How do I check that a helper agency in Singapore is licensed?

Search MOM's EA Directory. Type the agency name or the licence number into Search Agencies. The result tells you whether the licence is live, how long the agency has operated, and whether MOM has issued it demerit points. If an agency does not appear at all, it is not licensed to place helpers.

What does an employment agency licence number look like?

Short. Ours is 24C2490. The format matters less than the check: put the number into the EA Directory and confirm it returns a live record with that agency's name on it. A number printed on a website proves nothing until it resolves.

What do MOM's employment agency star ratings actually mean?

They come from employers, not from agencies. About three months after a helper is deployed, MOM sends the employer an SMS survey covering how well the agency explained the process, fees and contracts, how helpful it was, how well it matched, and whether they would recommend it. Scores show as stars out of five, and only after at least three responses.

What must be in the service agreement an agency signs with me?

A written service agreement is a licence condition, not a courtesy. It must set out its validity period, a clear breakdown of the fees and taxes you pay, what is refunded in each situation and within what timeframe, how many replacements you get and by when, and a dispute resolution mechanism using an independent third-party mediator.

Is it a bad sign if an agency will not put its fee in writing?

Yes. MOM requires the fees you pay to be broken down in the written service agreement, including the GST and any amount paid upfront on the helper's behalf. A verbal-only quote leaves the agency room to move the number later, and leaves you nothing to point at when it does.

How to Check a Singapore Helper Agency Is Legitimate

Every employment agency in Singapore has to hold a licence from the Ministry of Manpower, and that licence is public. You can check ours, or anyone's, in about two minutes. This guide is written so it works against us as well as for us, because an agency that cannot survive its own checklist is not worth your money.

Checked against MOM: 28 July 2026MOM EA Licence 24C24908 min read

Start with the licence. It takes two minutes.

An employment agency needs a licence to operate in Singapore, and MOM publishes every live licence in a directory anyone can search. If an agency is not in it, stop there. Nothing else about them matters.

Open MOM's employment agencies and personnel search, stay on the Search Agencies tab, and type either the agency's name or its licence number. Ours is 24C2490. Try it now, before you read another word of what we say about ourselves.

Check the person, not just the shop. Registered agency personnel carry a registration card showing their name, registration number and the agency they work for, and the same directory has a Search Agency Personnel tab. Match the card against the record. An unregistered consultant inside a licensed agency is a real thing.

The 10-second version

The directory has a tab listing agencies under revocation, suspension or surveillance. That is the regulator's own list of who to avoid. Read it before you shortlist.

What the directory tells you beyond yes or no

Licensed is the floor, not the ceiling. The same record carries years in operation, retention rate, transfer rate, helpers placed in the previous year, a customer star rating, and live demerit points.

Read the demerit points carefully. MOM issues them when an agency breaches the Employment Agencies Act, the Rules or its licence conditions, and below 12 points each stays live for 12 months. At 12 points the agency goes under surveillance, published in the directory. At 24 the licence is suspended or revoked. A clean record is normal, so points on the board are worth asking about.

The star rating is not a Google review. About three months after a helper is deployed, MOM texts the employer a survey: how well the agency explained the process, fees and both contracts, how helpful it was, how well it matched, and whether they would recommend it. Stars out of five, shown only once an agency has at least three responses. Small, self-selecting sample, so four against five decides nothing. It is still a number an agency cannot write for itself.

Get it in writing, and know what in writing means

An agency placing helpers must sign a written service agreement with you. That is a condition of its licence, not a courtesy, and MOM publishes a recommended service agreement you can read tonight, before you meet anybody. It must state its validity period, then cover three things properly.

The fees, itemised. A clear breakdown of what you pay, the GST, and any amount paid upfront on the helper's behalf that you may later recover from her. Not one bundled figure.
The replacement terms. How many you get, by when you must ask, by when the agency must deliver, whether it costs extra, when you get none, and your recourse if the agency cannot find one.
The refund terms. What comes back if the helper is never placed, if she is placed and then transfers, if she is placed and cannot be transferred, if you decline a replacement, and if you reject the one offered. Each with an amount and a deadline.

It must also name a dispute resolution mechanism, and that has to be an independent third party providing mediation. "We will sort it out" is not one.

Underneath sits a statutory floor: an agency must refund at least 50% of service fees if the helper's employment ends inside six months and the conditions are met. How that works, and the exceptions that catch people out, is in our guide to placements that do not work out.

The street corner of One Dusun Residences on Jalan Dusun, the building where the Jaz Helpers office is located upstairs — One Dusun, where our office is. An address you can stand outside proves little on its own, but an agency that will not tell you where it operates has told you something.

Red flags, plainly

No licence number displayed. A licensed agency must state its full name and licence number on its signboard, on invoices, receipts, service agreements and contracts, and in any advertisement including its website, name cards and social media. A site without one is either unlicensed or careless with licence conditions.
The fee only exists verbally. A number said out loud can move. A number in a signed schedule cannot.
Pressure to sign the same day. No MOM rule bans it, so this is judgement rather than law. But you are deciding who lives in your home for two years. Urgency that appears the moment you hesitate is a sales technique.
Biodata nobody can stand behind. Where an agency matched a helper to you, it must give you her full biodata on MOM's prescribed form before the Work Permit application goes in. Ask who verified the experience on it, and ask to speak to her.
Being asked to pay her placement loan in a way nobody will explain. Employers do sometimes pay part of a helper's loan upfront and recover it from her salary. That is fine when it is in the service agreement as an amount paid on her behalf, and in her contract as a deduction schedule. It is not fine as a figure in a chat message. Her loan is also not the same thing as your agency fee, and agencies that blur the two usually do it on purpose.

Five questions to ask on the phone

A good agency answers all five inside ten minutes without checking with anyone.

What is your MOM licence number, and what is the registration number of the person I will be dealing with?
Can you email me your service agreement before I come in?
What is your fee, and what does it exclude?
How many replacements do I get, within what window, and does a replacement cost extra?
If it ends inside six months, what comes back to me and by when?

Question two is the sharpest. An agency that intends to improvise cannot send you a document.

Now hold us to the same standard

Our licence number is 24C2490. It is on every page of this site, and it resolves in the EA Directory right now. Our terms go to you in writing before you commit to anything, and you can have the service agreement before you visit rather than at the table. We put same-day pressure on nobody, because a placement made under pressure is the one that comes back.

We do not publish our fee as a number, and we would rather say why than let that look evasive. It depends on where the helper is coming from and whether she is already in Singapore. A headline figure that is wrong for your household is the behaviour this page argues against. We will give you the number for your situation, in writing, before you owe us anything.

Then apply all of it to us. If we fail one of these tests, the right answer is the one we would give you about anybody else, which is to walk. Our full FAQ and our contact page are where to start.

Questions employers actually ask

How do I check that a helper agency in Singapore is licensed?: Search MOM's EA Directory. Type the agency name or the licence number into Search Agencies. The result tells you whether the licence is live, how long the agency has operated, and whether MOM has issued it demerit points. If an agency does not appear at all, it is not licensed to place helpers.
What does an employment agency licence number look like?: Short. Ours is 24C2490. The format matters less than the check: put the number into the EA Directory and confirm it returns a live record with that agency's name on it. A number printed on a website proves nothing until it resolves.
What do MOM's employment agency star ratings actually mean?: They come from employers, not from agencies. About three months after a helper is deployed, MOM sends the employer an SMS survey covering how well the agency explained the process, fees and contracts, how helpful it was, how well it matched, and whether they would recommend it. Scores show as stars out of five, and only after at least three responses.
What must be in the service agreement an agency signs with me?: A written service agreement is a licence condition, not a courtesy. It must set out its validity period, a clear breakdown of the fees and taxes you pay, what is refunded in each situation and within what timeframe, how many replacements you get and by when, and a dispute resolution mechanism using an independent third-party mediator.
Is it a bad sign if an agency will not put its fee in writing?: Yes. MOM requires the fees you pay to be broken down in the written service agreement, including the GST and any amount paid upfront on the helper's behalf. A verbal-only quote leaves the agency room to move the number later, and leaves you nothing to point at when it does.