Singapore EntrePass for Foreign Founders (2026)

All figures are drawn from the Ministry of Manpower and Enterprise Singapore and were verified in June 2026. The renewal thresholds in particular are revised periodically by MOM, so confirm the current grid on mom.gov.sg before you plan around them.

This is the decision that trips up most founders, so it comes first. Both let you run a Singapore company, but they assess completely different things.

In short: if your business is innovation-led and you cannot or do not want to pay yourself S$5,600 a month yet, the EntrePass is the route. If your company can pay you that salary and the innovation case is thin, sponsoring your own EP is usually simpler. We cover that path in detail in our Singapore Employment Pass for your own company guide.

To apply for an EntrePass you must:

• Be a foreign national starting or running an innovative business in Singapore.
• Hold at least 30% shareholding in the company.
• Have a company registered with ACRA, or be ready to incorporate one. If your company is already more than 12 months old at the time of application, MOM assesses you against the renewal criteria instead of the standard eligibility criteria.
• Meet at least one of MOM's innovation criteria (see below).

There is no minimum salary and no fixed capital requirement on the innovation route. What matters is the innovation case.

The innovation criteria (what actually decides your application)

The EntrePass is not for ordinary small businesses. MOM expects you to meet at least one of five recognised criteria:

• Raised funding: you have raised at least S$100,000 from a single funding round, from a recognised investor (such as a government-linked investor, an internationally renowned venture capital firm, a corporate, or a business angel).
• Incubator or accelerator support: your startup is backed by a government-recognised or internationally renowned incubator or accelerator.
• Founded and sold a technology business: you previously founded and sold a venture-backed or IP-owning business, under your own management.
• Intellectual property: you hold IP registered with an approved national IP institution, giving a competitive advantage that cannot be easily replicated.
• Research collaboration: you have an ongoing research collaboration in Singapore with a recognised institution (note that contracts of services do not count as a research collaboration).

You need to satisfy at least one of these, with documentary evidence. The practical point for a founder: build your application around a specific criterion you can prove, rather than a generic business plan.

The EntrePass is aimed at scalable, innovation-led ventures: deep tech, AI, biotech, and similar. Certain conventional businesses are not eligible through this route. MOM's excluded list covers coffee shops, hawker centres and food courts; bars, night clubs and karaoke lounges; foot reflexology and massage parlours; acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine and herbal dispensing businesses; employment agencies; and geomancy businesses. If your venture is one of these, the EntrePass is not the right pass.

1. Confirm your innovation criterion. Identify which of MOM's criteria you meet, and gather the evidence (funding documents, IP registration, accelerator letters).
2. Prepare your business plan. It is the centrepiece. Make it Singapore-specific, with market analysis, financial projections, and a hiring plan.
3. Submit to MOM with the S$105 fee. You can apply before incorporating, or with an existing company. If that company is already more than 12 months old, MOM applies the renewal criteria instead.
4. Receive the In-Principle Approval. If approved, the IPA is valid for six months. You incorporate (if you have not already), take up your 30% shareholding, and complete issuance.
5. Get the pass issued. Provide evidence of your shareholding, pay the S$225 issuance fee, and complete any required medical examination.

This is where the EntrePass differs sharply from other passes. Renewal is not automatic, and the bar rises at every cycle. To renew you must own at least 30% of the company, have a profile on Startup SG Network, and meet that cycle's Total Business Spending (TBS) and Local Workforce (LWF) targets.

Crucially, the first renewal has no TBS or hiring target. The requirements start at the second cycle and climb from there:

A few things founders misread here. Total Business Spending counts genuine local business expenditure, not payments back to the EntrePass holder. The Local Workforce figure is not a simple headcount: MOM calculates it as the number of local PMEs plus the number of Local Qualifying Salary employees divided by three, with a maximum of 12 such employees counted.

The salary thresholds that decide who counts are separate again:

• To count as a PME in the Local Workforce calculation, a local employee (Singapore citizen or PR) must earn a basic monthly salary of at least S$3,900 for renewal cycles 1 to 5, rising to S$4,700 from the sixth cycle, receive CPF contributions for at least three months, and be on the company's direct payroll.
• To count as a Local Qualifying Salary employee, the threshold is S$1,600 a month until 30 June 2026, rising to S$1,800 from 1 July 2026.

These figures are set by MOM and revised periodically, so confirm the current grid on MOM's EntrePass renewal page before you rely on them.

The takeaway for a founder: the EntrePass rewards a business that genuinely hires and spends in Singapore. If your venture stays a one-person operation, renewal becomes progressively harder. Plan your local hiring against these milestones from year one.

MOM sends renewal forms about three months before expiry, and renewal is processed within eight weeks in most cases.

Advantages

• No salary requirement, so you can apply before the business can pay you.
• No fixed capital requirement on the innovation route.
• COMPASS does not apply, removing the points-based uncertainty EP applicants face.
• Recognises you as the entrepreneur, with at least 30% ownership, rather than an employee.
• A clear, if demanding, growth path that aligns your pass with building a real local business.

Limitations

• The innovation bar is real: ordinary SMEs and excluded trades do not qualify.
• Renewal milestones rise every cycle and require genuine local hiring and spending.
• The initial pass and the first renewal are only one year each, so you re-apply sooner than on an EP or ONE Pass.
• Family passes are tied to the business meeting its spending and hiring conditions.

EntrePass holders unlock the family pass route only after the business clears the Total Business Spending and Local Workforce thresholds set at each renewal milestone. See the full walkthrough on the Singapore Dependant Pass application process for the documents required once the EntrePass milestones are met.

The EntrePass is one of several founder routes into Singapore. If you are still choosing, our Singapore Work Visa Guide for Foreign Founders (2026) compares every pass side by side. If your business is not innovation-led but you can pay yourself a salary, compare the Employment Pass for your own company. And before you apply, you will need to incorporate: see Singapore company formation.

When you are ready to apply and want a licensed provider to manage the submission, see our comparison of Singapore work pass providers.

Founders building a venture-backed deep-tech or AI product can also evaluate the Singapore Tech.Pass route for tech founders, which does not require the EntrePass's spending and hiring milestones but applies stricter EDB experience criteria upfront.

This guide is for general information and is not immigration or legal advice. Figures were verified against the Ministry of Manpower and Enterprise Singapore in June 2026; EntrePass renewal thresholds are revised periodically by MOM. Always confirm current requirements at mom.gov.sg before applying.