How to renew your maid’s work permit

Your helper has just agreed to work for you for another 2 years and the next thing to do is to renew her work permit. If you’ve never done it before and don’t know how to go about doing it, this article is for you (or watch the explainer video here).

2 ways to renew your helper’s work permit. 

You can either go to any maid agency to help you with the paperwork for a fee. Or you can do it yourself to save costs. It’s really not that difficult.

How to DIY
The letter should arrive 8 weeks before the expiry date.



8 weeks before the permit expires, you should receive a letter from MOM. Once you receive the letter, you should do 2 things.

#1. Get a new FDW medical and personal accident insurance plan.

You also must get a new MOM-imposed security bond, which can be bought from the same insurer.

The effective date of the security bond can be post-dated up to 1 day after the expiry date of the existing Work Permit. It will take up to 3 working days for your insurer to send MOM the security bond details.

If your maid is from the Philippines, you will need an additional performance bond which can also be bought from the insurer.

#2. Prepare the Foreign Domestic worker Employment Contract

Refer to the current contract you have. Look at the terms and see if it needs any updates such as salary or changes to the number of rest days per month. Once both parties have discussed and agreed on the new terms, you can just amend the old contract and print out the revised one for you and your helper to sign on. Do make sure your contract covers the following:
  • Salary
  • Number of rest days per month
  • Compensation in lieu of rest day
  • Notice period
  • Compensation in lieu of termination notice
  • Will the upcoming passport renewal cost borne by the employer or helper?
Other terms you may wish to consider: a bonus given out at the end of the 2 years contract. This may motivate your helper to give her best for the next 2 years.

By the way, Foreign domestic workers are not covered by the Employment Act. So while an employment contract is not compulsory, it is still advisable to sign an employment contract with your helper to avoid disputes.

What you need to prepare

Do you have everything on this list ready?

Once you have done that, log on to the MOM website to do the renewal. You should do this at least 1 month before the work permit expires.


Documents you will need to provide are:

  1. A scanned copy of the personal particulars page of your helper’s valid passport.
  2. Personal accident insurance and medical insurance. the security bond and performance bond for Filipino helpers
  3. Details including authorised recipients and address for secure card delivery.
It costs $35 for each renewal which you can pay using a debit or credit card.

The processing time is immediate. Once the Work Permit is renewed, do print and check the temporary work permit to see if your helper is advised to continue using the existing card.

Short work permit extension

If you need to ask for a short extension without renewing the work permit, you are allowed to do so for up to 60 days for such instances:
  • Your helper is waiting for her new passport hence you need more time before you can renew the Work Permit.
  • You are transferring your helper to another employer and waiting for her new Work Permit application to be approved
You can go to the MOM FDW eService site to request a short extension. There’s no fee incurred for this.

Last but not least, rules and regulations regarding domestic worker employment and permit do change over time. So it’s best to go to the MOM website to find out the latest information.



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