The COMPASS Grace Period Is Over: What Filipino EP Holders in Singapore Face at Renewal From July 2026
From July 1, every Employment Pass renewal is scored under the full COMPASS points test. Here is what Filipino professionals should check before their pass expires.
You have built a life here. A job, a rented flat in Tampines or Jurong, kids in a nearby school, a routine that took years to settle. All of it rests on one card: your Employment Pass. From 1 July 2026, the rules that decide whether that card gets renewed changed for everyone.
The Ministry of Manpower now scores every EP renewal under the full COMPASS points system. The grace period that let older passes skip the test has ended. If your pass expires on or after 1 July, your renewal faces the same forty-point bar as a fresh application, no matter when you first landed the job.
The change affects you, and there are steps to take before your expiry date arrives.
What COMPASS measures
COMPASS stands for the Complementarity Assessment Framework. It scores your renewal across four main areas and two bonus ones, and you need at least 40 points to pass.
Salary (C1): MOM compares your fixed monthly pay against local professionals in your sector and age group. Earn around the median for your peers, you score. Sit below it, you lose ground.
Qualifications (C2): Points come from your degree. A qualification from a recognised university earns more, and MOM refreshed its list of recognised institutions for 2026.
Diversity (C3): Your nationality counts here, in your favour. If Filipinos are a small share of your company's professional staff, your renewal scores higher.
Local employment support (C4): This rewards employers who hire and keep Singaporean professionals. You cannot control it, but your company can.
Bonus points come from a Shortage Occupation List and from strategic partnerships your firm may hold.
The scoring is your employer's job to work through. The risk lands on you.
The change that catches people out
Until this year, a pass granted before COMPASS took effect could renew under the older, looser rules for one cycle. That was the grace period. It is gone.
From 1 July 2026, MOM scores your renewal using its January 2026 benchmarks, whatever year your original pass came from. Three things shifted with those benchmarks.
The salary bar under C1 rose, because MOM raises the local reference figures each year. The pay that scored you points two years ago may not clear the line now.
The qualifications list under C2 changed, so a university that counted before may not count the same today.
The Shortage Occupation List under C5 lost several technology roles and gained healthcare ones. If your job used to earn a bonus and no longer appears, part of your buffer vanished.
A renewal that would have sailed through in 2024 can fall short in 2026 without anything changing on your end.
What to do before your pass expires
Start early. MOM lets employers renew up to six months before expiry, and you want that runway if a problem surfaces.
Ask your employer to run your profile through the COMPASS self-assessment tool on the MOM website. It takes minutes and shows your projected score. If you land close to 40 or below, you have time to fix it rather than react to a rejection.
Check your salary against your age and sector band. If you sit a little under the line, a raise at your next review, even a small one, can move you above it. Raise it with your manager now, not after the renewal is filed.
Confirm your qualification still counts. If your university dropped off the recognised list, professional certifications or a longer track record with the same employer can carry weight in the wider assessment.
Keep your documents current. An expired passport, a stale address, or a mismatch between your job title and your real duties slows everything down and gives MOM reason to query.
If your renewal is refused, you are not out of options that day. Your employer can appeal, and you may keep a short window to sort out your status or line up another role. Speak to your company's HR the day you hear, not the week after.
Your pass is the ground everything else stands on. Give it the same attention you would give a lease renewal or a school registration. Run the self-assessment this month, fix what you can while there is still time, and walk into your renewal knowing the number before MOM tells you.
