Singapore to Scrap Performing Artiste Work Permit Scheme

If you run an entertainment outlet in Singapore – or if you are a performing artiste based in Singapore – pay attention to this. In December 2025, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced that the Performing Artiste Work Permit Scheme would be scrapped as of 1 June 2026.

Launched in 2008, the Performing Artiste Work Permit Scheme was designed to help licensed public entertainment outlets, such as bars, hotels, nightclubs, lounges, pubs and restaurants, bring in foreign talent for shows and entertainment acts. The scheme allowed venues to hire foreign performing artistes on a short-term basis – for up to 6 months – under regulated conditions. Think live bands, DJs, dancers, singers and other performers who could introduce some international flavour to Singapore’s entertainment scene.

But why the sudden shutdown? What’s next for these businesses and foreign performers? Let’s break it down in this article, which will cover:

• The requirements under the current scheme
• What led to the scheme getting scrapped
• What happens after the scheme is scrapped on 1 June 2026, including the available alternative routes

What are the Requirements Under the Current Performing Artiste Work Permit Scheme?

Who are the eligible employers for the scheme?

Your venue must meet these requirements:

• Hold a valid Public Entertainment Licence issued by the Singapore Police Force;
• Be open for at least 6 hours a day;
• Be a specific type of entertainment spot, such as a bar, discotheque, lounge, nightclub, pub, hotel, private club or restaurant; and
• Have at least one local Singaporean or Permanent Resident employee on your payroll earning a Local Qualifying Salary (i.e. the minimum salary threshold).

If you stop meeting any of the above rules (e.g., your local employee quits), your foreign performers’ permits will be invalid immediately.

Is there a quota or limit on the number of permits that can be granted?

Unfortunately, your business cannot just fill the stage with dozens of foreign performers. There are strict limits and levies that apply:

• Usually, a maximum of 8 permits can be granted. If your venue is large enough, you can request for 12 and this quota may be granted on a case-by-case basis.
• For the first 8 performers, you have to pay a monthly levy of $450 each. For the 9th to 12th performers, you have to pay $750 each.

What are the other costs involved? 

Here is a breakdown of the costs that you must bear as an employer under the scheme:

• Application and issuance fees. At the time of submitting the application, you must pay $75 for each permit requested. After the application is approved and you are ready for the pass to be officially issued, you must then pay another $100 for each permit.
• Security bond. If the performer is not a Malaysian, you must purchase a $5,000 security bond before the performer arrives in Singapore. Performers cannot purchase the bond themselves. If you or the performer violate any conditions under the work permit or security bond, the bond is forfeited and you may lose the full $5,000.
• Medical insurance. You must purchase medical insurance for the performer. The current requirement under MOM for each work permit holder is a minimum coverage of $60,000 per year for inpatient care.
• Medical examination. Once the performer arrives in Singapore, within two weeks, you must pay for them to go through a medical screening by a doctor registered in Singapore. This examination checks the performer for infectious diseases and ensures that the performer has a clean bill of health to work in Singapore.

What kind of roles can the artistes perform? What are they permitted/not permitted to do? 

Artistes must only perform jobs directly related to stage performance. This includes singing, dancing, playing instruments or staging shows at the licensed outlet that has hired them. They cannot carry out other jobs for the same business, such as serving as wait staff or cashiers. They are also not supposed to be hostesses hanging out with customers and selling drinks, or engage in freelance work at other outlets, or even perform door-to-door entertainment. The permit is solely for performing at the outlet.

How long do the permits last? On expiry, can they be renewed? 

The permits are issued for up to 6 months. They are not renewable. Pass holders will not be able to obtain any type of work permit until 1 year after the previous work permit expires or is cancelled.

What Led to the Performing Artiste Work Permit Scheme Getting Scrapped? 

On 1 December 2025, MOM announced that it would pull the plug on the scheme on 1 June 2026 after discovering that it had become a pipeline for the hostess industry. When authorities raided karaoke lounges and nightclubs, they uncovered syndicates gaming the entire system. They were setting up shell entertainment venues that existed only on paper, to secure performer permits in bulk. However, instead of performing, these foreign performers would be shuttled around to various clubs and lounges across the city, working as freelance hostesses.

The scale of the fraud was first uncovered in a major bust in September 2024. In a single day, 32 people were arrested, including a 33-year-old man who was believed to be running a syndicate controlling 28 shell public entertainment outlets. The operation revealed a pattern: these venues existed only to procure work permits for so-called “performing artistes” who never worked there. Authorities also found 16 men and 15 women who were involved in making false work pass applications that did not require their employment. It was clear that these businesses were no more than administrative fronts.

Nearly a year later, in September 2025, investigators made another 17 arrests, including five Singaporean men between 31 and 37 years of age who owned 7 public entertainment outlets, including a 34-year-old woman who ran an employment agency. Together, they ran a network that hired foreign performing artistes for non-operational venues, then sent them to work as freelance hostesses across nightclubs. Authorities revoked the work permits of 53 foreigners connected to the shell outlets and suspended the employment agency’s licence.

A major turning point occurred in October 2025. Authorities raided two public entertainment outlets in a single night and arrested 58 people. It uncovered that 32 foreigners who were hired as “performing artistes” did not actually have valid work permits. At this point, MOM concluded that the Performing Artiste Work Permit scheme was being abused to facilitate illegal employment and vice, and no longer served its intended purpose.

What Happens After 1 June 2026 When the Performing Artiste Work Permit is Scrapped? 

There is a grace period – current permit holders can stay until their permits expire or are cancelled. Nobody is getting kicked out overnight, yet. That being said, the clock is ticking, and if you own and operate a bar or nightclub that previously relied on hiring foreign performers for regular performances, you now need to reconsider your business model.

After 1 June 2026, you will not be able to submit new applications for Performing Artiste Work Permits. Once existing permits lapse, there will be no renewals or extensions. As an alternative, you may consider engaging licensed employment agencies that already contract with foreign performers and deploy them to employers. You could also hire performers on regular work passes (Employment Pass or S Pass), which have more stringent requirements. We will explain what these requirements are in the next section.

For the performers themselves, this also means there will no longer be a dedicated route to work in Singapore’s entertainment industry on a short-term basis, from 1 June 2026 onwards. It will be harder for the many performers from countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and India, who have traditionally relied on this scheme to be engaged in short-term work in Singapore. They will need to explore other routes to continue performing here. This includes working with a licensed employment agency or applying for a work pass, but these routes will have stricter eligibility criteria as mentioned above and may provide fewer opportunities compared to the previous scheme.

However, performers may still be employed under the Work Pass Exemption, though this is decided on a case-by-case basis. We will explain more about this exemption in the next section.

What alternative routes are available? 

So, what are the options available? Don’t fret – this is not the end of live entertainment in Singapore. Business owners just need to shift to other routes. Likewise, performers can explore these alternative routes and consider whether it applies to them.

Contract through service providers 

Instead of directly hiring individual foreign artistes, business owners can contract entertainment services through licensed agencies or service providers. The service provider handles the work passes and employment logistics and you just book the act for specific nights. This might become the default approach for many operators. The catch? It would be more expensive to hire a “middleman” on top of having to pay the performers’ salaries. Smaller entertainment venues might find themselves squeezed out, and these additional costs could price them out of the talent market.

You might even want to focus on local performers, change the type of entertainment at your venue, or depending on your business model, change the nature of your business entirely such that you do not have to depend on a constant pipeline of short-term performers.

Standard Work Passes (EP or S Pass) 

You might consider hiring performers for a longer period of time. Be aware that you will no longer be able to assess these performers by contracting them on a short-term basis through the Performing Artistes Work Permit scheme. In this case, you may apply for a regular S Pass or Employment Pass. However, these come with much stricter requirements:

• Employment Pass 

• • • Salary: The performer must earn between $5,600 and $10,700 per month, depending on his/her age – as the age of the performer increases, the salary requirement increases. The government benchmarks these wages according to the nature of the job and what local performers usually earn at various stages of their career.
    • COMPASS: Apart from salary requirements, the performer must also score at least 40 points on a points-based system (i.e., COMPASS) which is used to determine if a foreign worker can obtain an Employment Pass to work in Singapore. Points are awarded across four main categories: comparison of the candidate’s wages to local professionals in the same sector, their educational qualifications, how well their nationality diversifies the company’s workforce, and the employer’s track record of hiring Singaporean professionals relative to the rest of the industry. Bonus points are given for candidates with skills in jobs where skills shortages exist and if the company works with the government on strategic economic programmes.
      • To illustrate, let’s say you own a bar and you are trying to hire a 28-year-old singer from Vietnam. She earns at least $6,000 per month, which is higher than what many bar singers typically make. She has a music degree from a local university in Vietnam, earns just above the minimum salary and works for a small bar with just 10 staff, and Vietnamese already make up about 40% of your current employees. There is a chance that she will not be eligible for an employment pass. You may have to find another singer who attended a more prestigious university and is of another nationality (apart from Vietnamese) that is underrepresented in your team. You would also have to increase the performer’s salary. More points would be awarded for taking these actions, and you would have a better chance of getting the Employment Pass approved.

• S Pass 

• • Salary: The S Pass is considered a lower-tier work permit for those who do not meet the requirements of the Employment Pass. To qualify, the performer must earn a fixed monthly salary of between $3,300 and $4,800, depending on age.
  • Qualifications: Unlike the Employment Pass, which has a COMPASS points system, it is optional to declare educational qualifications for the S Pass. The application process is also more straightforward – candidates simply have to meet the salary standard, which is the top one-third of what the locals earn within their age group.

The government has a Self-Assessment Tool to evaluate whether a candidate is eligible for an S Pass or an Employment Pass. If the SAT indicates that the candidate is eligible in the preliminary assessment, there is an estimated 90% approval rate.

Work Pass Exemption (WPE) for short stints 

For one-off events or very short gigs, the performer you are planning to hire might be eligible for a Work Pass Exemption (WPE). Under this framework, foreigners can perform for up to 90 days in a year, without having to obtain a formal work pass. For example, the performer could perform 3 separate gigs spanning about 30 days each, and has a valid Short-Term Visit Pass (STVP) each time the performer travels to Singapore to perform each gig. The foreign performer must notify MOM of his/her intention to work in an exempted activity after arriving in Singapore and before the gig is performed.

There are two situations where the WPE would apply:

1. First, foreign performers can perform in any event that receives official support from the Singapore government, regardless of the venue type.
2. Second, they can perform at public performance venues, such as theatres and concert halls where the general public can attend. However, this exemption excludes bars, discotheques, lounges, nightclubs, hotels and restaurants that hold a Public Entertainment Licence. For example, this means that a band from Australia can perform at the Victoria Concert Hall but would not be eligible to perform at a hotel lounge, unless their performance is part of an event supported by the government.

Such exemptions are assessed on a case-by-case basis and are not guaranteed. They are also not suitable for regular, ongoing entertainment acts and are more for special one-time performances. If your business relies on a pipeline of foreign performers for regular shows, then this exemption framework might not help.

What are the legal consequences of hiring/working without a valid work pass?

For employers

If you are caught employing a foreigner without a valid work pass, you would be in violation of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA). You are looking at fines between $5,000 and $30,000 per illegal performer, imprisonment of up to 12 months or both. For repeat offenders, you will be imprisoned between 1 and 12 months, and incur a fine between $10,000 and $30,000. In addition, for breaching the EFMA, you may also lose your Public Entertainment Licence and MOM will also bar you from hiring foreign performers in the future. This could effectively shut down your business.

For the foreign performers

If foreign performers are caught without a valid work pass, they may also be fined up to $20,000, imprisoned for up to 2 years or both, under the EFMA. Their work passes may also be revoked, and they could be barred from working in Singapore in the future, if they are convicted. This was the case for three foreign individuals in Singapore who were convicted for working as self-employed foreigners without obtaining valid work passes in October 2023.

— 

The bottom line is that the scrapping of the Performing Artiste Work Permit scheme marks the end of an era for Singapore’s nightlife and entertainment industry.

Here is a summary of the key takeaways:

• The scheme ends 1 June 2026 – no new applications or extensions after this date. Existing permits can run until the expiry date.
• Violations (i.e. continuing to hire foreign performers outside of the conditions of their work permit) will carry serious penalties – heavy fines or even jail time and license revocations.
• Alternative routes exist but have more stringent requirements.
• Planning ahead is essential, especially if your business has been relying on a steady stream of foreign performers on a short-term basis.

If you are a business owner who has been relying on this scheme, now is the time to act. Review your current workforce, assess which permits are expiring when and start exploring alternative arrangements and business models before it is too late. Consider consulting an employment lawyer who can help assess whether proposed arrangements fit within existing work pass frameworks and design compliant contracts and operational structures that reduce EFMA and licensing risk.

If you are a performing artiste currently working in Singapore under the Performing Artistes Work Permit Scheme – or if you are aspiring to work in Singapore as a performing artiste – start considering your options to be hired. There are alternative routes available, whether it is working with a licensed employment agency, being hired directly on regular Employment or S Pass frameworks, or performing under the Work Pass Exempt framework. Research the various eligibility requirements carefully and make sure that they apply to you. You should also consider consulting an employment lawyer to review your individual situation, the possible pathways open to you, and ensure that you do not breach any employment or immigration laws in Singapore.

Get in touch with our employment lawyers here or use our Call a Lawyer service for a fast and hassle-free consultation with an employment lawyer.