What does emigrating to Singapore cost?
Three questions, and you have an honest range for your situation — with for every item whether it's a checked rate or an estimate. The paperwork costs hundreds of dollars here; the money is in a serviced apartment until there is an address, the deposit and the rent, the international school and the buffer for a tax assessment that only comes a year later.
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A rough indication for your situation
A few short questions, and you get a range instead of an amount. That's deliberate: an exact figure would suggest a precision nobody has.
Count on a total of
€ 8.600 – € 21.500
Where does that difference come from?
- The first months€ 8.000 – € 20.000
Below you'll find per item where the upper and the lower limit come from.
- Aanvraag en papieren
- € 250 – € 500
- De verhuizing
- € 400 – € 1.000
- De eerste maanden
- € 8.000 – € 20.000
Every item, one by onePer item the amount, the source and whether it's a rate or an estimate
Aanvraag en papieren
- Employment Pass and Dependant's Pass€ 200 – € 250
- Certificates with apostille(estimate)€ 0 – € 80
- Medical examination and passport photos(estimate)€ 50 – € 150
De verhuizing
- Travel(estimate)€ 400 – € 1.000
A one-way flight Amsterdam-Singapore per person, plus hold luggage. The band is wide because the season and the booking lead time make more difference here than for a European destination.
De eerste maanden
- The first months(estimate)€ 8.000 – € 20.000
The biggest item of this corridor. No address, no pass, so the first weeks a serviced apartment; after that a condo or a whole HDB flat with deposit, first rent and agent's fee, a tenancy of at least three months (private) or six months (HDB). Anyone with children counts the first term of the international school. Add health insurance with no system underneath, and the buffer for a tax assessment that only comes a year later, because Singapore withholds nothing from the salary.
Deliberately no amount here
The car: sell — importing isn't allowed, owning is a COE
Deliberately no figure here for bringing it, because it isn't allowed: the LTA only admits used cars younger than three years, with 20% excise duty on the market value, 9% GST, a registration fee and the ARF. On top of that every car in Singapore needs a Certificate of Entitlement — the right to own a car for ten years — which in September 2026 cost S$ 133,009 for a car up to 1600 cc and S$ 135,001 above that. The BPM refund also lapses outside the EU and the EEA. The plan advises selling and living with the metro, the bus and the taxi app; whoever still buys one there reckons that item separately, with a local quote in hand.
And if you buy a house?
This calculation assumes renting: the first months include deposit and rent in advance.
If you buy, count on 63 to 66% of the purchase price on top of this amount. On a home of € 250,000 that's € 157.500 to € 165.000.
Buying is, for a foreigner, a sum with one figure that decides everything: the Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty of 60% on the purchase price, since 27 April 2023 (before that 30%). Add the ordinary Buyer's Stamp Duty, rising from 1% on the first S$ 180,000 to 6% above S$ 3 million, plus lawyer and agent. Permanent residents pay 5% ABSD on a first home; whoever waits for PR is therefore waiting for 55 percentage points.
Note: buying isn't simply allowed here
As a foreigner you buy without approval only a condominium unit, a flat or a strata house in an approved condominium. A house with land, vacant land and Sentosa Cove require approval from the Singapore Land Authority, which among other things requires five years of permanent residence and an exceptional economic contribution. HDB flats are for citizens and permanent residents.
An order of magnitude based on averages, not a quote. The real amounts depend on your occupation, your route, the season and dozens of choices you still have to make.
Rates checked on 5 October 2026.
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