COMPASS: how the Employment Pass points framework works

The six criteria and their points

What changes from year to year

Three of the inputs are MOM lists that are republished on a cycle, so a candidate who scored one way last year can score differently this year with nothing else changed:

• C1 salary benchmarks — derived from MOM's annual Comprehensive Labour Force Survey and updated once a year, with separate tables for 22 sectors. The benchmarks released in August 2025 apply to new applications made during 2026 and to renewals of passes expiring from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027; those released in August 2026 apply to new applications from 1 January 2027 and renewals expiring from 1 July 2027.
• C2 top-tier institutions — MOM updates the lists once a year. The current list was released in November 2025 and applies to new and renewal applications from 1 January 2026.
• C5 Shortage Occupation List — released in November 2025 for applications from 1 January 2026. MOM may add or remove occupations once a year and reviews the list comprehensively every 3 years.
• C6 bonus — applies for up to 3 years, or for as long as the employer takes part in an eligible programme, whichever is shorter.

The qualifying salary (Stage 1) changes on a different timetable from the C1 benchmarks: new applications from 1 January 2027, but renewals only for passes expiring from 1 January 2028. The COMPASS calculator asks when the application is made and applies both tables for that date.

Who is exempt

• A fixed monthly salary of at least S$22,500.
• An overseas intra-corporate transferee.
• A role of 1 month or less.
• ONE Pass holders are outside COMPASS altogether: MOM lists exemption from COMPASS among the ONE Pass's features.

A worked example

A 30-year-old joining an information-technology firm with 60 PMETs, paid above the 65th but below the 90th percentile for that sector and age (C1: 10), with a degree from a university not on the top-tier list (C2: 10). Candidates of the same nationality are 12% of the firm's PMETs (C3: 10), and the firm's local PMET share is above the sector median (C4: 20). Total: 50, above the pass mark with no bonus. If the same candidate's nationality were 30% of the firm's PMETs, C3 would fall to 0 and the total to 40 — still a pass, with no margin. On the Shortage Occupation List that candidate would gain C5 points.

How the numbers relate to MOM's decision

• COMPASS is the published part of the test. MOM also checks the job advertisement under the Fair Consideration Framework, the documents and qualification verification, and the employer; how an EP application works covers those.
• MOM's Self-Assessment Tool is the official check, but it needs an EP eService account, so in practice the employer runs it. MOM advises against applying when it says the candidate does not qualify, and states that the actual COMPASS score may differ from the tool's.
• C3 and C4 describe the employer, not the candidate. A candidate usually cannot know them without asking the employer; an estimate that treats them as unknown is more honest than a guess.

Frequently asked