Whether you are moving here to start a company or already live here on a Dependant's Pass, the pass decides if you may work in your own business. This guide covers each starting point.
Last checked: 9 October 2026It depends on the pass you hold today. Owning shares is one thing; working in the company is what needs permission. These are the four most common cases, each with the official page it is based on.
| Your pass today | May you work in your own company? | What you need | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| No pass, living abroad | Yes, once an Employment Pass is issued | Your company applies for an Employment Pass for you | MOM: Employment Pass |
| Employment Pass through an employer | Not on that pass alone | A Letter of Consent from MOM for the second directorship, which is hard to get for an unrelated business, or a new Employment Pass under your own company. You cannot hold both at once | MOM: EP holders as directors |
| Dependant's Pass | Yes, with a Letter of Consent for business owners | Be sole proprietor, partner, or director with at least 30% shareholding; you apply after registering the business | MOM: LOC for Dependant's Pass business owners |
| Permanent Resident or citizen | Yes | No pass needed; you also count as the locally resident director | ACRA: local residency |
Eight more cases, including LTVP, ONE Pass, Tech.Pass, EntrePass and the Personalised Employment Pass, are in the full table in the Founder Guide.
A business owner can hold an Employment Pass sponsored by their own company. The company is the employer and applies for you. You must be paid the fixed monthly salary declared in the application, every month.
COMPASS is the points system MOM uses for Employment Pass applications. Four things are scored: your salary, your degree, the mix of nationalities in the company and its share of local staff. An application needs 40 points, and a company with fewer than 25 professional staff gets 20 of them by default.
How a one-person company reaches the other 20, and why the minimum salary is often not enough, is covered step by step in the Founder Guide.
If you claim points for your degree, MOM asks for proof from a background screening company or an official register. A certificate or a notarised copy is not enough. A Letter of Consent for a Dependant's Pass holder needs no such check.
Yes, with a Letter of Consent from MOM. You must be a sole proprietor, a partner, or a company director who holds at least 30% of the shares in an ACRA-registered business.
The first Letter of Consent runs for one year or until your Dependant's Pass expires, whichever is earlier. Renewal has a condition: the business must employ at least one Singapore citizen or PR who earns the Local Qualifying Salary and has received CPF for three consecutive months.
A job with another employer is a different matter. Since May 2021 that needs a regular work pass, not a Letter of Consent.
One more point to settle before you register: who is the resident director on day one. See the section on the nominee director below.
Possibly for a short time. The company needs a resident director on the day it is registered, before your Letter of Consent exists, and ACRA's published list of resident directors does not name Dependant's Pass holders. Ask your agency how they handle this before you register.
The spouse of a ONE Pass holder may work or operate a business on a Letter of Consent. MOM handles these as two different applications: for a job, the employer applies; for your own business, you apply yourself.
Check which of the two you hold. A consent obtained by an employer for a job is not the same document as a consent to operate your own business.
Your pass is tied to that employer. Being a director of another company needs a Letter of Consent from MOM. For a company unrelated to your employer, approval depends on support from the government agency responsible for that industry, and from what I hear it is rarely given.
An Employment Pass covers one employer. You cannot hold a second one for your own company alongside it, so it is either your job or your own company, not both.
Many founders in this position incorporate first, keep their job, and move to an Employment Pass under their own company when they leave.
Spouses of Singapore citizens and PRs on an LTVP or LTVP+ can hold a Pre-approved Letter of Consent (PLOC). It lets you take a job with any employer; the employer only notifies MOM.
The catch for founders: MOM states that a PLOC does not allow the holder to be self-employed. You can end up owning a company you are not allowed to work in. Ask MOM which pass or consent you need before you register.
What does not work on an LTVP:
What can work:
EntrePass is narrower than its name suggests. It is for venture-backed or technology businesses and asks for at least 30% shareholding plus one of several proofs, such as S$100,000 raised in a funding round or backing from a recognised incubator. A consultancy, agency or shop normally uses the Employment Pass route.
Yes, once the pass is issued you meet the local residency requirement. Until then the company needs another resident director.
MOM lists the local hire as a renewal condition, not as a condition for the first application.
No. You may own shares, but you may only work in Singapore once the pass or Letter of Consent is issued.
This page gives you the first answers. The Founder Guide takes you through the whole first year in five steps, with checklists, templates to download and what I learned doing it myself.