Hiring for the first time
Every dollar of your first year with a helper, itemised and sourced
The biggest cost is not the agency's fee. It is the levy you pay MOM every month, which comes to S$3,600 over a year, and almost nobody asks about it. Answer a few questions below and you will see every line, who receives it, and the dated source we took the figure from.
The agency's own line is the one you can compare. What Shwe Match charges to place a helper, and what that includes, is on the front page.
Renewing an existing helper's permit instead? Use the renewal calculator.
Every figure here has a source and a date. Oldest check: 2026-07-12.
The levy, the bond and the Work Permit fees are set by the government, so those are exact. Anything marked market rate is priced by an insurer, a clinic or a training centre instead. MOM says you must have it. Nobody says what it should cost. So we show a real range from named providers rather than one invented number.
Tell us your situation
Levy concession eligibility
If your household qualifies, the levy drops from S$300 a month to S$60. That is S$240 back in your pocket every month she works for you.
Singapore sets no minimum wage for domestic workers. This is your figure or an agency's, never ours.
Her age
Premiums have been age-tiered since 1 July 2025. Her band changes the number below.
Enter what you were quoted. Leave it blank and you will see only the costs nobody can negotiate.
Is this your first helper?
The Settling-in Programme applies to first-time foreign domestic workers.
Upfront, before she starts
S$761.66
- Paid to MOM — Singapore’s Ministry of ManpowerWork Permit application + issuanceS$70
- Paid to your insurer — a private company, not the governmentMedical + personal-accident premiumS$607.13
- Paid to the training provider — an MOM-approved training centreSettling-in ProgrammeS$84.53
- Paid to the agency — whichever agency you use, including usYour quote — type it in aboveS$0
Here's where every dollar goes
Paid once, before she starts. Every line except your own agency quote carries a source you can go and check.
Work Permit application + issuance fees
→ MOM
S$35 non-refundable application fee, plus a further S$35 issuance fee once MOM approves.
MDW insurance premium (medical + personal-accident, bundled)
→ your insurer
Paid once per ~26-month Work Permit cycle, not monthly. This is the market premium for a policy meeting MOM’s minimum coverage — NOT the coverage limit itself. It also carries the S$5,000 security-bond guarantee at no separate charge, which is why the bond is shown separately below as held rather than spent. The guarantee is a COUNTER-INDEMNITY, not cover for you: if MOM forfeits the bond the insurer pays MOM and then recovers the S$5,000 from you. Both insurers sell a rider to limit that — MSIG’s "Waiver of Counter Indemnity" at S$54.50 incl. GST with a S$250 excess, Income’s "MOM security bond protector" capping liability at S$250. Verified on their own product pages 2026-08-10. Those riders would not exist if the included guarantee left the employer with no exposure. This range is for a helper aged 50 and under — see mdw_insurance_51_60 for the older band, now asked for explicitly in the calculator (closed 2026-08-02; this note previously flagged the gap).
market rate
Settling-in Programme (first-time FDWs)
→ the training provider
MOM mandates the one-day programme for every first-time MDW within 7 days of arrival. The fee is set by the training provider, not by MOM — but MOM publishes each approved provider’s fee, and these are those figures: Absolute Kinetics S$76.40, NTUC LearningHub S$77.00, Grace Management S$92.65, all inclusive of GST.
market rate
Agency placement fee
→ The agency
your quote — not government-set
S$0
Held, not spent
Security bond (yours)
not a cost — a guarantee
S$5,000
Your insurance already covers this. It costs you nothing extra.
Included in the maid insurance premium above — insurers issue the S$5,000 guarantee to MOM as part of the policy, at no separate charge. So it costs you nothing beyond that premium, and both agency fee sheets we have seen itemise that premium, so the bond is usually already inside the quote you were given.
Included is not the same as covered.
The guarantee your insurer issues is a counter-indemnity: if MOM ever forfeits the bond, the insurer pays MOM and then recovers the S$5,000 from you. Both insurers sell a rider that limits it — MSIG's Waiver of Counter Indemnity at S$54.50, and Income's MOM security bond protector, which caps your liability at S$250. Ask about it before you sign; it is not automatic.
So if an agency is charging you a separate bond fee, ask what for.
The only other way to post it is a banker's guarantee, which you arrange with your own bank. No agency quote covers that one either. It would cost roughly S$150–S$216.67 in commission, and UOB issues against 100% cash margin, which would tie up the full S$5,000 of your own money for the whole permit on top. Neither bank names a maid bond on its price page, so treat that range as an estimate of a route almost nobody takes.
Yours: S$5,000, pledged to MOM under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. MOM discharges it about a week after she leaves Singapore, once the permit is cancelled and no condition was broken. You lose it only if a condition IS broken — MOM lists: a Work Permit or bond condition violated, her salary not paid on time, or failing to send her home when the permit expires, is revoked or cancelled. Your helper can never be asked to pay for it. This is SEPARATE from the S$60,000 licence deposit the AGENCY posts to MOM under the Employment Agencies Act — that one is not your money and not your risk.
MOM sourceWhat keeps costing, every month
FDW monthly levy — standard rate (1st helper)
→ MOM
For a 2nd or subsequent FDW employed in the same household, the levy is S$450/month instead of S$300 — this calculator assumes one helper.
6-monthly medical examination (per visit; 2x/year)
→ the clinic
MOM mandates the exam every 6 months at an accredited clinic and requires the employer to pay for it, but sets no price — the fee is clinic-set. This range is one clinic’s published, itemised tiers: S$38.15 (pregnancy + VDRL), S$49.05 (+ HIV), S$65.40 (+ chest X-ray), all NETT inclusive of GST. ⚠ WHICH TIER IS THE REAL 6ME IS NOT YET CONFIRMED — MOM describes screening for pregnancy and infectious diseases including HIV and TB, and TB screening implies the chest X-ray, which would put the true cost at the TOP of this range rather than the bottom. Confirm the mandated panel before treating the low end as typical.
market rate
Monthly salary
→ Her
your figure. No minimum wage applies, and we will not suggest one
S$0
Her home leave flight and her food are your obligation too. Neither is in these numbers, so budget for them on top.
Estimated upfront total
S$761.66
Ongoing monthly, before her salary
S$351.78
Government-set lines are exact. The market-rate ones (insurance, the Settling-in Programme, the 6-monthly medical) are counted at the midpoint of their sourced range, so your own quote may land anywhere inside it. Salary and the agency fee are your figures, not ours. Her home leave flight and her food are not included.
These figures are our best attempt at an accurate breakdown, sourced and dated against MOM and named providers above — not a quote. Government fees can change, and market prices vary by provider. Before you commit to anything, verify the current levy and fees at mom.gov.sg and get an actual quote from your insurer. We can't accept responsibility for a decision made on this estimate alone.
Already have a quote? Make it comparable.
Two quotes can bundle completely different things, so the lower number is not reliably the cheaper deal. Tell us what yours covers. We will work out what you would still owe on top of it, and what the agency is charging for its own work.
Whatever figure is on the sheet, including GST if it is shown that way.
Enter the quoted total above to see what it leaves out, what your real upfront comes to, and how much of it is the agency's own charge.
Two costs never appear on an agency quote, because you pay them yourself rather than through an agency. The monthly levy to MOM, and the 6-monthly medical exam that keeps recurring for as long as she works for you. That second one is not the pre-employment medical listed above. That happens once, within two weeks of her arrival, and her permit depends on it. Both recurring costs are in the calculator above. A quote is what it costs to arrange the placement. It is not what it costs to employ her.
Two items are marked estimate: the air ticket and the deployment medical. Those are what we have seen quoted on real agency fee sheets, not prices we checked with an airline or a clinic. Every helper we place travels the same Yangon–Singapore route, so these move less than most costs, but treat them as a working figure and ask your agency for theirs.
Understanding your insurance requirement
The premium above is what you pay for the policy — it is NOT the same as the coverage you get. This section explains the actual coverage minimums and, most importantly, the gap you could be on the hook for. It does not recommend a specific insurer or product.
Most employers don't know this
On a large hospital bill, you personally co-pay 25% of the amount above S$15,000. Insurance must cover at least S$60,000 a year, and the insurer pays the first S$15,000 of any claim in full — but above that threshold, you're on the hook for a share. Worked example: a S$60,000 hospital bill means the insurer covers S$15,000 in full, then 75% of the remaining S$45,000 — leaving you to pay roughly S$11,250 out of pocket. Ask any insurer whether their policy has this co-pay layer.
Does your quote just say “standard plan”?
Then you are being quoted the cheapest tier. The premium above spans roughly S$486.14 to S$728.12 for a helper aged 50 or under, and the bottom of that range is a standard plan while the top is a premier one. The S$241.98 between them is not padding — it is coverage. A plan can meet MOM's minimum and still leave you badly exposed on the co-pay above.
Three things to ask before you accept it:
- • What is the annual medical limit, and where does my co-pay start?
- • What is the personal-accident sum assured on THIS tier, not the brochure's best?
- • Does it include the waiver of counter-indemnity on the S$5,000 bond, or am I still liable for the full amount if MOM forfeits it?
The third one catches most people out. Why the bond is not as covered as it looks →
- • Personal-accident cover must meet at least S$60,000 sum assured — confirm the policy states this explicitly.
- • Premiums are age-tiered since 1 July 2025 (helper aged 50-and-under vs above 50) — ask which band you're quoted on.
- • Are medical, personal-accident, and the security bond bundled into one premium, or sold separately — and which works out cheaper for you?
- • What's excluded? Ask for the policy wording, not just the brochure.
- • Is your helper given her own copy of the policy?
- • How and where do you file a claim, and how long does it typically take?
Coverage minimums sourced from MOM as of 2026-07-12 (https://www.mom.gov.sg/passes-and-permits/work-permit-for-foreign-domestic-worker/eligibility-and-requirements/insurance-requirements). Shwe Match does not sell or recommend a specific insurance product today. We'll let you know if that changes.
Want us to WhatsApp you this breakdown?
The costs that ambush people — the insurance co-pay, the repatriation air ticket you're legally on the hook for, the fact that a “free replacement” isn't free. When we launch, we'll help you see costs like these coming. Not open yet; this isn't a job offer or a hiring service.