- EP renewals are reassessed against the current qualifying salary and COMPASS
- From 1 January 2027 the general-sector EP salary floor rises to S$6,000
- You can apply to renew up to 6 months before the pass expires
- A change of employer needs a new EP application, not a renewal
An EP renewal is MOM’s reassessment of an existing Employment Pass holder against the current qualifying salary and, for most employers, the COMPASS points framework. The general-sector qualifying salary is currently “$5,600 (increases progressively with age from age 23, up to $10,700 at age 45 and above)”, and financial services is “$6,200 … up to $11,800”; from 1 January 2027 those become “$6,000 … up to $11,500” and “$6,600 … up to $12,700” respectively [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20]. Because the salary requirement rises with age and COMPASS partly reflects the employer’s workforce, an EP renewal can be harder than the original application even when nothing about the employee has changed.
An EP renewal is a live, dated task for the employer, not an immigration-theory exercise. If you handle work passes for your company, this guide walks through the Employment Pass renewal process step by step: when you can apply, what MOM checks, what the 1 January 2027 thresholds change, and what to do if a renewal is refused. Sleek runs work passes as a service line, so if you would rather hand it over, Sleek’s visa and hiring support covers the whole application.
One quick boundary before we start. This is a guide to Employment Pass renewal Singapore employers deal with, not Work Permit or Letter of Consent renewal, which follow separate MOM processes and different rules.
When can you apply to renew an Employment Pass?
MOM lets you start early. You can apply to renew an EP up to 6 months before the pass expires, and for passes issued under the EP (Sponsorship) scheme you can start applying 3 months before expiry [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20]. That window exists so a decision lands before the current pass runs out.
Applying early matters because the renewal is a fresh assessment, not a rubber stamp. If the salary or COMPASS position is tight, the extra weeks give you room to adjust before the pass lapses. Employers who renew Employment Pass holders close to expiry leave themselves no margin if MOM asks for more.
Put simply, renew Employment Pass holders’ passes early. Treat the expiry-reminder date as the trigger to review the file, and begin the renew EP steps within the first month of the six-month window rather than the last.
What does MOM reassess at renewal?
At renewal, MOM looks at the same two things it weighs for a new pass: the qualifying salary and, for most employers, COMPASS. The EP renewal salary requirement is the same floor MOM applies to a new pass, so nothing about the number gets easier at renewal. This is where a renewal overlaps with a first application, so if you have never lodged one, our guide to applying for an Employment Pass covers the first-issue angle in full.
The qualifying salary is not a single number. It is a floor that rises with the pass holder’s age, and it differs between general sectors and financial services. The COMPASS framework then scores the application on points, and part of that score depends on your company rather than on the individual.
The important shift in mindset for a renewal is this. Nothing about your employee has to change for the assessment to move, because both the salary floor and the COMPASS inputs can move underneath a stable employee.
What do the 1 January 2027 salary thresholds mean for your renewal?
This is the change worth planning around. From 1 January 2027, the EP renewal salary requirement rises for both sectors, so a pass holder who clears today’s floor may sit below the new one. The figures below are quoted directly from MOM.
| Sector | Current (before 1 Jan 2027) | From 1 January 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| General sectors | S$5,600 at age 23, rising to S$10,700 at age 45 and above | S$6,000 at age 23, rising to S$11,500 at age 45 and above |
| Financial services | S$6,200 at age 23, rising to S$11,800 at age 45 and above | S$6,600 at age 23, rising to S$12,700 at age 45 and above |
All four figures verified [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20].
The consequence depends on timing. If your renewal falls before 1 January 2027, MOM assesses it against today’s floor; if it falls on or after that date, the higher floor applies. A pass holder whose salary sits between the current and the new threshold is the one to watch, because the same salary that qualifies in December 2026 may fall short in January 2027.
Because the higher figure attaches to the age-45-and-above band, keep the salary evidence current and clean; Sleek keeps that evidence in order through payroll services in Singapore so the salary MOM sees matches what you actually pay.
Why can COMPASS change the outcome when your employee hasn’t?
COMPASS is a points system, and an application needs to earn 40 points to pass it [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20]. It scores six criteria: C1 Salary (0-20), C2 Qualifications (0-20), C3 Diversity (0-20), C4 Support for local employment (0-20), C5 Skills Bonus (10-20), and C6 Strategic Economic Priorities (10) [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20]. Candidates who earn a fixed monthly salary of at least S$22,500 are exempt from COMPASS altogether [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20].
Here is the non-obvious point. C3 Diversity and C4 Support for local employment are scored against your company’s workforce profile, not against the individual. If your national mix or your local PMET share has shifted since the pass was issued, those two scores can fall even though your employee is doing the same job at the same pay.
That is why a renewal can be harder than the first application. The employee stood still, but the company’s COMPASS inputs moved, and the points moved with them.
How can the same salary stop qualifying as your employee ages?
The qualifying salary “increases progressively with age from age 23” [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20], so the floor a pass holder must clear is not fixed for the life of their career. Between the date a pass is issued and the date it is renewed, the holder can cross into a higher age band and face a higher floor on exactly the same salary.
A worked example makes it concrete. A general-sector holder assessed near the entry floor at a younger age may, a few years later, be measured against the age-45-and-above figure of S$10,700 today, or S$11,500 from 1 January 2027 [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20]. If the salary has not kept pace with the age progression, the renewal is where that gap shows up.
We are quoting only MOM’s published anchor figures here: the entry point at age 23 and the age-45-and-above ceiling. The intermediate age-band numbers are not reproduced in this guide, so confirm the exact figure for a specific age against MOM’s own salary calculator before you rely on it.
What if you want to transfer the EP to a new company?
This is the question employers ask most, and the answer surprises people: you cannot transfer an Employment Pass. An EP is tied to a specific employer, so moving the holder to a new company is a new EP application by that new employer, not a renewal of the existing one. MOM’s renewal route does not cover a change of employer.
The mechanics follow from that. The prospective new employer lodges a fresh application, and the existing pass is cancelled by the current employer once the move is confirmed; our guide to cancelling a work pass covers that side. A change of the employing entity, such as a restructure into a new company, is treated the same way, as a fresh application rather than a renewal.
| Situation | Renewal or new application? | What MOM needs | Timing implication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Same employer, same entity | Renewal | Reassessment against the current qualifying salary and COMPASS | Apply up to 6 months before expiry (3 months for EP Sponsorship) |
| Same employer, new entity | Generally a new application | A fresh application by the new entity; existing pass cancelled | Plan on new-application lead time, not a renewal |
| New employer | New application | New employer applies; current employer cancels the existing pass | Plan on new-application lead time, not a renewal |
The mechanics of an entity change are not spelled out on MOM’s renewal page, so treat the “new entity” row as the general principle and confirm the specifics for your restructure before acting.
How long does an Employment Pass renewal take?
MOM does not publish a fixed processing time for renewals, which is exactly why the six-month window matters. Rather than count on a firm employment pass renewal timeline, apply early and let the decision arrive with weeks to spare. For context, a new EP application is generally assessed within 3 to 5 weeks [Sleek SG].
There is one hard rule on timing. You must get the renewed pass issued before the In-Principle Approval or the current pass expires, whichever comes first, or an overstaying fine is imposed [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20]. That is the line you plan the whole employment pass renewal timeline backwards from.
So the honest answer to how long it takes is: long enough that you should not wait. Start inside the window, keep the file complete, and the timing takes care of itself.
Who lodges the renewal, and what do you need?
The renewal is lodged by the employer or an appointed employment agent, not by the pass holder [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20]. So the person who receives the expiry reminder, usually the ops or compliance lead, is the person who has to act, even though the pass belongs to the employee.
On documents, MOM refers to “related supporting documents” for a renewal but does not fix a single public checklist, so the practical work is having salary evidence and the employee’s current details ready and consistent. Keeping that evidence clean is the part of the Employment Pass renewal process most within your control, and our annual compliance and company management FAQs set the renewal alongside the other deadlines you run.
Because you lodge it, the salary evidence, the COMPASS position and the timing are all yours to get right. Whoever you appoint to renew EP applications on your behalf changes the workload, not the responsibility.
What happens if the renewal is rejected, or the pass expires first?
Two situations worry employers most, and both have a defined path. If the renewal is refused, MOM sets out an appeal route, and you should read the specifics before you respond; we cover an EP renewal rejected on salary or COMPASS grounds and how to handle it in what to do if an EP is rejected. Do not treat a refusal as the end of the line, but do act on it quickly.
The second situation is a pass that lapses while you are still sorting the renewal. Because the pass must be issued before the current one expires or an overstaying fine applies [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20], an EP renewal rejected late in the window leaves very little room, which is the strongest argument for applying early. If the pass has lapsed, the holder’s right to work stops until a valid pass is in place.
The calm version of this section is short. A renewal where the salary comfortably clears the floor, and the COMPASS profile is stable, is routine, and the risk sits with salaries near the threshold, an age-band crossing, a shifted workforce profile, or a change of employer.
What are your options if renewal isn’t viable?
Sometimes the numbers do not work, and it is better to know the alternatives than to force a renewal that will fail. The three common routes are the Personalised Employment Pass, the EntrePass and the S Pass, each with its own rules.
The Personalised Employment Pass suits high earners who want a pass not tied to one employer; see the Personalised Employment Pass for eligibility, and EP versus PEP for how the two compare. The EntrePass is built for founders starting or running a business, and you can gauge fit with the EntrePass eligibility checker before applying.
The S Pass is the route for mid-skilled roles that sit below the EP salary floor, currently at a S$3,150 monthly minimum [SG Knowledge Pack]. None of these is a like-for-like swap for an EP, so weigh the rights and restrictions of each against what the role actually needs.
Does Sleek’s corporate services cover Employment Pass renewals?
Employers often ask whether a corporate services package already includes the pass work, and the answer is that it depends on the package, so confirm the scope rather than assume it. What Sleek does is run visa and hiring support as a defined service, so the renewal is handled alongside payroll and compliance rather than bolted on at the last minute.
Handled well, the Employment Pass renewal Singapore companies run each cycle is a scheduling and evidence task, not a scramble. Keeping payroll, salary evidence and the renewal on one file turns it from a deadline risk into a routine one.
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FAQs on ep renewal
How long is an Employment Pass valid once it's renewed?
A renewed Employment Pass is valid for up to 3 years [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20]. That is longer than the up-to-two-year term of a first pass, so renewals buy you a longer runway before the next cycle. Diarise the new expiry date the moment the renewal is issued.
Can you renew an Employment Pass more than once?
Yes. MOM does not set a fixed cap on the number of times a pass can be renewed, so a holder can stay on an EP across several cycles. Each renewal is a fresh assessment against the qualifying salary and COMPASS rules in force at the time, not a formality.
Does the 2027 salary change affect an Employment Pass issued before 2027?
An existing pass runs on its current terms until it expires; the higher floor only bites when you next renew on or after 1 January 2027 [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20]. So a pass issued in 2026 is not reassessed mid-term, but its next renewal is measured against the new figure. Plan the salary review around the renewal date, not the issue date.
Will renewing the Employment Pass also cover the holder's Dependant's Pass?
No, a Dependant’s Pass is a separate pass, but it is tied to the EP holder and to the sponsor meeting the S$6,000 minimum salary [SG Knowledge Pack]. In practice, plan the Dependant’s Pass renewal alongside the EP so the family’s status does not lapse. A drop below the sponsor threshold can affect both.
Does a higher salary guarantee the renewal is approved?
No. Salary is only one COMPASS criterion, and two of the others, diversity and support for local employment, depend on your company’s workforce rather than on the individual [MOM, fetched 2026-08-20]. A pay rise can lift the salary points, but it does not on its own guarantee the outcome.
