Singapore Representative Office Registration with Employment Pass

Setting Up a Representative Office in Singapore with Relocation

Foreign commercial entity must fulfill the following criteria:

• Sales turnover of the foreign entity must be more than  US$250,000
• No. of years of establishment of the foreign entity must be more than 3 years
• Proposed no. of staff for RO should be less than 5 people

Taxation of Singapore Representative Office

A Singapore representative office cannot engage in commercial revenue-generating activities, and therefore need not file for annual tax returns. However, income paid to the staff of the Representative Office including the Chief Representative is subject to Singapore personal income tax.

If you choose to set up a Singapore Representative Office, you must take the following steps:

1. Submit an application to register the Representative Office. Rikvin can assist you in the registration of your Representative Office.
2. You can apply for an Employment Pass only after you have succeeded in registering the Representative Office. The Employment Pass application is for the Chief Representative who is the appointed staff member from the foreign company. The Employment Pass will allow the Chief Representative to relocate to Singapore to run the Representative Office.
3. You will require a local registered office address. Rikvin can provide you with the use of our corporate registered address on a temporary or long term basis, if needed.

Note: Representative Office registration and Employment Pass application can be processed without you having to be in Singapore.

Required Documents for Representative Office Registration

To register a Singapore representative office a completed application along with supporting documents must be filed with International Enterprise Singapore. The processing time for the application is approximately 5 working days.

The following documents are required when registering a representative office in Singapore:

• Completed application
• Copy of the parent Company’s Certificate of Incorporation
• Copy of the parent Company’s latest annual report and audited accounts
• Duly endorsed undertaking to abide by the Terms and Conditions governing Representative Offices in Singapore

In the event when the annual report and audited accounts are not available (for example when the parent company is relatively new), you can self-declare the needed information and provide other supporting details such as company brochures, contracts, website, etc. to support your application. All documents submitted must be in English or an official English translation of the documents.

Generally the approval process is simple as long as the required documents are valid and the intended Singapore Representative Office activities are within the scope allowed. In some cases, International Enterprise Singapore may request for additional information for further clarifications.

Step 1 – Submit Your Request and Provide Incorporation Details

Upon receipt of your company incorporation details, we will:

• Check your proposed company’s name availability.
• Follow up with you to clarify queries (if any) and advise accordingly.
• Send you an invoice for our services.

Step 2 – Make Payment

We will commence with the preparation of incorporation documents upon receiving the payment for services as reflected in the invoice. We accept payment via cash, cheque, telegraphic transfer and credit card.*

You will then have to sign the incorporation documents either in Singapore before us or before Notary Public if you are overseas.
*(Admin surcharges apply.)

Step 3 – Apply for Employment Pass (EP)

Rikvin submits all Employment Pass (EP) applications electronically to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) so that you can learn of your application outcome sooner.

• It takes MOM between 1-15 working days to process the application.
• Upon receiving the In-principle Approval notification, we will make arrangements for the collection of your EP.

The application for the employment pass can only be done once the representative office application has been approved by IE Singapore.
Generally the approval process is simple as long as the required documents are valid and the intended Representative Office activities are within the scope allowed. In some cases, International Enterprise Singapore may request for additional information for further clarifications.

Representative Office Registration

• Application of Representative office
• Follow up and status Tracking with IE Singapore
• Follow-up with authorities for all required clarifications, if any

Employment Pass Filing for Chief Officer

Our service includes the following:

• Application of Employment Pass onLine (EPOL) with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM). Online submissions are approved 50% faster compared to manual filing.
• Development, compilation and submission of required documents.
• Status tracking with Ministry of Manpower.
• Follow-up with authorities for all required clarifications.

* All our employment pass filing is done online and not manual filing. This will cut the approval process time by half.

Registered Office Address

The companies Act requires all Singapore incorporated entity to have a Singapore-based registered address.

• All Singapore Companies require a local registered address for official communication.
• Rikvin can provide a prestigious address if you don’t have one.
• If this option is terminated prematurely, any unused amount is refunded on a pro-rated basis.

Dependant Pass Application

Employment Pass or EntrePass work pass holders are eligible to apply for Dependent Pass visa for their Spouse and unmarried children below 21 years age.

• Dependant Pass (DP) Application Processing
• Online filing for faster results
• Status tracking with Ministry of Manpower
• Follow Up Liaising with authorities in case of any clarifications required