Cost of Living in Singapore for Vietnamese Nationals in 2026

For a Vietnamese national moving to Singapore in 2026, whether for work or study, a realistic all-in monthly budget lands between S$1,800 and S$3,000 for someone renting a room, or S$3,200 and S$5,000 for someone renting a whole unit alone. That covers rent, food, transport, phone and wifi, and everyday spending. On top of the monthly number, you'll need landing cash for deposits, advance rent, and your pass application before your first Singapore paycheck clears, and it helps to plan around a Vietnamese dong that has weakened steadily against the Singapore dollar over the past few years.

This piece breaks down what that budget actually looks like, the visa and pass routes that apply specifically to Vietnamese citizens, and what's different about moving here from Vietnam compared with moving from elsewhere.

How much does it cost to live in Singapore as a Vietnamese national?

Singapore is significantly more expensive than Vietnam by any measure. Ho Chi Minh City runs roughly 70% cheaper than Singapore on general living costs, according to comparison data from Expatistan and Numbeo pulled in mid-2026, so the jump in absolute terms is large even before you touch rent. That gap is exactly why budgeting properly before you move matters more for a Vietnam-to-Singapore move than for moves between two already-expensive cities.

The core monthly numbers, all-in:

• Room in a shared or co-living home: roughly S$1,800 to S$3,000 a month, covering rent, food, transport, and basics
• Whole studio or one-bedroom unit alone: roughly S$3,200 to S$5,000 a month
• A single university student on a modest budget, room plus daily living, typically lands toward the lower end of the room range, closer to S$1,600 to S$2,200, depending on lifestyle and whether meals are self-cooked or hawker-based

For the detailed line-by-line breakdown of what makes up a Singapore rental budget, room versus studio pricing, and the upfront costs nobody mentions until the first bill lands, see Cost of Renting in Singapore 2026: A Realistic Budget rather than us repeating the whole thing here.

What visa or pass do Vietnamese citizens actually need?

This is where a Vietnam-to-Singapore move genuinely differs from a move from, say, Malaysia or India, and it's worth getting right before you plan around a specific budget.

Short visits. Vietnamese passport holders can enter Singapore visa-free for short stays under the standard Association of Southeast Asian Nations arrangement, but confirm your specific stay length and purpose at ICA before booking anything, since visa-free entry for tourism or a viewing trip is not the same as permission to work.

Working here. For employment, the pass depends on the role and salary, not nationality. As of 2026, the Employment Pass requires a minimum fixed monthly salary of S$5,600 (S$6,200 in financial services), rising with age, plus a passing score on the COMPASS points framework. The S Pass, for mid-skilled roles, requires a minimum salary of S$3,300, benchmarked upward by age and sector. Vietnam is also not one of the listed Work Permit source countries for construction, marine, process, or manufacturing, so most Vietnamese professionals here are on an S Pass or Employment Pass rather than the lower-tier Work Permit.

Studying here. Vietnamese students make up a real share of Singapore's international student population, largely at the university and polytechnic level. International student fees at NUS and NTU for ASEAN nationals (which includes Vietnam) run in the range of S$20,000 to S$55,000 a year depending on the course, with medicine and specialist programmes at the top of that band. The government's Tuition Grant Scheme, open to international students at the publicly funded universities, cuts that cost substantially but comes with a three-year Singapore work bond after graduation, worth factoring into any long-term budget or career plan.

Whichever route applies to you, the pass or student visa determines your legal ability to sign a lease, open certain accounts, and stay long-term, so get that sorted before locking in housing.

What's different about the money side, coming from Vietnam?

The exchange rate has moved against the dong. Through 2026, the Singapore dollar has traded in the range of roughly 20,300 to 20,800 VND, up from around 18,000 VND in 2022. That rate matters twice over: your VND stretches less on arrival, but a Singapore-dollar salary converts to a lot more dong if you're remitting home. Use a real transfer service (Wise, Remitly, or a bank wire) rather than converting cash informally, and check the live rate before moving anything meaningful.

Tax works differently, and there's a treaty covering it. Singapore and Vietnam have a double taxation agreement, so income already taxed in Singapore generally isn't taxed again in Vietnam on the same amount. Non-residents (broadly, under 183 days in Singapore in the year) pay a flat 15% on employment income or the resident progressive rate, whichever is higher. Past 183 days, you're taxed on the progressive resident scale instead, which is usually lower. Confirm your exact residency status with IRAS once you know your actual dates, since the threshold is exact and easy to miscount if you arrived mid-year.

Remittance is routine, not exceptional. Sending part of a Singapore salary home is common enough among the Vietnamese community here that it's built into most people's monthly budget as a fixed line item, not an occasional transfer. Factor it in as its own number rather than whatever's left over at month end.

Where does the Vietnamese community actually live and eat?

Singapore doesn't have a large, dedicated Vietnamese residential enclave the way it has ethnic neighbourhoods for some other communities. Estimates of the Vietnamese population here range from roughly 15,000 to 25,000 people, mostly students, food and hospitality workers, and a growing base of professionals, spread across the island rather than clustered in one district.

The closest thing to a hub for Vietnamese food and groceries is Golden Mile Complex on Beach Road, better known as an enclave for Singapore's Thai community, which also houses a supermarket with a substantial Vietnamese grocery section and several Vietnamese restaurants nearby. Beyond that, pho and banh mi spots are common enough across the city that you're rarely far from one, without needing to live in any specific neighbourhood to reach it.

Practically, this means your choice of where to live in Singapore can be driven by commute, budget, and room type rather than by proximity to a community hub, which gives you more flexibility than movers heading into cities with a tighter ethnic-enclave housing pattern.

A realistic first-month budget, landing from Vietnam

Move-in cash needed before your first Singapore paycheck typically covers:

1. Deposit and advance rent. Usually one to two months' rent as deposit plus one month in advance, so two to three months' rent in cash before you get the keys. See the full move-in cost breakdown for the exact ranges by room type.
2. Currency conversion buffer. Given the VND has been trending weaker against SGD, build in a small buffer against further movement between when you plan your budget and when you actually convert and transfer funds.
3. Pass or visa costs. Employment Pass and S Pass application and issuance fees are typically paid by the employer, but confirm this with your employer before assuming it, since practice varies by company. Student visa costs are usually the student's own responsibility.
4. One to two months of living costs as a buffer. Your first local paycheck can land four to six weeks after you start, and landing without a runway is the single most common mistake new arrivals make regardless of where they're moving from.
5. A local SIM and bank account in week one. Both reduce the overseas transaction fees that otherwise quietly eat into a tight first-month budget.

An all-inclusive room, where rent already bundles utilities, wifi, and cleaning into one number, genuinely simplifies this arithmetic for anyone budgeting from a currency as different from Singapore's as the dong. Instead of estimating five separate Singapore-dollar bills, you're planning around one number, a real reduction in risk when you're arriving without a local reference point.

Frequently asked questions

How much money do I need to move to Singapore from Vietnam? Budget two to three months' rent in cash for deposit and advance rent, plus one to two months of living costs as a buffer before your first Singapore paycheck lands. For a room-based budget, that's typically S$4,000 to S$7,000 in total landing cash, though the exact figure depends on the room and your personal buffer preference.

Do Vietnamese citizens need a visa to enter Singapore? Short visits are visa-free under the standard ASEAN arrangement, but working or studying here requires the correct pass (Employment Pass, S Pass, or a student pass tied to your enrolment), which is separate from tourist entry. Confirm your exact entry terms with ICA before booking travel tied to a work or study start date.

Is it cheaper to rent a room or a whole unit in Singapore? A room is cheaper on nearly every measure, generally landing in the S$1,800 to S$3,000 all-in monthly range compared with S$3,200 to S$5,000 for a whole unit alone. A room, especially an all-inclusive one, is also the simpler budget to plan from a foreign currency and no local track record.

Will I be taxed twice, once in Vietnam and once in Singapore? No. A double taxation agreement between Singapore and Vietnam means income already taxed in one country generally isn't taxed again on the same amount in the other. Your exact Singapore tax rate depends on your residency status, which is based on days spent in Singapore in the calendar year.

Where do Vietnamese nationals typically live in Singapore? There's no single dominant enclave. The community is spread across the island, with Golden Mile Complex on Beach Road serving as the closest thing to a food and grocery hub. Housing choice is generally driven by commute and budget rather than proximity to a specific neighbourhood.

Where to go from here

If you're weighing up a room against a whole unit for your first stretch in Singapore, it's worth reading how the licence agreement structure for co-living rooms in Singapore works before you sign anything, and checking what's actually included in co-living rent so you're comparing listings properly rather than on headline price alone. For current room availability with pricing shown upfront rather than gated behind an enquiry form, the room listings on lazybee.sg let you check what a specific room actually costs before you commit to anything, which is one less unknown to carry into a move from another country.

Figures here that come from government schedules, MOM salary thresholds, ICA and HDB requirements, URA rules, fees and fares, are reviewed on their own timetables and move. Check the current number at the source before you rely on it.