Relocating to Singapore: The Complete Guide
Few places reward planning quite like Singapore. The city-state is compact, safe and almost frictionless to live in once you arrive — English is an official language, public transport is excellent, and the business environment is world-class. The catch is cost: housing, schooling and cars sit among the highest on the planet, and the rules around who can work here have tightened steadily. This guide walks you through what relocating to Singapore actually involves in 2026, with indicative figures so you can budget realistically. Immigration policy and prices move quickly, so treat the numbers as a 2026 snapshot — we confirm the current position with you before you commit.
Overview
Singapore is an island nation of around six million people, served by Changi — one of the best-connected airports in Asia and roughly seven and a half hours from Dubai. For UAE-based professionals it is a natural next step: a low-tax, highly organised hub with a deep financial, tech and shipping sector. The trade-off is that almost everything to do with settling — a home, a school place, a car — carries a premium, and your right to live here is tied tightly to your work pass. Get the pass strategy right first, and the rest of the move becomes a matter of logistics.
Visas and residency
Singapore has no general “move here and look for work” visa. Almost everyone arrives on an employer-sponsored work pass, and the type you qualify for depends on salary, qualifications and role. The main routes in 2026 are:
- Employment Pass (EP) — for professionals, managers and executives. The qualifying salary starts at an indicative S$5,600 per month (around S$6,200 in financial services) and rises with age, reaching roughly S$10,700 (S$11,800 in finance) for candidates aged 45 and above. EP applications are also scored against COMPASS, a points framework covering salary, qualifications, firm diversity and support for local hiring — you generally need 40 points to pass. Candidates earning around S$22,500 a month or more are typically exempt from COMPASS scoring.
- S Pass — for mid-skilled staff, with an indicative minimum of S$3,300 per month (about S$3,800 in financial services), also rising with age, and subject to employer quotas and levies.
- EntrePass — for founders launching an innovative, venture-backed or IP-rich business; assessed on the business plan and track record rather than salary.
- Personalised Employment Pass (PEP) — a non-employer-tied pass for high earners, requiring a fixed salary of around S$22,500 a month (roughly S$270,000 a year). It cannot be held alongside running your own business and has strict unemployment limits.
- Dependant’s Pass (DP) — for the spouse and unmarried children under 21 of a pass holder earning a fixed monthly salary of at least an indicative S$6,000. Parents can usually only be sponsored via a Long-Term Visit Pass where the sponsor earns around S$12,000 or more.
Permanent Residence is possible after a period on a pass but is discretionary and competitive. Our visa and immigration team assesses your profile against the latest thresholds before you apply, and we handle attestation and legalisation of degrees, marriage and birth certificates — documents Singapore commonly asks dependants to produce.
Cost of living (2026)
Singapore is consistently ranked among the world’s most expensive cities, and housing is the single biggest driver. Public housing (HDB) flats can be rented by foreigners and are meaningfully cheaper than private condominiums, though the gap with condo living — pool, gym, concierge — is large. The figures below are indicative monthly ranges for 2026 and vary widely by district, age of building and proximity to an MRT station.
| Item | Indicative monthly cost (2026) |
|---|---|
| HDB flat rental (3–4 room, whole unit) | S$2,800 – S$4,200 |
| 1-bed condo, city/central | S$3,500 – S$5,500 |
| 2-bed condo, prime districts (9/10/11) | S$6,200 – S$8,500 |
| 3-bed condo, family (suburban to prime) | S$6,500 – S$9,000+ |
| Utilities & internet | S$250 – S$450 |
| Groceries (couple) | S$600 – S$1,000 |
| Public transport pass (per person) | S$120 – S$160 |
| Domestic helper (live-in, all-in) | S$900 – S$1,400 |
Eating at hawker centres remains genuinely affordable, but restaurant dining, alcohol and anything car-related are expensive. GST is currently 9%. Budget conservatively for the first few months, when deposits and one-off set-up costs land together.
Where to live and home search
Singapore is small but its neighbourhoods feel distinct. Families often favour the east (Katong, Siglap, East Coast) for its leafy, low-rise feel and proximity to several schools, or the central-west belt (Bukit Timah, Holland Village) near international campuses. Singles and couples gravitate to the centre — Tiong Bahru, River Valley, Tanjong Pagar — for walkability and nightlife. Expo, Punggol and the north offer newer, more affordable stock at the cost of a longer commute.
Leases usually run two years, with one to three months’ deposit plus the first month upfront, and a diplomatic clause that lets you break early if you leave the country. Viewing remotely from the UAE is workable but easy to get wrong on layout, noise and commute. Our home search service shortlists properties to your budget and shortlist criteria, attends viewings on your behalf, and negotiates terms so you sign with confidence.
Schools and education
Most relocating families choose international schools, since places in the public system are limited for foreigners and follow the local curriculum. Singapore offers a deep bench of British, American, IB and other-curriculum schools — but fees are high and waiting lists for popular campuses are real. As an indicative 2026 guide, annual tuition ranges from roughly S$25,000 at mid-market schools to S$45,000–S$60,000+ at the premium names, before registration, capital levies, uniforms, transport and lunches, which can add 10–30% on top.
Apply early — ideally several months ahead — and line up reference letters and prior school reports in advance. Our school search service matches your child’s age, curriculum and learning needs to suitable schools, manages applications and assessments, and helps you sequence offers against your move date.
Healthcare
Singapore’s healthcare is excellent but private for newcomers. Foreigners who are not citizens or permanent residents have no access to subsidised public care and are not covered by MediShield Life, so you pay full price or rely on insurance. Hospitals and clinics typically require payment or a deposit upfront if you are uninsured, and costs are high — a specialist consultation alone can run to several hundred Singapore dollars.
Comprehensive expat health insurance is effectively essential. As an indicative 2026 figure, an individual international plan averages in the region of S$8,000–S$9,000 a year, with family cover considerably more; basic local hospital-and-surgical plans for a healthy adult can start nearer S$150–S$300 a month. Many employers provide a group policy — check the limits, and arrange a top-up or standalone plan before you arrive so there is no gap in cover.
Shipping your belongings and customs
Sea freight from Jebel Ali to Singapore is the standard route for a household move and typically takes a few weeks door to door, depending on sailing schedules and customs clearance. Singapore applies 9% GST on the CIF value (cost, insurance and freight) of imported goods, and the small-value relief that applies to air parcels does not extend to sea or land shipments.
The key concession for movers is transfer-of-residence relief: GST relief can apply to used personal and household effects provided they have been in your possession and used for a qualifying period (commonly three months or more) and are imported within six months of your first arrival in Singapore. Conditions are detailed and change, so we confirm your eligibility and prepare the paperwork carefully. Some items — alcohol, tobacco and certain electronics — carry duty or restrictions. Our international moving team packs, ships and clears your consignment and handles the GST and customs permits end to end.
Bringing pets and vehicles
Dogs and cats can be brought in, but the process is strict and time-sensitive. You will need an AVS import licence, ISO-standard microchipping, up-to-date rabies vaccination and, for most countries outside the lowest-risk category, a rabies blood (serology) test with a waiting period before travel. Pets from the UAE generally fall into a controlled-risk schedule, so plan the vaccination and serology timeline several months ahead, and note that from 1 April 2026 only AVS-recognised pet agents may handle clearance at the Changi quarantine facility. Our pet relocation service manages the licences, testing schedule and flights so nothing slips.
Bringing a car is rarely worth it. Beyond GST and duties, every vehicle needs a Certificate of Entitlement (COE), bid for at twice-monthly auctions, plus a hefty Additional Registration Fee. As an indicative June 2026 guide, COE premiums alone ran to around S$126,000 for smaller cars and S$127,000–S$129,000 for larger ones — before the price of the car itself. Most newcomers sell up before leaving the UAE and rely on Singapore’s superb public transport. If you do have a specialist or classic vehicle, our vehicle relocation service can advise and ship it.
How Relocate MENA helps you move to Singapore
We are a full-service relocation and global mobility company headquartered in Dubai, and we move both individuals and entire corporate teams anywhere to anywhere. For Singapore that means one coordinated plan: confirming the right work pass and COMPASS strategy, attesting your documents, finding and securing a home, placing your children in school, arranging health cover, shipping and clearing your belongings, and bringing your pets — all managed by a single point of contact who knows both the UAE departure side and the Singapore arrival side. Tell us your timeline and we’ll build the move around it.
Request a callback and we’ll map out your move to Singapore.