Move to Singapore from the USA in 2024:

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No Visa Required:

USA Citizens coming to Singapore and can stay for up to 90 days. If you have a job lined up with a Singapore company, they will have applied for your work pass with the Ministry of Manpower (MoM). Your employer will confirm your contract and collect from MoM your work pass, and any dependency passes that are applicable. You may incorporate a business entity, apply for a work visa and dependency passes, or long-term visitor passes for family. It can be straight forward when making the move to Singapore from the USA.

No COVID or Vaccination status:

There are no longer COVID-19 or vaccination status measures for travellers arriving in Singapore. Check for any health alerts that might arise from time to time.

Dependents

You may want to bring your dependents, such as your wife and children, with you. To do so, you will need to apply for the appropriate passes for them, depending on your eligibility and their relationship to you. The most common type of pass for dependents of work pass holders is the Dependant’s Pass (DP) or Long Term Visitors Pass (LTVP). You can apply for a DP for your legally married spouse and your unmarried children under 21 years old, including those legally adopted. To be eligible for a DP, you need to meet the following requirements:

• The sponsoring applicant holding the employment pass must earn a minimum SGD 6,000 per month remuneration as salaried wage from being hired by a well established and Singapore registered company, serving as your sponsor. Bear in mid that the average monthly earning in SGD 4,000 but that visiting professional foreigners with post graduate qualifications will earn from SG$ 8,000 to SGD 20,000 and up. The minimum monthly SGD 6,000 is calculated from the annual salary of the sponsoring applicant and not the combined family income which is the case in some government interactions.
• Dependents are not expected to be economically active. If DP holders which to work they must apply for Employment Pass ( EP ), S Pass or Work Permit. E-Pass and the S-Pass are two separate work passes meant for professionals with high-level qualifications and technicians with mid-level skills. On the other hand, the Work Permits are unskilled workers with a lower-level of skills-set, working in laboring industries.

Long Term Visitors Pass

Defendant Pass are for the family members of none Singapore Citizens or Permanent Residents, To be eligible for an LTVP, you need to meet the same requirements as a DP, except for the minimum salary requirement and that the sponsor is a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident. You will also need to provide additional documents to prove your relationship with your dependents, such as a declaration form or a court order. The application fee for each LTVP is $105 and the issuance fee is $225. The validity of the LTVP will vary depending on your work pass validity and other factors. You can renew the LTVP as long as you hold a valid work pass.

Singapore hotels:

Singapore hotels can be as pricey as Manhattan, London and Paris. If you don’t want to downgrade, look into long-stay value options of serviced apartments and private rental homes. (See pages “hotels and accommodation”).

Business culture and etiquette:

Singapore’s business culture at large is about people getting along, the country is too small for strife, so while Singaporeans tolerate the entitled westerner “to POSH to push to stubborn to shove, bullies”, Singaporeans have seen it all before, and it won’t get you anywhere. Play it smart, and play it cool. Get along with people, and you will get along in business. Bribes are not OK in Singapore. Do not offer a percentage of business for doing business. It is illegal, it will offend, it is unethical and against USA, EU and SGX regulations.

The Dress code:

Smart but casual, clean, ironed and box fresh is the fashion. This is the tropics, only real estate agents and bankers wear ties, and only the Japanese and Germans wear full suits. You already stand out, so your goal is to fit in and get on. For men in the central business district (CBD), it is long trousers and for women skirts, in the suburbs, both sexes are seen in shorts. Malay women and other Muslim women but not all dress more conservatively, some in hijab, occasionally the burka, and sometimes just long leggings and long sleeves, others in short shorts. Some Myanmar women wear traditional talcum powder in an iconic manner on their faces (Thanakha). Notice the multicultural side by side, back to back at the same lunch table.

Incorporating a business:

Singapore is great for business, Singapore is an easy entry, easy exit market and whilst regulated for your protection it is slim-lined for ease of execution. You are not required to be a local but you will need a local officer. Whilst you are not required to use a law firm and individuals can complete the company registration online. Singapore is built for business and many accounting, audit and law firms specialise in company registration at competitive rates as a way of offering you your future business needs as you grow.

USA & SG tax law:

Singapore earnings are generally subject to US federal income tax unless they qualify for certain exclusions or credits. This is because the US taxes its citizens and residents on their worldwide income, regardless of where they live or work. However, there are some ways that you can reduce or eliminate your US tax liability on your Singapore earnings, such as:

• “Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE)”, is a provision that allows you to exclude up to $108,700 (for 2021) of your foreign earned income from your US taxable income if you meet either the bona fide residence test or the physical presence test.
• “Foreign Housing Exclusion or Deduction”: This is a provision that allows you to exclude or deduct a certain amount of your foreign housing expenses from your US taxable income if you qualify for the FEIE. The foreign housing expenses include rent, utilities, repairs, insurance, etc. The amount of exclusion or deduction depends on your location, income, and expenses.
• “Foreign Tax Credit (FTC)”: This is a provision that allows you to claim a credit for the income taxes that you paid or accrued to a foreign country/region if you are subject to both US and foreign tax on the same income.
• “US-Singapore Income Tax Treaty”: This is an agreement between the US and Singapore that aims to prevent double taxation and promote cooperation on tax matters. The treaty provides rules and benefits for different types of income, such as business profits, dividends, interest, royalties, capital gains, etc. The treaty also provides relief from double taxation through the exchange of information and mutual agreement procedures.

It is also worth noting that Singapore does not tax money entering Singapore. Singapore does not tax foreign income, be aware of the grey area of income generated via local services on foreign income, that should be declared for Singapore taxes. Singapore local income taxes are simple, low, with generous thresholds and easily calculated annually at https://www.iras.gov.sg/