Relocating to Singapore with a family is a logistics problem disguised as a visa problem. The pass stamp matters, but the months that follow — schooling, housing, healthcare, banking, the helper, the driving licence, the SingPass profile — are what actually determine whether a relocation feels durable. This guide walks an EP-bound professional and their family through the entire move in 2026, end to end, with the numbers and the rules cited from MOM, ICA, MOE, MOH, HDB and IRAS where they apply.
It is written for the family arriving on a single Employment Pass, the dual-career family negotiating one EP and one Letter of Consent, and the founder considering Singapore as a base for both business and household. Where the corporate-services side of the move (incorporation, payroll, board) is in scope, our sister firm Raffles Corporate Services handles that thread. Where the focus is the family relocation itself, we proceed below.
Step 1: Get the right pass mix for the household
The household’s legal foundation in Singapore is the pass mix. The principal earner typically arrives on an Employment Pass (EP), Personalised Employment Pass (PEP), ONE Pass, or Tech.Pass. The spouse and children’s status flows from there.
The thresholds for the principal pass are set by the Ministry of Manpower. The new EP qualifying salary, as at April 2026, is SGD 5,600 per month for most sectors and SGD 6,200 for financial services, with age-scaling above that. For a complete view of the EP application, including COMPASS, see our pillar Singapore Employment Pass guide 2026.
Dependants: Dependant’s Pass and LTVP
Spouses and unmarried children under 21 of EP holders earning at least SGD 6,000/month qualify for a Dependant’s Pass (DP). Common-law spouses, step-children and aged parents come in via a Long-Term Visit Pass (LTVP) — see who is eligible to apply for an LTVP. The DP/LTVP is filed alongside the principal’s EP, usually in the same submission.
If the spouse will work
A DP holder can work in Singapore only if they obtain their own work pass — or, in narrower circumstances, a Letter of Consent (LOC). For founders and business-owning spouses, see our note on the Letter of Consent for Dependant’s Pass holders who are business owners and the wider how a DP or LTVP holder can work in Singapore.
Step 2: Schools — the decision that anchors the timeline
For families with school-age children, school placement is the single decision that anchors the relocation timeline. Singapore’s market splits into three tiers: international schools (curricula range from IB to British, American, French, Australian and others), local MOE schools, and a hybrid set of private schools using the Singapore curriculum.
International school waitlists for popular brands (UWCSEA, SAS, Tanglin Trust, Dulwich, NPS International, GEMS) often run six to twelve months, with the most sought-after primary years requiring earlier registration. Fees in 2026 range broadly from SGD 35,000 to SGD 55,000 per academic year, before transport, lunch and uniform. Per the Ministry of Education, foreign students seeking placement in MOE local schools sit the Admissions Exercise for International Students (AEIS) for primary and secondary entry; places are subject to availability and English-medium proficiency.
Practical guidance: if your relocation date is firm, register expressions of interest at three to four schools as soon as the EP is in-principle approved. Do not wait for the visa stamp — the waitlist clock starts when the application is in.
Step 3: Housing — rent first, decide later
Most relocating families rent for the first 12–24 months. The market splits between condominiums (the typical expat default for amenities and lift-and-pool living), HDB resale flats (legal for foreigners to rent, but not to buy), and landed housing (limited, expensive, and usually taken by long-tenured expats and PRs).
Headline rental ranges in 2026, central districts: SGD 5,500–8,500 for a two-bedroom condo, SGD 8,000–14,000 for a three-bedroom, with a meaningful premium for newer and Marina-adjacent buildings. The standard tenancy is two years, with a one-month diplomatic clause. Stamp duty on the lease is payable to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore; for typical leases this is a small four-figure sum.
Buying property as a foreigner is possible but expensive — the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) for foreigners stands at 60% as at April 2026, layered on top of the standard Buyer’s Stamp Duty. Practical advice for most relocating families: lease for two to three years before considering purchase, and let PR status (if it comes) reset the ABSD calculation.
Step 4: Healthcare and insurance
EP, S Pass, DP and LTVP holders are not enrolled in Singapore’s MediShield Life by default — this is for citizens and PRs. Private international health insurance is therefore the standard solution for foreign families, and is often packaged into the relocation by the employer. Per the Ministry of Health, public hospital fees for foreigners are charged at unsubsidised rates; private hospitals charge their own rack rates regardless of residency status. Most expat families use a hybrid of private GP for outpatient care and either a private specialist hospital (Mount Elizabeth, Gleneagles, Raffles, Parkway East) or a restructured hospital (NUH, SGH) for specialist and inpatient needs.
Plan to compare three to four insurers before signing. Family-floater plans typically run SGD 6,000–12,000 per year for a four-person household at mid-tier coverage limits, scaling up sharply for global deductibles below SGD 5,000.
Step 5: Foreign Domestic Worker (helper)
Many relocating families employ a Foreign Domestic Worker (FDW), regulated by MOM. The 2026 baseline costs are: minimum monthly salary set by the source country (typically SGD 600–700 for Filipina and Indonesian helpers, often higher in practice), an FDW levy paid to MOM (SGD 300/month at standard rates, reduced to SGD 60/month for households eligible for the concessionary rate based on having a young child, an elderly person, or a person with disability), plus mandatory medical and personal accident insurance. Allow SGD 1,200–1,800 per month all-in for the first FDW.
The principal employer must complete the Employer Orientation Programme through MOM before the helper’s Work Permit is issued. Documentation, contract, and accommodation requirements are all enforced.
Step 6: SingPass, banking, CPF and the driving licence
Once the EP card is issued, the household’s first three administrative tasks are SingPass enrolment (the digital identity that gates almost every government and bank service), opening a Singapore bank account, and converting overseas driving licences. SingPass is mandatory for filing taxes via myTaxPortal at iras.gov.sg, accessing healthcare records, and managing schooling logistics.
EP holders do not contribute to CPF; PR conversion changes that. Bank account opening typically requires the EP card, proof of address (a utility bill or tenancy agreement), and a personal interview. Driving licence conversion is via the Singapore Police Force traffic police portal — the Basic Theory Test is required for licence holders from countries not on the recognition list.
Step 7: Tax — the part nobody briefs you on
Singapore taxes residents on a progressive scale topping out at 24% on chargeable income above SGD 1,000,000 (Year of Assessment 2024 onwards), and most senior professionals pay an effective 12–18%. There is no capital gains tax, and no estate or inheritance tax. The first-year filing — Form B1 for residents — is filed by 18 April of the year after arrival via the IRAS portal. For background on residency, deductions and reliefs, see our personal income tax guide for foreigners in Singapore.
For headline numbers on the wider household budget — groceries, fuel, schooling, helper, leisure — see cost of living in Singapore for expats: 2026 numbers.
What we tell relocating families to do in the first 90 days
Across hundreds of relocation files, the patterns that distinguish a smooth move from a difficult one are remarkably consistent. The smooth movers register school interest before they fly; secure interim housing (serviced apartment, two months) before signing a long lease; pick a single international insurance policy in week one; and treat SingPass and bank account as week-two priorities, not month-two. The difficult movers improvise.
If your family is 6–12 months from a Singapore relocation and you would like a single point of contact handling pass strategy on one side and corporate-secretarial / payroll / incorporation on the other, please reach us via Singapore Employment Agency or our sister firm Raffles Corporate Services. We have done this in pairs for many years.
— The Editorial Team, Little Big Employment Agency