Most families weighing the Long-Term Visit Pass against the Dependant’s Pass are not actually free to pick either one. The eligibility rules narrow it down for you before the question of preference comes up. The cases where there is a real choice are smaller than people expect, and getting the call right matters more for work rights and renewals than for fees.
This page lines up LTVP and DP side by side: who issues each, who can sponsor, who qualifies, what work looks like after issue, fees, validity, and where to file. The numbers and rules below reflect ICA and MOM policy current to mid-2026. The parent LTVP Singapore guide covers the broader LTVP track if you need the standalone view.
Who issues each pass and what that means
The first line on the application card decides the rest of the journey.
ICA issues the LTVP for family of Singapore citizens and PRs. The same three letters are also used by MOM for an LTVP-equivalent it issues to certain family members of work pass holders who do not fit on a DP. Filing happens in the ICA e-Service for the citizen and PR track, and on MOM’s EP Online or work pass portal for the work-pass-sponsor track.
MOM issues the DP. It sits under the work pass system, attached to the sponsor’s Employment Pass, S Pass, Personalised Employment Pass, EntrePass, ONE Pass, or Tech.Pass. There is no DP route for citizen or PR sponsors at all.
Which agency holds the file matters at status check, renewal, and any future appeal. Calling the wrong portal is the most common time waster we see.
Who can sponsor
A Singapore citizen or PR can sponsor an LTVP. There is no fixed minimum salary on this route, but ICA assesses the sponsor’s ability to support the family across factors including economic contributions, family profile, and length of residency. Supporting documents requested may include payslips, CPF contribution history, and tax records. Sponsors with thin or interrupted records can be asked for more documents through the portal.
For the work-pass-holder track, both LTVP and DP share a sponsor floor of a fixed monthly salary of at least S$6,000 for spouse and child cases. Parents only qualify at a higher S$12,000 threshold, and only as an LTVP, not a DP. Fixed monthly salary means basic salary plus fixed allowances, with bonuses, commissions, and reimbursements not counted.
DP sits inside the same eligibility band as the work-pass-route LTVP, but covers a narrower family group.
Who qualifies as a family member
The DP rules are the more restrictive of the two. Eligible dependants are the legally married spouse and unmarried children under 21, including legally adopted children. Common-law spouses, step-children without formal adoption, parents, and handicapped children over 21 are all outside the DP scheme.
LTVP picks up the cases that DP cannot. On the ICA track for citizen and PR sponsors, eligible categories are the legally married spouse of someone aged 21 or above, unmarried children under 21 including step-children only where the SC or PR sponsor has legal custody or has formally adopted the child, parents of a Singapore citizen or PR, and handicapped unmarried children aged 21 and above. On the MOM track for work pass holders, the LTVP equivalent picks up common-law spouses, step-children without formal adoption, handicapped unmarried children over 21, and parents at the S$12,000 threshold.
Same-sex marriages are not recognised under Singapore law and do not qualify for either pass.
The LTVP for spouse application guide covers the spousal eligibility in more depth, including the LTVP+ upgrade available only to spouses of citizens.
Not sure which pass your family qualifies for? Send us the sponsor’s pass type, salary, and the family composition and we will map out the eligible route and the documents needed.
Work rights after issue
This is the gap that catches the most people.
The LTVP does not include the right to work, but the route to working sits a short distance away. LTVP holders sponsored by a citizen or PR can apply for a Letter of Consent from MOM once a job offer is in hand. A Pre-approved Letter of Consent can be requested at the LTVP application or renewal stage, which removes the need for a fresh LOC each time the holder changes employers. Hiring an LTVP holder under an LOC does not count against the employer’s foreign worker quota and the foreign worker levy does not apply. The full breakdown of LTVP work rights covers LOC, PLOC, and the edge cases.
The DP is the stricter pass on this front. Since 1 May 2021, new DP holders can no longer take up employment through an LOC. They need to obtain a separate work pass in their own right, usually an EP, S Pass, or Work Permit applied for by the hiring company. The single carve-out is for DP holders who are business owners with at least 30 percent shareholding in a Singapore-registered company that creates local employment. Those holders can still use an LOC to run the business. That carve-out does not extend to ordinary employment.
For a DP-holding spouse who plans to work, this often means lining up an EP-grade job offer before arrival. The EP minimum qualifying salary is separate from the DP sponsor floor and is age- and sector-adjusted. As of mid-2026 it stands at S$5,600 for most sectors and S$6,200 for financial services, with new-application thresholds rising to S$6,000 and S$6,600 respectively from 1 January 2027.
Validity, fees, and application channel
A standard LTVP runs for up to two years on first issue and is renewable. LTVP+ for spouses of Singapore citizens runs for three years on first issue and up to five years on renewal. ICA charges S$45 at submission and S$60 at issuance, plus S$30 for a Multiple Journey Visa for visa-required nationalities. On the MOM work-pass-route track, renewal opens up to six months before expiry; on the ICA track, ICA recommends applying at least three months before the current pass ends.
The DP runs up to two years on first issue, tied to the sponsor’s work pass validity. It cannot outlive the sponsor’s EP, so a sponsor on a one-year EP cycle gets a one-year DP. Fees are S$105 at application and S$225 at issuance per pass. Processing through MOM EP Online is typically around three weeks for straightforward cases, faster than the six weeks an ICA LTVP usually takes after submission.
DP is filed by the sponsor’s employer through EP Online. The application channel is built around the company rather than the family, which means a job change for the sponsor usually means a fresh DP filing through the new employer.
How to choose when you actually have a choice
For citizen and PR sponsors, there is no choice. The LTVP is the only pass open to you.
For work pass holders earning at least S$6,000, the choice exists only for the legally married spouse and unmarried children under 21. The DP fits these cases by default and is usually the cleaner option: faster processing, a single MOM filing, and validity aligned with the sponsor’s pass. Pick the work-pass-route LTVP only when the relationship sits outside DP rules, like a common-law spouse or a step-child without formal adoption.
The trade-off worth weighing is work rights. If the spouse plans to work and is not in the 30 percent shareholder carve-out, neither pass gives free access to employment. A DP holder needs a full work pass to take up paid work, and a work-pass-route LTVP holder is in a similar position. The cleanest outcome for a working-spouse case where the sponsor is a citizen or PR is the ICA LTVP with a PLOC requested at the same time. That is a route DP holders simply cannot access.
Filing the wrong pass costs months in delays and the fee is not refunded if the application falls through. Send us your sponsor type, salary band, marriage status, and the family you want to bring and we will tell you which pass to file and how to combine it with work authorisation in one submission.