Singapore's ONE Pass Tops 8,000 Holders as an AI-and-Tech Visa Track Prepares to Open in 2027
Source: WION
More than 8,000 ONE Passes have been issued since Singapore's top-talent visa scheme launched in January 2023, as AI, tech and finance professionals keep choosing the city-state. A dedicated AI and Tech track opens in January 2027, counting stock options toward the S$30,000 income bar.
Singapore's pull for global AI talent is showing up in the numbers. More than 8,000 Overseas Networks & Expertise (ONE) Passes have been issued since the scheme launched in January 2023 — more than double the count from its early phase — as highly paid professionals in AI, tech and finance keep choosing the city-state over rival hubs.
The ONE Pass is built for the world's top earners: applicants generally need a fixed monthly salary of at least S$30,000 in the past year, though exceptional talent in science, technology, research, sports and the arts can also qualify. In return, holders get a five-year pass, the freedom to switch employers without applying for a new visa, and easier work rights for spouses. That flexibility is the point — Singapore is competing for people whose loyalty to any single employer is, by definition, limited.
The next chapter is explicitly about AI. A dedicated ONE Pass (AI and Tech) track, set to launch in January 2027, will replace the existing Tech.Pass and count vested stock options and share ownership toward the income requirement — a recognition that top AI talent is increasingly compensated in equity rather than salary. Applicants need at least five cumulative years in founder, C-suite or senior technical roles, and their employers must clear a high bar: a valuation or market capitalisation of at least US$500 million, annual revenue of at least US$200 million, or at least US$500 million in assets under management. Tech companies that have raised at least US$30 million in funding are also eligible.
Current holders already read like a who's who of AI. They include Dr Anders Skanderup, an assistant director at the A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore who developed an AI-based method to monitor cancer progression, and Oliver Jay, OpenAI's managing director of international strategy and operations. The Ministry of Manpower says the aim is for pass holders to generate new activities that create jobs for Singaporeans rather than crowd out local workers — a balancing act that will draw more scrutiny once the AI and Tech track opens. Singapore is also not alone in the hunt: China's K visa courts STEM graduates, while South Korea's "top-tier" visa targets professionals in semiconductors and biotechnology.
Why it matters for Singapore: The visa numbers are a leading indicator of the country's AI ambitions. The ONE Pass surge suggests Singapore remains Southeast Asia's default landing spot for top AI talent even as other hubs sharpen their offers, and the equity-friendly income rules for the 2027 track are a pragmatic answer to how AI companies actually pay. With PM Wong's National Day message framing AI as central to productivity and better jobs, the pass is one of the clearest instruments of the strategy: import the expertise, build the ecosystem, and bet that the jobs follow.
