Singapore’s EntrePass is a work pass designed for foreign entrepreneurs who want to start and run a Singapore-registered private limited company that fits the country’s innovation and growth agenda. It sits between the Employment Pass — for salaried professionals — and the Global Investor Programme, and it is administered jointly by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Enterprise Singapore.
The EntrePass was tightened in 2023 and again in 2026 with the introduction of a limited COMPASS-style qualitative overlay for renewals. This 2026 guide explains who qualifies, how the process works, what documents you need, and where most applicants stumble.
What Is the EntrePass?
The EntrePass is a work pass that lets a foreign entrepreneur relocate to Singapore, form a Singapore private limited company, and run that company as its 30%-plus shareholder. Unlike the Employment Pass, the EntrePass is issued to the founder-owner rather than to a salaried employee. It is renewable subject to milestone conditions being met.
Full statutory context is in the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act 1990 and its subsidiary legislation. The MOM EntrePass page is the authoritative source for current thresholds.
Who Qualifies
To apply for a first-issue EntrePass, you must be planning to start, or have started within the last six months, a Singapore private limited company registered with ACRA. You must hold at least 30% of the shares and be its sole or one of its principal executives. You must fall within one of four profiles:
1. Innovative Entrepreneur
You have raised funding from a recognised third-party venture capitalist or business angel of at least S$100,000, or you hold intellectual property registered with a national IP office, or you have an ongoing research collaboration with a Singapore institute of higher learning or research institute.
2. Experienced Entrepreneur
You have a strong track record — you have founded an operating company in a technology or innovative field with at least S$500,000 in turnover, or you have significant senior operating experience in a fast-growth sector.
3. Investor
You have a track record as an investor and you personally hold at least S$100,000 in investment capital committed to the Singapore business.
4. Innovator
You are an innovator with technical achievements — patents, exceptional academic distinction in STEM, or recognised innovation awards.
Business types that do not qualify include coffee shops, food courts, hawker centres, employment agencies, geomancy, massage parlours, karaoke bars, night clubs, foot reflexology, and traditional Chinese medicine practices. Businesses simply reselling foreign products with no innovation dimension are generally refused.
The COMPASS Overlay for Renewals
Since 2026, EntrePass renewals apply a milestone framework broadly analogous to the Employment Pass COMPASS scoring. It is not identical to EP COMPASS but it uses the same philosophy: sustained business activity, jobs created, spending, and innovation output.
Milestones expected at renewal (First Year One review, then Year Three, then Year Five):
- Total business spending in Singapore: cumulative floor rising with each renewal
- Local employment: number of full-time Singaporean employees
- Innovation output: IP registered, R&D activity, or funding raised
Failure to meet the milestones does not automatically kill the pass but shifts the applicant into a discretionary bucket where MOM and Enterprise Singapore review whether the business remains aligned with EntrePass objectives.
The Application Process — Step by Step
- Incorporate the Singapore private limited company — Register with ACRA under the Companies Act 1967. You must be a director and hold at least 30% shareholding. See our general Companies Act guide if you later need to wind the entity down.
- Prepare your business plan — 10-page document covering product, market, revenue model, funding, three-year projection, and Singapore substance plan.
- Assemble supporting evidence — Funding term sheets, IP registration certificates, LOIs from institutions, CV.
- Submit the EntrePass application — Via MOM’s online EP eService, uploading the business plan and evidence.
- Application processing — MOM refers innovative-entrepreneur applications to Enterprise Singapore for substantive assessment. Timeline is typically eight weeks.
- In-principle approval — If successful, MOM issues IPA valid for six months for you to enter Singapore and complete formalities.
- Enter Singapore, complete pass issuance — Attend the Employment Pass Services Centre, biometrics, medical, and collection.
- Add dependants — Spouse and unmarried children under 21 can apply for Dependant Passes. Common-law spouses and children over 21 apply for Long-Term Visit Passes.
Documents Required
- Passport bio-data page
- Educational certificates and transcripts
- CV covering 10 years of work history
- Company profile from ACRA (BizProfile)
- Detailed business plan (product, market, revenue model, 3-year P&L projection)
- Evidence of the qualifying profile: funding term sheet, IP registration, research collaboration MoU, or investor track record
- Personal bank statements evidencing the S$100,000 capital where applicable
- Rental agreement or office lease for the Singapore business address
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Choosing the wrong pass
Many applicants apply for the EntrePass when they should apply for the Employment Pass. If you are being employed and paid a salary, you are not an entrepreneur — you are an employee — and the EP is more efficient. EntrePass is for founders holding at least 30% equity and driving the business.
Weak business plan
Generic templated plans are the top rejection cause. Enterprise Singapore looks for a specific Singapore-market thesis, credible unit economics, and evidence that the founder personally understands the domain. See how we approach onboarding new companies at our board resolutions and constitutional setup guide.
Non-qualifying business type
Even innovative twists on a restricted category (a “tech-enabled” coffee shop, for example) tend to be rejected. Read MOM’s exclusion list before applying.
Failing the milestone at renewal
Founders sometimes structure their local spending in ways that do not count — routing costs offshore, using unpaid interns, or paying the founder via directors’ fees only. Enterprise Singapore’s milestone rules count Singapore-based local spending on payroll, business services, rental, and product development. Plan the spend carefully from Year One.
Weak source-of-funds documentation
Under Singapore’s AML/CFT framework, MOM cross-refers unusual capital flows with MAS. A clean documented capital-raising trail is essential.
After the EntrePass — Long-Term Options
EntrePass holders who successfully hit milestones typically move to one of three long-term outcomes:
- Permanent Residence — After 2–3 successful renewals, apply for PR via the Professional PTS route or, if the business has scaled sufficiently, via the GIP route.
- Convert to EP or ONE Pass — If the founder wishes to continue on a work pass that is less milestone-driven.
- Exit — Where the business does not scale as planned, orderly wind-down via ACRA striking off (see our striking-off guide).
Final Thoughts
The EntrePass rewards founders who genuinely intend to build a Singapore business. If your plan is really to relocate for lifestyle reasons and dabble in an idea, EP or LTVP routes will serve you better and cost less friction. But if you have a real product, real funding or real IP, EntrePass is a well-designed pathway that unlocks the ability to run a Singapore company as its founder and, over time, secure PR.
Raffles Corporate Services helps EntrePass founders on the corporate-secretarial side — incorporation, first directors’ resolutions, share allotments, and the statutory-register discipline that the pass renewal process expects.
— The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services