EntrePass vs resident director: incorporation is not a pass

r/askSingapore founders keep asking “which visa lets me start a company?” as if ACRA and MOM were one form. Incorporation mechanics: incorporating as a foreigner. Founder-pass gates: EntrePass. This companion is the vs layer — resident director ≠ EntrePass ≠ permission to work.

Two jobs, two agencies

Anyone can own shares. Operating from Singapore without a work pass is a different offence.

EntrePass when the thesis is founder/innovator

Use EntrePass when you clear ≥30% + venture/innovative technology and at least one published innovator test (funding, incubator, prior exit, registered IP, Singapore research collab). Model the TBS / local workforce renewal ladder before relocating a household. Shelf companies older than 12 months are assessed against renewal criteria — do not assume a quiet Pte Ltd unlocks a founder IPA.

If a properly capitalised sponsor can clear a normal EP role, that path is usually cleaner than inventing an EntrePass for ordinary employment.

Resident director traps

• Nominee directors are real directors under the Companies Act — cheap “name only” packs are personal-risk theatre.
• An EP holder as resident director may still need a secondary directorship LOC + primary-employer consent for commercial board seats; registration does not legalise moonlighting.
• PEP lists shareholder-directors / freelancers / sole props as ineligible — entrepreneurial work points to EntrePass or ONE Pass, not PEP. Chooser: PEP / ONE / Tech.Pass.

Decision rule

ACRA first for the company; MOM second for the human. If the pitch deck needs a founder pass, read EntrePass end-to-end before you pay for “guaranteed pass + nominee director” packages.