How to Start an Employment Agency in Singapore

Which licence to get

Little Big Employment Agency Pte Ltd holds EA Licence 19C9790. We have been through the application, the Certificate of Employment Intermediaries, the banker’s guarantee, the personnel registrations and every quarterly return since, so this page is written from that side of the counter. One thing to settle at the start: the licence is not a formality you obtain and then forget, and most of the trouble agencies get into comes from the continuing conditions rather than the application.

Employment agencies are regulated under the Employment Agencies Act 1958, the Employment Agencies Rules 2011 and the Employment Agency Licence Conditions. MOM introduced the current framework on 1 April 2011.

Table 1. The four licence types

Licence	Who you may place	CEI required	Security bond for a new agency
Comprehensive Licence (All)	Any type of worker	Yes	S$60,000
Comprehensive Licence (Local)	Local workers only	Yes	S$60,000
Comprehensive Licence (non-MDW)	Local or foreign workers, except migrant domestic workers	Yes	S$60,000
Select Licence	Workers earning a monthly salary of more than S$4,500	No	S$20,000

All four run for three years. The Select Licence is the lighter option and suits a search firm placing senior professionals. The trade-off is the salary floor: if you intend to place an S Pass holder, a Work Permit holder or any candidate below S$4,500 a month, it does not cover the work. Agencies handling Employment Pass work across a full salary range should assume they need a Comprehensive Licence.

Who is eligible

To apply for an employment agency licence you must meet all of the following.

• Be a Singapore citizen or permanent resident at the point of application.
• Hold one of these ACRA-registered positions: owner of a sole proprietorship or partnership, managing director or director of a company, partner of an LLP, or general partner of a limited partnership.
• Have an ACRA principal activity of SSIC 78103, domestic worker employment placement agencies, or SSIC 78104, employment agencies excluding domestic worker placement agencies and online marketplaces.
• Not be an undischarged bankrupt, and not have been debarred from applying for an EA licence.
• Not have previous convictions, particularly under the Penal Code, Prevention of Human Trafficking Act, Prevention of Corruption Act, Immigration Act, Drugs Misuse Act, Women’s Charter, Children and Young Persons Act, Employment Act, Employment Agencies Act and Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.
• Not be a director of, or involved in managing, an employment agency whose licence was revoked.

Key appointment holders

A key appointment holder is anyone in the agency with general control and management of EA work. They must not be an undischarged bankrupt, must not carry the convictions listed above, and must not have been a director or manager of an agency whose licence was revoked. Each key appointment holder and each EA personnel may be registered to only one agency at a time.

The company itself has to exist before the licence application, with the right SSIC on its ACRA profile. If you are incorporating for this purpose, our affiliate Raffles Corporate Services handles incorporation and the resident director requirement.

The Certificate of Employment Intermediaries

The CEI equips agency staff with a working knowledge of employment law so that they can advise clients properly. It is required for all three Comprehensive Licences and not for the Select Licence. It applies to all key appointment holders whether or not they perform EA work, to all EA personnel doing EA work, and to directors, managing directors, owners, partners and general partners as registered with ACRA.

Table 2. CEI deadlines

Who	By when
Key appointment holder	Before registration
Other EA personnel doing EA work	Before registration, or within 1 month of registration; otherwise the registration is revoked
Directors, owners, partners and general partners	Before applying for the licence

There are two families of course. CEI (KAH) is for key appointment holders and the ACRA-registered positions. CEI (Basic) is for other personnel performing EA work. Each comes in three variants matched to the licence.

Table 3. CEI course length by licence

Licence	CEI (KAH)	CEI (Basic)
Comprehensive Licence (All)	40 hours	36 hours
Comprehensive Licence (non-MDW)	32 hours	28 hours
Comprehensive Licence (Local), without EFMA	24 hours	20 hours

Courses are run by three appointed providers, with published fees from S$250.70 to S$654.00 inclusive of GST. The test is run by NTUC LearningHub at S$174.40 inclusive of GST per test type, with no subsidy. On a first attempt, attending the course is optional; if you fail you must attend before re-taking, and there is no limit on re-takes after that. Anyone who has already completed CEI (Basic) and wants to become a key appointment holder needs only the key appointment holder module.

The security bond

MOM requires a security bond in the form of an electronic banker’s guarantee before the licence is issued. It secures compliance with the Employment Agencies Act 1958 and may be forfeited if the agency breaches the regulations.

Table 4. Security bond amounts for Comprehensive Licences

Situation	Minimum bond
All Comprehensive Licence agencies in the first year of operation	S$60,000
3 or fewer demerit points in past 12 months, fewer than 200 Work Permit and S Pass holders placed	S$20,000
3 or fewer demerit points, 200 or more placed	S$40,000
More than 3 demerit points, fewer than 200 placed	S$40,000
More than 3 demerit points, 200 or more placed	S$60,000
8 or more demerit points, regardless of placements	S$60,000

For a Select Licence, the bond is S$20,000 in the first year with no demerit points, rising to S$40,000 with more than three demerit points in the past 12 months and S$60,000 with eight or more.

The S$60,000 requirement for a new Comprehensive Licence can only be reviewed after the first 12 months of operation, by request to MOM. An agency that does not provide the required bond cannot submit new work pass applications. Bond liabilities are discharged six months after the licence is terminated or expires.

Applying for the licence, step by step

Table 5. The application sequence

Step	Cost	Typical time
Run the EA self-assessment tool	Nil	Same day
Attain the CEI, for a Comprehensive Licence	Course and test fees	Varies
Submit the application on GoBusiness Singapore	S$400, non-refundable	In-principle approval in 7 working days for most cases
Apply for the eGuarantee with your bank	Bank charges	Up to 3 weeks, and the IPA is valid for 4 weeks
Complete the undertaking of licence conditions	Nil	Up to 1 working day
Pay the issuance fee and receive the e-licence	S$100, non-refundable	Within 1 working day of payment

Two deadlines matter. The eGuarantee must reach MOM before the in-principle approval expires, and the IPA is valid for four weeks while a bank may take three weeks to process. Issuance, meaning the undertaking and the payment, must be completed within two months of IPA issuance. If either lapses you start again and the S$400 is not refunded. You may only start operating once the licence is issued: the in-principle approval is not permission to trade, and exists so that you can arrange the banker’s guarantee and set the business up.

Registering and de-registering EA personnel

All key appointment holders and all EA personnel performing EA work must be registered with MOM. Registration costs S$160 per person, is non-refundable, takes seven working days in most cases, and stays valid until de-registration. Documents must be submitted within one month of applying or the application lapses.

After registration each person receives a registration number and appears in MOM’s EA Directory. You must then issue them a staff registration card meeting the specifications in the Employment Agencies Rules 2011, and personnel must show it to clients and let clients note down the information on it. Failing to issue the card in the prescribed format is an offence. Registration is also the gateway to the systems: you must be registered EA personnel before you can apply for the EP eService and Work Permit Online accounts.

De-registration is the half that agencies forget. You must de-register within three working days after a person stops working at the agency, and equally within three working days after they stop performing EA work even if they remain employed. It takes effect immediately.

Quarterly referral submissions

Employment Agency Licence Condition 5(b) requires every agency to give MOM referral information for positions that meet both of these tests: the position is permanent or a contract of at least six months, and the fixed monthly salary is at least S$3,300. Submissions fall in the first 20 days of January, April, July and October, covering the quarter just ended.

The return lists, for each candidate referred, the ID type and number, the SSOC 2015 five-digit occupation code, the employer’s UEN, and the date of referral. If you referred nobody in the quarter you still submit a nil return. Supporting documents must be kept for one year from the date of referral. Failure to comply may attract the prevailing penalties for breach of a licence condition.

What you may charge, and what you may not

This is the area where an agency is most likely to lose its licence, so it deserves care.

For a job seeker, MOM’s cap is clear: an agency may collect no more than one month of the worker’s fixed monthly salary for each year of service, capped at two months’ salary. The cap is calculated on total salary, being basic salary plus all fixed allowances, and excludes bonuses and variable components such as overtime pay. Anything above it is exploitative and against the law.

Agencies may not charge agency fees for work pass renewals at all. Employers, not workers, are responsible for administrative costs including the levy and work pass fees, and may not recover them from foreign employees directly or indirectly. An agency that recovers them on the employer’s behalf is treated as committing or abetting an offence. There is no cap, by contrast, on what an agency may charge an employer. MOM removed that cap deliberately.

One statutory refund duty applies to migrant domestic worker placements. For contracts entered into on or after 1 June 2022, if the worker’s employment is terminated within the first six months and the refund conditions in Rule 13A of the Employment Agencies Rules 2011 are met, the agency must refund at least 50 per cent of the service fees paid by the employer, within 14 working days of the employer’s written request or the cancellation of the work pass, whichever is later. Agencies may not set their own additional qualifying terms.

Telling MOM about changes

Table 6. Notification deadlines

Change	Deadline
Operating address, email address, new branch application, accreditation details	Immediately
Opening, relocating or closing a branch	Within 7 working days
ACRA company details: SSIC, registered address, directors or partners, company name with no UEN change	Within 7 working days
All other updates	Within 3 working days
Migrant domestic worker’s interim address	Immediately

A change of UEN or business entity type is not an update. It requires a fresh licence application, and that includes converting a sole proprietorship into a private limited company, with the old entity’s bond liabilities discharged after six months in the usual way. Separately, an agency must declare to MOM that it places foreigners in order to be given Work Permit Online and EP eService accounts.

Demerit points, suspension and revocation

MOM does operate a demerit points system. Points are issued for breaches of the Act, the Rules or the Licence Conditions, and severe infringements such as illegal deployment of foreign workers or abuse of workers can lead straight to revocation.

Table 7. Consequences by demerit points accumulated

Points	Consequence
4	Minimum security deposit of S$40,000
8	Minimum security deposit of S$60,000
12	S$10,000 of the deposit forfeited, top up to S$60,000, surveillance, and all key appointment holders must re-take the CEI (KAH) exam
18	A further S$15,000 forfeited, top up to S$60,000, surveillance
24	Licence suspended or revoked, depending on the case

An agency with 12 or more points is placed under surveillance for 12 months, with Work Permit Online and EP eService accounts suspended for at least three months, the surveillance status published on the EA Directory, and audits. Any infringement during surveillance may lead to suspension or revocation.

Below 12 points, each point stays live for 12 months from the date it was issued. At 12 or more, the record clears only if no new points are accumulated for a continuous 12 months, and any new point extends the validity of the earlier ones.

MOM may revoke a licence where the agency contravenes the Act or Rules, breaches licence conditions, acts in a manner detrimental to the interest of clients or to the public interest, stops operating or stops for a continuous six months, goes into liquidation, is wound up or dissolved, commits a criminal offence, or is no longer fit and proper to hold the licence.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an employment agency licence cost?

MOM charges S$400 to apply and S$100 to issue, both non-refundable. Registering each EA personnel costs a further S$160. On top sit the CEI course and test fees and the banker’s guarantee for the security bond.

How long does it take to get a licence?

In-principle approval takes seven working days for most cases. The banker’s guarantee can take up to three weeks, and the IPA is valid for four weeks. Issuance follows within a working day of payment. Plan for four to eight weeks, more if the CEI is still to be obtained.

Do I need the CEI for a Select Licence?

No. The CEI is required for the three Comprehensive Licences only.

Can a foreigner hold an employment agency licence?

The applicant must be a Singapore citizen or permanent resident at the point of application. A foreigner may work in an agency as EA personnel, but needs a valid work pass for professionals tied to that agency.

How much can an employment agency charge a job seeker?

No more than one month of the worker’s fixed monthly salary for each year of service, capped at two months’ salary, calculated on basic salary plus all fixed allowances. Agencies may not charge agency fees for work pass renewals. There is no cap on what an agency may charge an employer.

What happens if I forget a quarterly referral submission?

It is a breach of Licence Condition 5(b) and may attract the prevailing penalties for breach of a licence condition. Nil returns are still required in a quarter with no referrals.

When can MOM revoke a licence?

Among other grounds, for contravening the Act or Rules, breaching licence conditions, acting against the interest of clients or the public, ceasing operations for six continuous months, insolvency, a criminal conviction, or no longer being fit and proper.

How we can help

Little Big Employment Agency Pte Ltd is an employment agency licensed by the Ministry of Manpower, EA Licence 19C9790. We are not a licensing consultancy and we do not apply for other people’s EA licences.

Where we are useful is the work the licence exists to permit. We prepare and file work pass applications for Singapore employers, manage renewals, appeals and cancellations, and carry the compliance load that goes with acting before MOM. Companies weighing an in-house agency capability often find that engaging a licensed agency costs less than obtaining and maintaining a licence, once the CEI hours, the S$60,000 bond and the quarterly returns are counted. Where you need incorporation, a resident director, corporate secretarial or payroll support, we refer you to Raffles Corporate Services under a separate engagement, and where a matter needs legal advice we refer it to an independent Singapore law firm.

Talk to our team about work pass work for your company.

Official sources

• MOM: Employment agencies
• MOM: Which employment agency licence to get
• MOM: Eligibility for an employment agency licence
• MOM: Eligibility for employment agency personnel
• MOM: Certificate of Employment Intermediaries (CEI)
• MOM: Security bond requirements for employment agencies
• MOM: Apply for an employment agency licence
• MOM: Register employment agency personnel
• MOM: De-register employment agency personnel
• MOM: Submit quarterly referral information
• MOM: Employment agencies, notify MOM of changes
• MOM: Demerit points system for employment agencies
• MOM: Refund of EA service fee
• MOM: Employment Agency Regulatory Framework

Figures checked against MOM guidance on 15 September 2026. This page is general information and not legal advice. See our legal and referral information.