand a bit more about the different types of visas that Singapore offers and which one might be a good fit for you there are a couple of pieces of advice that I would give from not only my own experience but also what I've learned through my network don't waste time applying for jobs that will not sponsor visas as someone that has been on the back end of reviewing resumés and interviewing it's frustrating to come across candidates who don't have work sponsorship but think that the employer will change their mind when they see your resume the reality is the company has already thought about whether that position makes sense for Visa sponsorship because they either couldn't get the local talent that they needed for that role or whether that role is even eligible based on some of the salary requirements that we went over so make sure that you get clarity on this before you spend time applying for the job that being said if you do want to apply for jobs some of the most helpful places to look are LinkedIn jobs DB job Central and indeed Singapore second piece of advice is to learn skills that are in demand in Singapore you have much better odds if you're coming into the job market with desirable skills a couple of sectors in Singapore that are in very high demand right now are Finance climate and philanthropy because Singapore often acts as a regional hub for companies that have a presence in Southeast Asia and sometimes even Beyond language skills can also help set you apart from other applicants in your application and interviews make sure that you emphasize these skills as well as other attributes that are important in working in a place like Singapore like any International experience language skills and cultural adaptability the last piece of advice that I would give is that it's going to be a long game and you should set your expectations accordingly it often takes several years to find the right job in Singapore or transfer internally if it really is a goal of yours be persistent and stay open to opportunities that may be outside of your comfort zone I hope this video was helpful as I know there are a lot of different ways that you can move to Singapore and this was a process that I've personally navigated and several of my friends have also gone through if you are applying to jobs in Singapore good luck in your search and don't be discouraged keep going if you have any other questions about what I've talked about in today's video please let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to answer any questions I'm also thinking about making more videos about my career so do let me know if that's something that you you would be interested in lastly if you found this video helpful please make sure to like And subscribe so that you don't miss out on my next video thanks for watching and see you next time