Nationalities

About our helper nationality guides

Choosing where your helper comes from is one of the first decisions many Singapore families make. These guides look at helpers from the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar and Mizoram in India, the four places Femme5 places full-time live-in helpers from. They cover what families should think about, which rules apply to every helper whatever her nationality, and how to match a helper to your home rather than to a label.

Rules that apply to every helper

MOM sets the same core requirements no matter which country your helper comes from. Knowing them helps you read any profile with a clear head.

• Approved source countries. MOM lists Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.
• Age and education. She must be female, aged 23 to below 50 when the Work Permit is applied for, with at least 8 years of formal education and a recognised certificate.
• Salary. MOM does not prescribe a minimum salary. You must pay the salary declared in the Work Permit application. Ask your agency about any home-country requirements before you agree on a salary.
• Same employer duties. Rest days, the security bond, insurance, medical examinations and accommodation standards apply equally to all helpers.

You can check the full criteria on MOM's helper eligibility page.

Where to start reading

If you are still deciding, begin with our comparison of Filipino, Indonesian and Myanmar helpers, which walks through the questions to ask about your own household first. For a closer look at one group, read why many families choose a Filipino maid or what to know about hiring a Mizoram helper.

Whatever you read, treat nationality as a starting point. Her experience, the work she has done before, the language your family speaks at home and how she answers in an interview usually tell you more than her passport does.

How Femme5 can help

As a MOM-licensed agency (licence 19C9763), we place full-time live-in helpers through our Filipino, Indonesian, Myanmar and Mizoram services, and we pre-train helpers before placement. We share maid profiles on request so you can compare candidates side by side, and our team can talk you through the differences that matter for your family.