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PEP keep-rule: income evidence that actually survives
Companion to Personalised Employment Pass — the high-earner keep threshold vs application folklore, what income evidence HRAS/IRAS trails support, job-hop gaps, and when falling below means exiting PEP rather than ‘quiet renewal’.
Parent map: Personalised Employment Pass. Chooser: PEP vs ONE vs Tech.Pass. This companion is the keep-rule / income evidence layer — where holders assume PEP is a permanent high-earner club card.
Application bar ≠ keep bar
PEP is personalised and employer-untied, but it is not “set and forget.” MOM publishes ongoing income expectations for holders (commonly discussed as keeping roughly S$22,500/month fixed / equivalent annualised evidence — verify live). Falling below is how people discover PEP is closer to a one-shot high-earner path than a renewable EP.
| Folklore | Safer reading |
|---|---|
| “PEP never gets checked” | Keep evidence as if MOM will ask — IRAS / payroll trails beat screenshots of LinkedIn titles |
| “Side consulting top-ups count” | PEP is hostile to casual freelancing folklore — side income |
| “I’ll renew like an EP” | PEP is generally not the renewable EP product; plan an exit path early |
| “Gap months after layoff don’t matter” | Job-hop / unpaid gaps can puncture the keep story — model between jobs |
Evidence pack to keep current
- Fixed monthly salary letters / contracts for each employer spell.
- IRAS NOA / IR8A trails that match the PEP income story.
- Bank salary credits that reconcile to “fixed,” not one-off bonuses.
- Calendar of employment gaps — unexplained months are the weak point.
- Written Plan B: return to sponsored EP, ONE Pass, or exit — before income dips.
Decision rule
If you cannot document the keep threshold with payroll + IRAS trails, treat PEP as expiring — not as silently renewable.
Sources & citations
Admin and policy details change. Prefer the official page when making decisions; we cite primary sources for Singapore government and statutory guidance.
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