One of the most common questions from expat candidates: which companies in Singapore sponsor the Employment Pass? The short answer is there is no public list. MOM does not publish one. No job board maintains one. You are expected to figure it out yourself.
This guide explains how EP sponsorship actually works, what COMPASS changed, and what signals to look for before investing time in an application.
How EP sponsorship works
The employer applies for the Employment Pass — not the candidate. This is a fundamental point that many first-time applicants misunderstand.
- The employer (or their appointed employment agent) submits the EP application via MOM's eService
- The employer pays the $105 application fee
- The employer manages all post-approval steps
- The candidate provides consent and documentation but submits nothing directly
Before submitting, the employer must advertise the role on MyCareersFuture for at least 14 consecutive days and fairly consider local candidates. They cannot make a job offer during this window.
Exemptions from the advertising requirement
- Companies with fewer than 10 employees
- Roles paying $22,500/month or above
- Roles lasting 1 month or less
- Intra-corporate transferees
Current EP salary thresholds
The minimum qualifying salary scales with candidate age. Older candidates need higher salaries because MOM benchmarks against the top third of local PMET salaries by age cohort.
General sectors (until 31 December 2026)
- Age 23 or below: $5,600/month
- Age 30: $7,223/month
- Age 35: $8,381/month
- Age 40: $9,541/month
- Age 45+: $10,700/month
Financial services
- Age 23 or below: $6,200/month
- Age 30: $7,982/month
- Age 35: $9,255/month
- Age 40: $10,527/month
- Age 45+: $11,800/month
From 1 January 2027, all thresholds increase by approximately 7-8%. The general sector floor rises from $5,600 to $6,000. If you are close to the margin, applying before the increase matters.
What COMPASS changed
Since September 2023, all new EP applications must pass COMPASS — a points-based framework requiring 40 points minimum. This changed which companies can realistically sponsor.
The four foundational criteria
- C1 — Salary: Your salary vs. sector PMET benchmarks. 90th percentile or above scores 20. Below 65th percentile scores 0.
- C2 — Qualifications: Degree quality. Top-100 QS university scores 20. Standard degree scores 10. No degree scores 0.
- C3 — Diversity: Your nationality's share of the company's PMETs. Under 5% scores 20. Over 25% scores 0.
- C4 — Local employment: The company's local PMET share vs. sector average. Above 50th percentile scores 20. Below 20th percentile scores 0.
Bonus criteria
- C5 — Skills bonus: Role on the Shortage Occupation List earns up to 20 extra points
- C6 — Strategic priorities: Company in government-partnered programs (EDB-backed) earns up to 10 points
The practical effect: COMPASS makes it harder for companies that over-rely on one nationality (C3 penalty) or have poor local hiring ratios (C4 penalty) to sponsor new EPs. Large, diverse MNCs score better structurally.
Which types of companies sponsor most often
No official registry exists. But COMPASS's scoring structure reveals which company profiles have a structural advantage:
High likelihood
- Large MNCs — diverse workforce helps C3, strong local PMET ratio helps C4, established EP processes
- Global tech companies — roles often on the Shortage Occupation List (C5 bonus), high salaries help C1
- Banks and financial institutions — higher salary thresholds but also higher-paying roles, actively hire globally
- Consulting firms — Big 4 and MBB have established foreign hiring pipelines
- Companies with Singapore regional HQ — frequently transfer staff (ICT exemption applies)
Medium likelihood
- Funded startups and scale-ups — willing to sponsor for specialized roles but may struggle on C4 if team is small and mostly foreign
- Mid-size local companies in growth sectors — depends heavily on their PMET composition
Low likelihood
- Small local SMEs — often score poorly on C4, lack administrative will to navigate EP process
- Companies heavily staffed by one nationality — C3 scores 0 if your nationality already represents over 25% of their PMETs
- Companies on MOM's watchlist — debarred from new EP approvals for 12-24 months
The Shortage Occupation List (updated November 2025)
Roles on the SOL earn C5 bonus points — up to 20 extra points. Current shortage occupations include:
- Tech: AI scientist/engineer, software developer, cybersecurity architect, data scientist, cloud specialist, digital forensics specialist
- Financial services: Investment advisor, wealth planner (UHNW/family office)
- Green economy: Carbon project manager, carbon trader, carbon verification specialist
- Healthcare: Clinical psychologist, physiotherapist, registered nurse
- Semiconductor: Process engineer, semiconductor engineer, instrumentation engineer
- Maritime: Marine superintendent, marine technical superintendent
If your role maps to the SOL, your COMPASS score gets a significant structural lift. Experienced tech professionals in shortage occupations can qualify for a 5-year EP.
How to identify likely sponsors before applying
- Check salary against your age bracket. If the listed range does not clear your EP floor, the role cannot sponsor you regardless of intent.
- Look for sponsorship language. Phrases like "relocation assistance," "international candidates welcome," or "visa sponsorship provided" in listings are direct signals.
- Check MyCareersFuture. If the role is advertised there, the company is actively going through the FCF process — which means they are preparing to submit an EP/S Pass application.
- Research the company's workforce on LinkedIn. High nationality diversity suggests C3 will not be a blocker. Strong local presence suggests C4 is healthy.
- Look for prior EP hires. Current employees with EP/visa mentions on LinkedIn or Glassdoor reviews referencing "relocation" are crowd-sourced evidence.
- Assess role niche-ness. Generic roles easily filled locally face higher COMPASS friction. Specialized or shortage-list roles pass more easily.
- Ask during interviews. At offer stage: "Have you run the COMPASS Self-Assessment Tool for my profile?" Companies serious about sponsoring will have checked.
Red flags
- Salary range starts below your EP threshold — even if the top of range meets it, the employer may negotiate down
- Small company with no evident foreign hires in its history
- Role requires local certifications or security clearance
- Industry with known local-preference enforcement (HR, marketing, admin functions with ample local talent)
- Company appears to have heavy concentration of your nationality on LinkedIn
These checks take time. For each role you are considering, the research adds 30-60 minutes before you even start tailoring your resume. Across a full search with dozens of applications, that overhead is enormous.
RoleRadar AI surfaces a sponsorship evidence label for every role — Unknown, Candidate-reported, Multiple reports, or Employer-stated — so you can assess visa likelihood at a glance instead of researching each company manually.
Stop guessing which companies sponsor. RoleRadar AI shows a visa evidence label for every Singapore role in your shortlist.
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