Landing Month One — Singapore

You enter on the in-principle approval letter, the employer issues the pass, and MOM's notification letter lets you start work (and travel) while the card is produced; fingerprints and photo happen at the Employment Pass Services Centre, card in one to four weeks. Do not wait for plastic to start anything.

The major banks open accounts for EP holders on passport plus the EP card or IPA letter and an address proof — no credit history needed. Which documents each bank accepts (some want the physical card) is bank policy and changes; check the branch's list first.

Tenancy stamp duty is payable to IRAS within fourteen days of signing (e-Stamping), and by the statutory default and near-universal convention the tenant is the liable party unless the agreement says otherwise. Landlords rarely volunteer this; the penalty for late stamping is real.

CPF contributions are payable only for citizens and permanent residents; an EP holder neither contributes nor receives the employer's share. The salary number that looked generous next to a citizen colleague's may be the same package minus a pension — price that in, and start a private plan early.

A long-term-pass holder may drive on a valid foreign licence for up to twelve months — measured from pass validity, a detail secondary sources often misstate as arrival — after which conversion at Traffic Police requires passing the Basic Theory Test. Book it before month nine.

You are an IRAS tax resident if in Singapore 183 days or more in the year (a pass valid a year or longer is administratively treated as resident). File this for later too: when a foreign employee eventually leaves, the employer must file tax clearance (IR21) a month before departure and withhold all monies until it clears — plan any exit around it.