Moving to Singapore: The Complete Guide, Step by Step

The Long Term Visit Pass is for relatives who don't fit that definition. With the same S$6,000 salary you can sponsor a common-law spouse, unmarried stepchildren under 21, or unmarried handicapped children aged 21 and above. Parents are in a different bracket and need a fixed monthly salary of at least S$12,000. Every application is judged case by case, and your employer has to sponsor it.

Live-in domestic help is common in Singapore, and it's worth knowing the monthly levy in advance. It's S$300 for your first helper and S$450 for each one after that. Families with a young child, an elderly member or someone with a disability pay a reduced S$60. Employers don't pay retirement contributions for a helper, but the levy keeps running as long as the work permit does.

What it costs to live in Singapore

Two things throw off almost every budget people arrive with, and they push in opposite directions.

The first is that nothing comes out of your pay for a state pension. Retirement contributions apply to citizens and permanent residents, not to work pass holders. Your take-home pay looks generous next to the same salary in Europe. The other side of that is that your retirement savings are entirely up to you, and it's easy to spend the difference without noticing.

The second is rent, and it's what eats up the gain. HDB publishes median rents for its flats every quarter, by town and flat type. Recent figures range from about S$2,500 a month for a smaller flat in an outer town to well over S$4,000 for a larger flat somewhere central. Private condominiums cost more than that. If you have children, school fees are the other big line. A car is close to a luxury, because you have to win a certificate at auction just for the right to use one for ten years. Most people don't own one, and don't miss it.

Most other things are more reasonable than the headlines suggest. Hawker centre meals and public transport really are cheap. Healthcare is good, but as a pass holder you pay the unsubsidised rate, so budget for insurance rather than assuming you're covered. Income tax is low, which we'll get to. The real shocks are rent and school places, so build your budget around those first.

Finding somewhere to live: HDB flat or condo

Your first big decision is between an HDB flat, the public housing most Singaporeans live in, and a private condominium with a pool and a gym. Flats give you more space for the money and put you in a proper neighbourhood. Condos cost more, come with the facilities, and usually bring you closer to an expat social circle.

Foreigners renting HDB flats have rules to follow, and it's worth knowing them before you fall for a place. You can rent if you hold an Employment Pass, S Pass, Work Permit, Student Pass, Dependant Pass or Long Term Social Visit Pass, and the pass must have at least six months left on it when the owner applies for approval. Tourists can't rent an HDB flat at all.

The owner has conditions to meet too. Only Singapore citizens can rent out a whole flat, and only once they've lived in it for the five-year minimum occupation period. There's also a non-citizen quota of 8% per neighbourhood and 11% per block, which applies when a whole flat is let to a non-Malaysian non-citizen. If a block has hit its quota, you can't rent there, full stop. The quota doesn't apply if you're only renting a bedroom.

Leases run for a minimum of six months. The maximum for each approval is two years if any tenant is a non-Malaysian non-citizen, compared with three years if everyone is Singaporean or Malaysian. Ask to see the owner's approval letter, and check that your name is on it as an authorised tenant. Then get the tenancy agreement stamped with the tax authority, which charges lease duty of 0.4% of the rent over the lease. You have 14 days from signing to do it if you signed in Singapore, or 30 days from receiving it here if you signed abroad. Late stamping means a penalty, so don't put it off. If you'd like someone local to go through the contract with you, there are English-speaking property and accommodation professionals in Singapore who do exactly that.

Where to live: a quick map of the neighbourhoods

The island is small, but rush hour is real, and the commute is the thing people end up regretting. Here's the rough layout, and a separate spoke guide will go into each area in more depth.

In the centre and near the river, areas like River Valley, Tiong Bahru and Tanjong Pagar put you a short walk or a stop or two from the business district. Flats are smaller, rents are the highest on the island, and you're swapping space for time.

The east, around Katong, Joo Chiat, Siglap and the East Coast, is where a lot of people fall in love with Singapore. Old shophouses, the best casual food, the beach, and an easy trip to the airport. It feels like a neighbourhood rather than a development.

Head to the central-west stretch of Bukit Timah, Holland Village and Clementi and it's green and full of families, close to a cluster of international schools. If the school run is going to shape your week, start looking here.

Newer towns such as Punggol, Sengkang, Tampines and Jurong give you the most space for your money in modern flats, and the trade-off is a longer commute. Woodlands, in the north, makes sense if you'll be crossing into Malaysia a lot.

Most people who've moved here give the same advice: rent for a year before you commit to an area. Your daily commute will teach you more than any guide can.

Tax: the 183-day rule and IRAS

IRAS is Singapore's tax authority, and the first thing to work out is whether you count as a tax resident, because that changes your rate.

You're treated as resident for a year of assessment if you stayed or worked in Singapore for at least 183 days in the previous calendar year, or continuously for three consecutive years. There's also a concession for when your job spans two calendar years and your total stay across both reaches 183 days. Separately, foreigners given a work pass valid for at least a year are treated as resident from the start, and that's reviewed at tax clearance when the job ends.

Residents pay progressive rates from 0% to 24%, and the first S$20,000 of chargeable income isn't taxed at all. Foreign-sourced income brought into Singapore is exempt for residents, except for income received through partnerships here. Non-residents get a worse deal: employment income is taxed at a flat 15% or at resident rates, whichever is higher, and directors' fees and most other income at 24%.

Tax is assessed on the previous year's income. You file on the myTax Portal using Singpass or a Singpass Foreign user Account, by 18 April each year. You have to file if your total income was over S$22,000, or if IRAS writes to tell you to, whatever you earned. If your first year straddles two countries, it's worth an hour with an English-speaking accountant or tax adviser in Singapore rather than guessing.

Getting permanent residence later

Most people start thinking about permanent residence in their second or third year. As an Employment Pass or S Pass holder you can apply yourself, online through the immigration authority's e-service with your Singpass. Spouses and children of citizens or permanent residents, aged parents of citizens, students who've passed a national exam and investors under the Global Investor Programme each have their own routes.

Be realistic about your chances, because nobody publishes them. There's no points score to aim for, and no minimum time on a pass that guarantees anything. The authority says it weighs family ties to Singaporeans, economic contributions, qualifications, age, family profile and length of residency, along with your commitment to putting down roots. That's broad on purpose, and it means a high salary on its own isn't the whole answer.

Applications are processed within six months when the paperwork is complete, although some take longer. If you're approved you get a blue identity card, and you'll need a valid re-entry permit to leave and come back as a permanent resident.

There's one thing to think through as a family, before you apply rather than after. Male citizens and permanent residents are liable for National Service under the Enlistment Act, and that includes sons granted residence under a parent's sponsorship. It's a real commitment, not a footnote, and it's the issue families most often wish they'd talked about before applying instead of afterwards.

Your first 90 days: a checklist

In the order that actually works:

1. Before you fly. Get the pass holder's copy of your in-principle approval from your employer. It acts as a single-entry visa and gives you six months to arrive and have the pass issued.
2. Week one. Get the pass issued, and register your fingerprints and photo if you're asked to. The card arrives within five working days after that.
3. Week one. Set up Singpass, the national login. You'll use it for almost every government service, and if you're not eligible for the main account, a Singpass Foreign user Account covers you.
4. Weeks one to two. Open a bank account and get a local mobile number. Most other sign-ups ask for both.
5. Weeks two to six. Find somewhere to live. If it's an HDB flat, ask to see the owner's approval letter and check that you're named as an authorised tenant. Get the tenancy stamped within 14 days of signing, because late stamping comes with a penalty.
6. Weeks two to eight. Start on family passes and school places at the same time, not one after the other. Both take longer than you'd expect, and school places are the harder of the two.
7. Month two. Find out whether your employer gives you health cover at all, and where it ends. Nothing obliges them to for an Employment Pass holder, and you won't get the subsidies that citizens and permanent residents do.
8. Mark the date. Tax returns are due by 18 April each year. Put it in your calendar the week you arrive.

If you'd rather not juggle the shipping, the flat hunt and the paperwork all at once, there are English-speaking movers and relocation specialists in Singapore who can take care of the first month for you.

How Locallista helps

The hard part of moving here isn't unclear rules. They're published, in English, and mostly accurate. The hard part is making a dozen decisions at the same time, in a system you've never used before, with money at stake every time.

Locallista is a directory of English-speaking local service providers in Singapore. We screen every business before listing it and every review is phone-verified, so the ranking reflects real expat experience, not who paid the most. It's free to browse and free to get in touch. If you don't know yet who you need, start with the Singapore directory.