- A Dependant's Pass holder can run a business with an MOM Letter of Consent.
- Directors must hold at least 30% shareholding to qualify for the LOC.
- Renewal needs one local hire earning S$1,800+ with 3 months of CPF.
- The LOC lapses if the Dependant's Pass ends or the business stops trading.
A Dependant’s Pass business owner in Singapore can legally run their own company, but only with a Letter of Consent (LOC) from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). You qualify if you are a sole proprietor, a partner, or a company director holding at least 30% shareholding, and once the LOC is granted you can incorporate a Singapore company and operate it like any other founder.
The condition most people never see coming sits twelve months out. To renew, your business must by then employ a local worker, so the smart move is to plan for that from day one rather than discover it the month your renewal is due.
Can a Dependant’s Pass holder start a business in Singapore?
Yes. A Dependant’s Pass lets you live in Singapore, but it does not by itself give you the right to work or to earn an income from a business. The Letter of Consent is MOM’s authorisation for a DP holder to own and run a business here.
This is a different route from the salaried-employment one. If a job is what you are after, our guide to working in Singapore on a Dependant’s Pass covers that path instead. This article assumes you already hold the pass, so if you are still at the earlier stage, start with applying for a Dependant’s Pass.
Which business roles let you qualify for a Letter of Consent?
MOM recognises three business-owner roles for the LOC. You must be a sole proprietor, a partner, or a “company director with at least 30% shareholding in the company or member in the Company Limited by Guarantee” (MOM, as at August 2026).
The distinction matters because it decides how you set the business up. A sole proprietorship or partnership route is the simplest to register, while the director route ties your authorisation to how much of the company you own. Any DP holder going the director path has to clear the 30% shareholding bar, not simply sit on the board.
What does the 30% shareholding rule mean for your cap table?
If you want to run the company as a director, you need to hold at least 30% of it. That is a cap-table decision to make before you incorporate, not a detail to fix afterwards, because bringing in co-founders or investors can quietly dilute a DP holder below the threshold that keeps their LOC valid.
It is worth understanding what the 30% actually buys you and where a company director’s rights differ from a plain shareholder’s. Our explainer on shareholder rights and the 30% question is a useful read before you lock in your ownership split.
What is the twelve-month condition most DP business owners miss?
Here is the part that catches people. To renew the LOC, your business must have “Hired at least 1 Singaporean / Permanent Resident who” both “Earns at least the prevailing Local Qualifying Salary” and “Has been receiving CPF contributions for at least 3 consecutive months preceding the application submission date” (MOM, as at August 2026).
The prevailing Local Qualifying Salary is S$1,800 a month for a full-time employee, or a gross rate of at least S$10.50 an hour for part-timers, effective 1 July 2026 (MOM). Because the CPF contributions must run for three consecutive months before you apply, a hire made in month eleven is already too late. Working backwards, you want that local employee on payroll by around month nine.
How long does your Letter of Consent last, and when must you renew?
A first-time LOC runs for “whichever is shorter: one year from issue date, up to the expiry date of Dependant’s Pass”. Each subsequent renewal then runs “up to the date expiry of Dependant’s Pass” (MOM, as at August 2026).
To renew, you need at least three months of validity left on your Dependant’s Pass. Miss that window and you cannot renew, so the timing is best treated as a hard deadline. The sequence below shows how the dates line up, and you can find the detail on renewing your Letter of Consent once you reach that stage.
| When | What has to be true |
|---|---|
| Before you apply | You hold a valid Dependant’s Pass and are a sole proprietor, partner, or director with at least 30% shareholding. |
| LOC granted | Valid for the shorter of one year from issue, or your Dependant’s Pass expiry date. |
| By around month 9 | Start your local hire. CPF must run for 3 consecutive months before you submit the renewal. |
| At least 3 months before DP expiry | Submit the renewal. MOM requires at least 3 months’ validity remaining on the DP. |
| At renewal | At least 1 Singaporean or PR employed, earning at least the Local Qualifying Salary (S$1,800/month), with 3 consecutive months of CPF. |
| Ongoing | The LOC lapses if the DP is cancelled or expires, or the business is no longer active. |
What makes a Letter of Consent lapse?
Your LOC “stops being valid when: The Dependant’s Pass is cancelled or expires” or “The business is no longer active” (MOM, as at August 2026). A dormant company with no real activity can therefore put your authorisation at risk, even if the paperwork still exists.
There is a deeper dependency worth saying plainly. Your LOC hangs off your Dependant’s Pass, and your Dependant’s Pass hangs off your sponsor’s employment, usually a spouse on an Employment Pass. If that sponsor changes jobs or leaves Singapore, your own right to run the business is affected, so a DP holder building something real should plan a route to their own pass rather than rely on someone else’s indefinitely.
Sole proprietorship or Pte Ltd on a Dependant’s Pass?
Both structures are open to a DP holder with an LOC, and the choice comes down to liability, tax and how you plan to grow. A sole proprietorship is cheap and quick to register but offers no separation between you and the business, while a private limited company is a separate legal entity with limited liability and access to corporate tax exemptions.
For most founders planning to hire, raise money or scale, the Pte Ltd wins, though it carries more compliance. Our side-by-side on sole proprietorship vs Pte Ltd walks through the trade-off in detail.
How do you apply, and how long does it take?
Applying is free. You submit the request yourself through MOM’s online form, or an employment agent can do it on your behalf, and you should make sure your business turnover information is up to date before you submit (MOM, as at August 2026).
MOM usually returns an initial outcome within a week, with full processing completed within four weeks for most cases. If you are also weighing up hiring and other pass questions at the same time, our hub on visas and hiring employees in Singapore pulls the related answers together.
How is this different from an EP holder’s directorship consent?
They are not the same thing. An Employment Pass holder taking up a directorship in another company applies for a different LOC with its own criteria and approval route, so do not assume the DP business-owner rules carry across (see the related read below).
How Sleek helps Dependant’s Pass business owners
Getting a business off the ground on a Dependant’s Pass is as much about sequencing as paperwork: the 30% shareholding, the incorporation, and the local hire all need to line up before your first renewal. Sleek sets up your company with the shareholding and corporate secretary services in order from the start, and can help you plan the work pass and visa support that a growing team eventually needs.
You can read MOM’s own criteria on its eligibility page for DP business owners, then talk to us about putting it into practice.
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FAQs on dependant's pass business owner
Can I be a shareholder in a Singapore company on a Dependant's Pass without being a director?
Yes. Holding shares as a passive investor does not require a Letter of Consent, because you are not working in or running the business. You only need the LOC once you take an active, income-earning role such as sole proprietor, partner, or a director with at least 30% shareholding.
Can I count myself as the local employee for the LOC renewal?
No. The renewal condition requires you to have hired at least one Singaporean or Permanent Resident, which does not include you as the DP-holding business owner. The local employee must be a separate person earning at least the Local Qualifying Salary with three consecutive months of CPF contributions before you apply.
Does the Letter of Consent let me work for another employer too?
No. This LOC authorises you to run the business you own, not to take up separate salaried employment elsewhere. If you want a job with another company, you would need a different work pass such as an Employment Pass sponsored by that employer.
What happens to my Letter of Consent if I sell shares and drop below 30%?
If you rely on the director route, falling below 30% shareholding can put your eligibility at risk, since that threshold is part of how you qualify. Plan any share transfer or new investment carefully, and speak to a corporate secretary before you change the cap table so your authorisation is not caught out.
Can the one local employee be hired part-time?
The employee must earn at least the prevailing Local Qualifying Salary, which is set at S$1,800 a month for full-time work and a gross rate of at least S$10.50 an hour for part-time work. A part-time hire can count if their pay and CPF contributions meet those figures for the required three consecutive months before your renewal.
