Employing an Overstayer: ICA Penalties and the Checks Employers Must Make

Employing an overstayer or illegal immigrant is a serious offence in Singapore, and ICA treats it more harshly than many business owners expect. ICA states that a person found guilty of employing overstayers or illegal immigrants may be sentenced to imprisonment of not less than six months and up to two years, and a fine of up to S$6,000. The same conduct can also be an offence of employing a foreigner without a valid work pass under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. If the company also houses the worker, harbouring offences can apply. The cases ICA publishes have a common thread: the employer did not check the person’s immigration status, or kept them on after learning that their pass had expired.

If you suspect a worker is overstaying, act now and act honestly. Stop the employment, keep every record, and take legal advice immediately. Do not move the worker somewhere else, delete contact details, give ICA officers false information or tell staff what to say. In ICA’s published cases, those steps led to separate obstruction findings and heavier outcomes. No outcome is guaranteed, but handling it properly is the only position worth defending.

Who counts as an immigration offender?

Broadly, a person who entered Singapore unlawfully, or who stayed on after their pass expired or was cancelled. That includes people who once held a valid Work Permit or visit pass. ICA’s cases show how ordinary these situations look from the employer’s side:

• A part-time cleaner employed from 2013 to 2026, who had stayed on after her Work Permit expired. ICA said the employer failed to verify her status further after knowing the permit had expired (ICA, July 2026).
• A delivery assistant hired for about two months in 2026, whose visit pass had expired months earlier. ICA said the employer did not carry out due diligence checks.
• A rice packer and shop assistant at a small trading business. The operator, himself a work pass holder, was sentenced in May 2026 to 12 months’ imprisonment. ICA said he failed to verify the worker’s immigration status on two separate occasions, and coached other staff to give false accounts to ICA.
• A company director who employed a foreign national after her work pass application and appeal had been rejected, and let her stay at his home after her visit pass expired. He was fined under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act and jailed for the immigration offences. He had also given ICA false information about where she was.

The penalties ICA publishes

The minimum prison terms are why this deserves more care than an ordinary compliance lapse. On top of the immigration offence, employing someone without a valid work pass is punishable under the EFMA with a fine of S$5,000 to S$30,000, imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both. See employing a foreigner without a valid work pass.

Due diligence that ICA expects

ICA’s published guidance for those renting out premises sets out three checks, and they work just as well for hiring:

1. See the original pass, physical or digital, not a photo of it.
2. Cross-check it against the original passport: name, date of birth, nationality and photo.
3. Verify validity with the issuing authority: MOM for work passes, and ICA for immigration passes such as the Student’s Pass and Long-Term Visit Pass. ICA’s VERIFI e-service checks immigration passes.

Then keep checking. Diarise each worker’s pass expiry date, and repeat the check when a pass is renewed, replaced or cancelled. Several ICA cases involved workers who were lawful when they started and unlawful later.

If the company provides housing

Where the company provides staff quarters or rents a flat for workers, the company and the person responsible for the premises are effectively in the landlord’s position. Apply the same three checks to every occupant, keep a record of who is living there, and remove anyone whose pass has ended. Negligent harbouring needs no intent.

What to do if you find out

1. Stop the work immediately.
2. Do not hide, move or warn the person, and do not delete messages or contact details.
3. Preserve records: how the person was hired, what documents they showed, attendance, pay and any housing arrangement.
4. Take legal advice the same day about reporting and about any approach from ICA or MOM. ICA invites the public to report suspected immigration offenders, and any statement you give must be truthful.
5. Review your hiring process so the gap is closed for every other worker.

Frequently asked questions

We only hired them for a few days. Does that matter?

The offence does not depend on a long employment. One of ICA’s 2026 cases involved about two months of work.

The worker had a valid Work Permit when we hired them. Are we safe?

Not if you kept them on after the permit expired or was cancelled. ICA has charged an employer who did not verify again after knowing the permit had expired.

Is a company director personally at risk?

Yes, where the director made the hiring decisions or knew of them. In ICA’s published cases, the individuals who hired the workers were charged personally.

See also our guide to MOM work pass investigations, and more on the employment hub.

Worried about a worker’s immigration status?

If your company, or you as a director or shareholder, has discovered or been told that a worker may be an overstayer or illegal immigrant, contact the Raffles Corporate Services team at [email protected] or on WhatsApp at +65 8501 7133 or +65 9018 0072. We will help you understand the documents and deadlines, organise the employment and payroll records, and put pass checks in place for every worker. Where your matter needs a lawyer, we will refer you to a firm on our panel of Singapore law firms that regularly handles ICA and MOM investigations. Raffles Corporate Services is a corporate services provider, not a law firm, and this article is general information, not legal advice.

Tiffany Goh, Raffles Corporate Services