Renewing an existing helper
The renewal fee is S$35. Here is what the rest of it costs.
A renewal is not one payment. Her insurance is bought fresh for the new cycle, the 6-monthly medical exams keep running, and your agency will charge something to handle the paperwork. Answer a few questions below and you will see each line, who receives it, and where the figure came from.
Shwe Match charges nothing to handle a renewal. What we do charge for, and what is included after a placement, is on the front page.
Hiring for the first time instead? Use the new-hire cost calculator.
Every figure here has a source and a date. Oldest check: 2026-08-02.
The levy, the bond and the renewal fee are set by the government, so those are exact. Anything marked market rate is priced by an insurer or a clinic 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 a month, for as long as she works for you.
Her age
Premiums have been age-tiered since 1 July 2025. Check her band again at renewal. She may have crossed it since you hired her.
Used only for the monthly figure below. Renewing a permit does not trigger a salary payment. Singapore sets no minimum wage for domestic workers, so this is your figure, not ours.
Enter what you were quoted. Leave it blank and you will see only the costs nobody can negotiate.
At the point of renewal
S$642.13
- Paid to MOM — Singapore’s Ministry of ManpowerWork Permit renewal feeS$35
- Paid to your insurer — a private company, not the governmentFresh medical + personal-accident premiumS$607.13
- Paid to whoever handles it — the agency doing your renewal, including usYour quote — type it in aboveS$0
What renewing actually costs, this time round
Paid once, at the renewal itself. Every line except your own quote carries a source you can go and check.
Work Permit renewal fee
→ MOM
MOM: "$35 per renewal." MOM mails the renewal letter about 8 weeks before the permit expires.
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
Renewal admin fee
→ Whoever handles it
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
Renewing does not start these. They run the whole time she works for you, and they are here so the monthly picture is complete.
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
Estimated renewal-time total
S$642.13
Ongoing monthly, before her salary
S$351.78
Government-set lines are exact. The market-rate insurance line is counted at the midpoint of its sourced range, so your own quote may land anywhere inside it. Salary and the admin 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.
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.
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Renewals get lost in the noise of everything else running a household — the letter arrives, it sits, and eight weeks becomes two. When we launch, we'll help you stay ahead of it instead. Not open yet; this isn't a job offer or a hiring service.