Moving to Singapore: A Practical Guide to Your First 30 Days

Your first month after moving to Singapore comes down to five jobs: sort your pass and Singpass, get a local SIM and a way to pay for transport, find a home through a registered agent, learn your neighbourhood, and start building a social life early. Do the paperwork in week one, then put as much energy into people as admin.

Before you land

Most travellers need to submit the SG Arrival Card within three days before arrival, counting the day you arrive. Use the SGAC e-Service on the ICA website or the free MyICA app. Submission is free, and ICA does not endorse commercial sites that charge a fee to file it for you, so skip those.

If you are coming to work, your employer will usually handle your pass application. For the Employment Pass, MOM uses a two-stage test. First, the candidate must earn at least the EP qualifying salary, which is benchmarked to the top third of local professional salaries by age. Second, most applications must score 40 points under the COMPASS framework. Qualifying salaries are due to rise for new applications from 1 January 2027, so check MOM's eligibility page for the figures that apply to you rather than relying on old forum posts.

Week one: Singpass, phone and getting around

Singpass. Singpass is Singapore's national digital identity, and you will use it to log in to many government and private services. Foreigners holding a valid MOM or ICA pass, including the Employment Pass, S Pass, EntrePass, Dependant's Pass, Long-Term Visit Pass, Work Permit and certain Student Passes, can register with their FIN. Start at the official Singpass site and set up the app for login.

A local SIM. Prepaid SIMs in Singapore must be registered. At M1, for example, foreigners register with a passport, and SIMs registered with a foreign passport automatically expire after 30 days unless you update the registration to your pass. If you plan to stay on prepaid, do that update as soon as your pass arrives, or compare postpaid and SIM-only plans once you have it.

Transport. You do not need to buy a card on day one. LTA says you can pay for MRT and bus rides with contactless credit or debit cards and phone or smartwatch wallets such as Apple Pay or Google Pay, all at adult fares. SimplyGo EZ-Link and NETS cards also work, and cash is accepted on buses only, at higher fares. Download a journey planner, then ride your future commute at rush hour before you commit to a flat.

Weeks one to three: finding a home

Check every agent. The Council for Estate Agencies runs a Public Register where you can look up an agent by phone number. If no profile appears, CEA says the listing is likely a scam, even if the name and registration number look real. Genuine agents have a CEA registration number in the format R, six digits and a letter, and adverts should show the agent's name, registration number and phone number. It is an offence to carry out estate agency work without registration.

Shortlist areas by commute, not reputation. Property site 99.co names Holland Village and River Valley as popular with expats, Holland Village for its MRT access and River Valley for its riverside lifestyle near the CBD. It also lists Bukit Timah, while noting it is one of the most expensive areas, and Woodlands, which is popular with American families because the Singapore American School is there. It is also worth looking beyond the well-known expat areas: a flat near a good MRT line, a hawker centre and a park connector can matter more day to day than the postcode. View at different times of day, and never pay a deposit before you have seen the place and checked the agent.

Find your people early

The first few weeks are when you have the most energy and the fewest commitments, so this is the moment to say yes to things.

National associations are an easy first step. ANZA was founded in 1948 to support Australian and New Zealand families and now has more than 7,000 members of many nationalities. Its social groups include a book club, casual coffee, a walking group and running. The American Association of Singapore says all nationalities are welcome, and runs talks, sports teams and volunteering. Expat Living notes that national associations generally accept citizens of any country, and also lists groups such as The British Association.

Then add something local. If you only meet other newcomers, Singapore can start to feel like a waiting room. The People's Association runs more than 100 community clubs, and onePA is where to browse their classes and interest groups. Giving.sg, the national giving and volunteering platform, lets you filter roles by cause, location and time. A recurring weekend shift is one of the quickest routes to real conversation.

Use your interests as the hook. A run club, a book club or a hike gives you something to talk about from the first minute. Our guides to running groups in Singapore and book clubs in Singapore list current options, and how to make friends in Singapore covers the bigger picture.

Say exactly what you want. On Now I'm Open, a new web app launching from Singapore, you can post a short card in Friends mode, such as "Open to a weekend hawker crawl, new to Singapore, River Valley area". Visibility is mutual and opt-in, your location only shows at area level, and photos stay hidden until both of you say yes.

A simple 30-day plan

• Week 1: Submit your arrival card before you fly. Get a SIM, set up transport payments, register for Singpass once your pass is issued, and walk your area.
• Week 2: Book viewings, check every agent on the CEA register, and test your commute at peak hour. Find your local hawker centre and go more than once.
• Week 3: Join one recurring activity, whether a community club class, a volunteer shift, a run club or an association group.
• Week 4: Host something small. Invite two people from week three for kopi or a hawker dinner. Being the organiser is the fastest way to stop being the new person.

Look after yourself

Moving countries is a lot, and it is common to feel a bit flat at first. Keep calling people back home, but do not let that replace building a life here.

Save the emergency numbers in your phone: 999 for police, and 995 for ambulance and fire. If you are struggling with your mood, National Mindline 1771 offers support around the clock by phone on 1771, by WhatsApp on +65 6669 1771, or by webchat at mindline.sg.