A Dependant’s Pass holder looking for a company setup in Singapore and running a business can now apply for a letter of consent subject to fulfilling certain eligibility criteria. Business operations however can only be started after receiving the LOC.
Eligibility Criteria
1. For being eligible to apply for a LOC, you need to own one of the following types of businesses
- Locally incorporated ACRA-registered Sole Proprietorship business or
- Locally incorporated ACRA-registered Partnership Business or
- If you are a Director of a company and in possession of a minimum 30 per cent shareholding in an ACRA-registered business
2. For being eligible for a renewal of the LOC, the following conditions apply
You shall require to hire a minimum of one Singaporean / Permanent Resident
- Earning the prevailing Local Qualifying Salary as a minimum and
- Receiving CPF contributions for at least 3 months
Local Qualifying Salary (LQS)
Earlier known as the Full-Time Equivalent salary, the Local Qualifying Salary (LQS) is used for determining the number of local employees that can be used to calculate your Work Permit and S Pass quota entitlement.
The LQS ensures that local workers when hired are not paid on a token sum to add to their headcount for S Pass and Work Permit quota entitlement to access foreign workers rather employed meaningfully. LQS also ensures that the government maintains effective quota control keeping pace with income levels.
A Singaporean or a Permanent Resident employee contractually hired under a set of terms and conditions, including the company’s director, is counted as one local employee if they earn the LQS of at least SGD 1,400 per month.
Existing LOC DP holders who are business owners
If you are a DP holder and running a business on an existing LOC, you are allowed to continue to do so till it remains valid or you can apply for a one-off renewal of the LOC until 30 April 2022. and after that, they must meet the eligibility criteria for LOC renewal or otherwise obtain an applicable Singapore work pass to continue working.
Validity of the Pass
- For First-time Applicants, the pass is valid either one year from the date of issuance or up to the expiry of DP and whichever time is shorter
- For Subsequent renewals, the validity remains up to the date expiry of DP
- The DP is cancelled
- The DP is expired
- The business ceased to be active needing cancellation of the LOC
Application Process for LOC for DP holders who are business owners
You can apply for a Letter of Consent to work in Singapore if you are an eligible Dependant’s Pass holder who wishes to operate a business.
Application for LOC is free and usually takes 4 weeks unless other information is sought by the regulatory authority. EP Online provides online services for the LOC.
Before submitting your application for LOC, you need to verify if your DP has a minimum of 3 months validity or else, you must renew your Dependant’s Pass before applying.
The Processing time for LOC is normally 4 weeks maximum in most cases.
The Process
1. Submitting an online request to apply for a LOC.
You normally receive the feedback of your application request within one week. Once your application request is approved, you can go ahead and apply for the LOC using EP Online.
You may also engage an authorized employment agent or a third party for submitting an online LOC application request.
2. Verifying your application status after 3 weeks unless additional information is needed.
3. Logging in to EP Online and printing the LOC.
Renewal, Cancellation or Replacement of a LOC for DP holders who are business owners
You are required to renew your LOC before its expiry. However, if you can also cancel your LOC if you so desire in case your business ceases to be active or operational. In case your LOC is lost or damaged you can request a replacement.
Replacement of your LOC
You must report once your LOC is lost and then make a request for a replacement.
Cancellation of your LOC
You must make a cancellation request within one week after your business becomes non-operational. You are allowed to put your cancellation request up to 2 weeks in advance
Except for advance requests, LOC cancellation is done immediately by logging in to the myMOM portal.
