Overview

The Work Holiday Programme (WHP) has been updated in December 2012 to ensure that it helps qualified young foreign students and graduates to take up internships in Singapore.

Who is eligible for the WHP?

• University undergraduates and graduates aged between 18 and 25 years old may work in Singapore under the WHP for up to six months.
• Undergraduate applicants must be resident and full-time students of the university for at least 3 months before making the WHP application.
• Graduates must be former resident and full-time students of the university.

The WHP is applicable to students from these countries/territories:

• Australia
• France
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• Japan
• New Zealand
• United States
• United Kingdom

They must also be resident of the top 200 universities in any of the following rankings within the past 5 years:

• Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings
• Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities
• Times Higher Education World University Rankings

Work Holiday Pass holders are not restricted to specific types of work. However, existing licensing, registration or accreditation requirements (e.g. medicine or law) will apply. Since this is a short work stint, there would not be any minimum salary requirement.

Foreign students who do not meet the above criteria can consider applying for the Training Employment Pass.

In addition, the WHP now has a capacity for 2,000 applicants at any one point in time and applicants must not hold a WHP within 12 months from the submission of an application.

What documents are required to apply under the WHP?

• A letter from the University/College stating the applicant’s matriculation, name, nationality, gender and date of birth;
• A copy of the degree certificate or transcripts (for graduates)
• A copy of the student card issued by the awarding institution (for undergraduates)
• A copy of the personal particulars page of the applicant’s passport/travel document