Renewing an EP: when to file and whether COMPASS is reassessed

Key timing and thresholds

Renewal is not an automatic extension

The most common misconception is that renewal is a rubber stamp. In practice MOM reassesses against the current year's rules: does the salary still meet that year's qualifying line, is the role still managerial, executive or specialised, and does COMPASS still reach 40 points. Thresholds have moved every year — clearing them last year does not mean clearing them this year.

MOM's own wording is blunt: renewals are not guaranteed. Treat renewal as a fresh assessment to prepare for, not a formality to process.

Does filing early waste your remaining days?

No. This is the other common worry. MOM's rule is that the renewed pass runs from the day the current pass expires, not from the approval date. Filing early costs you nothing.

Since there is no downside, file early. The buffer matters: if the renewal is refused while your current pass is still valid, you have time to appeal or restructure. File in the final month and a refusal leaves you almost no room.

Threshold increase: 2027 for new applications, 2028 for renewals

This is the point worth remembering. MOM's new qualifying salary thresholds (from S$6,000 in general sectors and S$6,600 in financial services) take effect in two stages:

New applications: 1 January 2027.
Renewals: 1 January 2028.

So if your EP expires during 2027, that renewal is still assessed against the current thresholds. A great deal of published commentary conflates the two dates, leaving pass holders believing they are squeezed from 2027 — in reality you have a full extra year. The flip side: if your pass expires after 2028, the salary planning starts now.

Two tracks: C1 benchmarks in July 2027, qualifying salary in January 2028

The previous section — that renewals are untouched until 2028 — is only half the story. That timetable belongs to the qualifying salary (the first gate). COMPASS's C1 salary benchmark (the second gate) runs on a separate clock, half a year earlier.

MOM publishes a refreshed C1 benchmark table each August, applied as follows:

So if your EP expires between July and December 2027, that renewal meets an unusual combination: the old qualifying salary (which does not rise until 2028) against the new C1 benchmarks (which arrive in July 2027). The salary floor has not moved, but the same monthly salary may convert to a lower percentile under the refreshed benchmarks, shrinking your C1 points — while the total still has to reach 40.

To work out whether this affects you, look only at the pass expiry date:

Almost nobody draws this distinction. The people genuinely caught are in the middle band — salary still apparently on the line, but the score drops first.

How COMPASS works at renewal

COMPASS applies at renewal on the same basis as a new application: C1 salary, C2 qualifications, C3 diversity and C4 support for local employment score 0–20 each, with bonuses of 20 points for a Shortage Occupation List role under C5 (10 if the candidate's nationality makes up one-third or more of the firm's PMETs) and 10 points for strategic economic priorities under C6 (Source: MOM, verified 2026-09), and the total must reach 40.

Note that C3 and C4 do not depend on you — they depend on the firm. How many local PMETs the company hired this year, and whether your nationality's share within the company shifted, both feed straight into your renewal score. If your own profile is unchanged but the score dropped, the cause is usually on the company side.

Candidates earning at least S$22,500 in fixed monthly salary are exempt from COMPASS. For a full breakdown of the six criteria, see the EP complete guide.

When salary no longer keeps up

The qualifying salary rises with age — you get a year older each year, and the bar moves up with you. Anyone whose salary has plateaued will eventually fall below the line at some renewal.

Three workable directions: negotiate a salary adjustment with the employer before filing so the monthly figure clears that year's line; if salary headroom is limited, recover points elsewhere in COMPASS (for example the company hiring more local PMETs to improve C4); or assess whether a different pass type, such as ONE Pass, fits better. Which one is realistic depends on the actual numbers.

How we handle it

Before your renewal window opens we work out three things: whether you still clear that year's qualifying salary, what COMPASS scores on a recalculation, and whether anything on the company side has weakened C3 or C4. If the score falls short we say where the gap is and whether it can be closed — rather than filing first and finding out later. See EP & legal pathway assessment; if you have already been refused, see what to do after an EP rejection.

Frequently asked

Sources: MOM (EP renewal rules, early filing window, renewal duration, COMPASS scope, qualifying salary thresholds and the staged 2027/2028 effective dates). Verified September 2026; policy changes, so refer to MOM for the latest. This article is general information and not immigration or legal advice.

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