Moving to Singapore from New Zealand

More than S$31,000 a month: MOM's Overseas Networks & Expertise Pass asks for a fixed monthly salary (to be safe, have more than S$31,000 a month, or the equivalent in a foreign currency) for the 12 consecutive months before you apply, earned at an established company: market capitalisation of at least US$500 million or annual revenue of at least US$200 million. The Wellington High Commission states no figures for this pass, so this is MOM's figure. To be safe, plan for more than S$31,000 a month. At the European Central Bank's rate of 15 October 2026, that is about NZ$43,100. You can apply from outside Singapore and do not need a Singapore job offer. MOM says most cases take within 4 weeks.

ICA sets it at the checkpoint and emails you an electronic visit pass showing the last day allowed. Submit the free SG Arrival Card within three days before you arrive; your passport must be valid for six months, and you may be asked for cash and proof of onward travel. The authority says visit pass holders may not do any paid or unpaid employment or run a business unless they hold a work pass or do a work pass exempt activity; attending company meetings, conferences and training as a participant is allowed without notifying MOM. MOM says that people who hold a stay pass such as a Dependant's Pass do not need a work pass to work for an overseas employer, but we found no official page that says the same for a visitor, so remote work on a visit pass is unconfirmed: ask MOM before you plan around it. An extension is applied for online when 14 days or fewer remain, ICA decides the length, and a fee of S$40 applies once the stay reaches 90 days.

Every other route needs a Singapore employer or business. An Employment Pass is applied for by a Singapore employer and, for new applications before 1 January 2027, needs a salary test of about S$5,600 to S$10,700 a month depending on age (to be safe, have more than S$11,000 if you are 45 or over), plus a points test. From 1 January 2027 the salary test is about S$6,000 to S$11,500 a month depending on age; to be safe, have more than S$12,000 if you are 45 or over. The Personalised Employment Pass needs a higher monthly salary (to be safe, have more than S$23,000), excludes freelancers and needs continuous employment in Singapore. The EntrePass is for a Singapore start-up that has raised funding (to be safe, more than S$110,000) or has accelerator backing. Tech.Pass stops taking applications on 28 January 2027. The Global Investor Programme, which grants permanent residence, starts at a large investment (to be safe, more than S$11 million). MOM says an employer of record cannot sponsor a pass so that you can stay in Singapore while working for an overseas company.

MOM says most ONE Pass applications are decided within 4 weeks. The fee is S$105 per pass when you apply and S$225 when the pass is issued, plus S$30 for a Multiple Journey Visa if it applies. If you are approved, you get an in-principle approval letter and then have to make an appointment to have the pass issued in Singapore. Each year, by 31 January, you notify MOM of your professional activities and income for the year before.

Look at both tax systems before deciding what you can comfortably spend. IRAS says income for services rendered in Singapore is taxable, including for people who work for a foreign employer, even if the pay is not received in Singapore. Overseas income received in Singapore is generally not taxable, but IRAS lists working in Singapore for a foreign employer among the exceptions. A non-resident who works in Singapore for 60 days or less in a calendar year is exempt on those earnings, and every day you are in Singapore counts if you travel in for business. If you freelance, IRAS looks at where the activities that earn the income are based.

A non-resident employee who stays or works 61 to 182 days pays the higher of a flat 15% or the resident rates, and other non-resident income is taxed at 24%.

The New Zealand–Singapore agreement narrows this for businesses: profits are taxable in Singapore only through a permanent establishment, and an enterprise that furnishes services (including independent personal services) has one only where those activities continue in Singapore for more than 183 days in any 12-month period. For employees, the agreement lets Singapore tax pay for work done there, unless you are in Singapore no more than 183 days in any 12-month period, your employer is not a Singapore resident and a Singapore permanent establishment does not bear the pay. We found no IRAS page that settles the case of a freelancer on a visit pass, so ask IRAS or an adviser.

The agreement, signed in 2009 and in force since 12 August 2010, settles dual residence by permanent home, then closer personal and economic relations, then habitual abode, then nationality, and credits Singapore tax paid under it against New Zealand tax, subject to New Zealand's own credit rules. If you do become non-resident, tell your New Zealand bank or investment provider so the right non-resident withholding tax is deducted, and ask about shares in overseas companies, which are treated as sold when your status changes.

Government KiwiSaver contributions need you to live mainly in New Zealand; after a year living overseas (not in Australia) you can withdraw most of your savings, but not the government contributions. A student loan stops being interest-free from the day after you leave if you become overseas-based, which happens when you are in New Zealand 31 days or fewer in a 184-day period. If you already get NZ Super and go abroad for more than 26 weeks you must apply to keep it, at least 6 weeks before you leave, at a rate based on the months you lived in New Zealand between ages 20 and 65. The agreement says pensions for past employment are taxable only where you are resident.

Keep the record from your first arrival, because the pass type does not change any of these counts.

Stamp duty on a lease of four years or less is 0.4% of the total rent. CEA warns that payment is not required to secure a viewing or a rental, and that payments should go to the owner, not the agent.