Johnathan Lee Kui Bao

By Johnathan Lee, Advocate and Solicitor (Singapore). Updated 31 July 2026.

In Singapore, making a false or misleading declaration in an Employment Pass, S Pass or Work Permit application is an offence under section 22(1)(d) of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act 1990 (EFMA). Each false declaration carries a fine of up to $20,000, imprisonment of up to two years, or both. Since Chiew Kok Chai v Public Prosecutor [2019] SGHC 169, a custodial sentence is the norm, not the exception. MOM also imposes administrative penalties, including revoking work passes and barring employers from hiring foreign workers.

What counts as a false declaration in a work pass application?

Any statement or information given to MOM in connection with a work pass application or renewal which you know, or ought reasonably to know, is false in a material particular. Section 22(1)(d) also covers statements that are misleading because they leave out a material particular, so a technically true answer that hides the real position can still be an offence.

The declarations I see prosecuted fall into recurring patterns:

• Inflated fixed monthly salaries declared to meet Employment Pass or S Pass qualifying thresholds, with the worker actually paid less or made to return part of the salary.
• Forged or degree-mill qualifications submitted to support an application.
• Job titles and job descriptions that do not match the work actually done, or declaring that the foreigner will work for one company when he is really deployed to another.
• Phantom local employees placed on CPF to inflate the foreign worker quota, the scheme behind MOM’s January 2025 arrests.

Two features of the provision catch people out. First, “ought reasonably to know” means a director or HR signatory who signs off without checking can be liable even without actual knowledge of the falsehood. Second, section 23 of the EFMA makes abetting the offence punishable with the same penalties, which is how agents and middlemen end up charged alongside the employer.

What are the penalties for a false work pass declaration?

Each charge under section 22(1)(d) carries a fine of up to $20,000, imprisonment of up to two years, or both. Charges are typically framed per false application or renewal, so an employer who repeated an inflated salary across several passes faces a stack of charges, each with its own maximum. In the GD Group case, seven charges (13 more taken into consideration) produced a $94,500 fine, and the company was barred from hiring foreign employees.

Both sides of the application are exposed:

Who	Typical offence	Maximum penalty per charge	Administrative consequences
Employer, director or HR signatory	Making or abetting a false declaration (EFMA ss 22(1)(d) and 23)	$20,000 fine, 2 years’ imprisonment, or both	Work pass privileges suspended or cut off; existing passes revoked
Foreign employee (declarant)	False statements or false qualifications in the application	$20,000 fine, 2 years’ imprisonment, or both	Pass revoked; permanently barred from working in Singapore

For businesses, debarment is often the heavier blow: a company built on foreign manpower can lose the ability to hire it. Treat every declaration as a compliance document, not a formality. I cover the wider employer landscape on my employment law page.

Will you go to jail for declaring a higher salary in an EP application?

If you are prosecuted personally, the realistic starting point is imprisonment. In Chiew Kok Chai v Public Prosecutor [2019] SGHC 169, the High Court held that a custodial sentence should be the norm for section 22(1)(d) offences and that a fine will generally not suffice unless substantial mitigating factors are present. The court set out three sentencing bands: short custodial terms of under five months for less serious cases, five to 15 months for the middle range, and 15 to 24 months for the most serious. The offender there, who conspired to obtain passes for three workers by declaring the wrong employing company, received an aggregate of 12 weeks’ imprisonment on those charges despite pleading guilty.

Where the sentence lands depends on factors the court identified: the materiality of the false particular, the nature and sophistication of the deception, the gain obtained, and the offender’s role and motive. Declaring an inflated salary to clear the EP qualifying threshold is squarely material, because the pass would not have been granted on the true figures. Kickback arrangements, fabricated payslips or fake CPF contributions add culpability.

A company cannot be jailed, so corporate defendants receive fines, as GD Group did. But MOM does not stop at the company: the directors, managers and HR staff who made or authorised the declaration can be charged personally, and it is they who face the custodial norm. If you have already been called up, my guide on being arrested or under investigation in Singapore explains what happens next.

What happens if a fake degree is caught in an Employment Pass application?

For the employee, three things follow: the pass is revoked, the foreigner is permanently barred from working in Singapore, and in the more serious cases MOM prosecutes. In July 2021, MOM announced that two work pass holders were jailed for one week and four weeks respectively for submitting false qualifications from a discredited university, on top of the permanent bar. In the same release, MOM said it had barred an average of 660 foreigners a year for fake education credentials, prosecuting an average of eight a year. Detection does not stop once the pass is granted: MOM screens submitted qualifications against its database of institutions, requires verification proof from third-party screening organisations for higher-risk applications, and in the 2021 cases the false degrees came to light only after the passes had been issued, when the university came under investigation.

Blaming an agent is rarely an answer. The declaration is made in the applicant’s name, and the “ought reasonably to know” limb reaches an applicant who let false documents go in without checking what was submitted for him.

Employers are not bystanders either. If MOM’s investigation suggests the employer knew the qualification was fake, or wrote the job description around it, the employer’s own declarations come under scrutiny. An employer who genuinely relied on a forged certificate is in a very different position, and establishing that difference early matters.

What does MOM look for when it investigates a false declaration?

MOM looks for the gap between what was declared and what actually happened, and it has the data to find it. Declared salaries can be checked against payment records such as bank transfers, CPF contributions and payslips. In the GD Group case, 20 workers declared at $4,000 to $4,800 were actually paid $1,500 to $2,200 over a period of about two and a half years. Qualifications are screened against MOM’s database of institutions, with third-party verification checks for higher-risk applications. Job descriptions are tested against what workers tell MOM they really did. Where it suspects an organised scheme, MOM moves with scale: the January 2025 operation involved simultaneous raids at 37 locations and 11 arrests, with 16 more people under investigation for fraudulent CPF contributions used to inflate quotas.

If MOM contacts you or your company, take it seriously from the first interview. Statements recorded by investigators will be used, and inconsistent explanations do real damage. Before you attend, read my guide on what to do if you are arrested or under investigation in Singapore, and get advice before you commit to a version of events. How a discrepancy is explained, corrected and mitigated can affect whether MOM proceeds by prosecution, composition or administrative action. I used to prosecute these cases at MOM; I now act for employers and employees facing them, and the earliest decisions usually matter most.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the penalty for a false declaration in a work pass application in Singapore?

Under section 22(1)(d) of the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act 1990, each false or misleading declaration carries a fine of up to $20,000, imprisonment of up to two years, or both. MOM can also revoke the work pass, permanently bar the foreign employee from working in Singapore and cut off the employer’s work pass privileges.

Is jail really the norm for false work pass declarations?

Yes. In Chiew Kok Chai v Public Prosecutor [2019] SGHC 169 the High Court held that a custodial sentence should be the norm for section 22(1)(d) offences, with fines generally reserved for cases with substantial mitigating factors. The court set three sentencing bands, from short custodial terms below five months up to 24 months’ imprisonment.

I declared a higher salary in an EP application than I actually pay. What should I do?

You are exposed on every application and renewal that repeated the figure, because MOM can compare declared salaries against actual payments, CPF records and bank transfers. Get legal advice before responding to MOM or correcting the record, as how the discrepancy is explained and rectified can materially affect whether you are charged.

What happens to an employee caught with a fake degree in an Employment Pass application?

MOM revokes the pass, permanently bars the foreigner from working in Singapore, and prosecutes in more serious cases. In July 2021, MOM reported jailing two work pass holders for one week and four weeks for submitting false qualifications, and said it barred an average of 660 foreigners a year for fake education credentials.

Can I be prosecuted if my agent or HR staff filled in the form?

Possibly. Section 22(1)(d) covers statements you knew, or ought reasonably to have known, were false, and section 23 of the EFMA makes abetment punishable with the same penalties. Anyone who signs off on, or knowingly supplies, false information for a work pass application is at risk, whoever typed it in.

This article is general information, not legal advice. It states Singapore law as at July 2026. Speak to a lawyer about your specific situation.