Covid-19 vaccination to be a condition for long-term passes, work passes and permanent residence from 1 February 2022

27 January 2022

On 26 December 2021, the Ministry of Manpower (“MOM”) announced that from 1 February 2022, Covid-19 vaccination will be a condition for the approval or grant of new long-term passes, work passes, and permanent residence. Vaccination will also be required for the renewal of existing work passes.

Work pass holders and dependants

Employers will be required, at the point of application, to make a declaration that their work pass holders and dependants are fully vaccinated upon arrival in Singapore. Pass holders are also required to submit or present their vaccination certificates as part of the verification process.

Individuals who have received their vaccination overseas must update their vaccination records in the National Immunisation Registry (“NIR”). They will be given a grace period of 30 days upon arrival in Singapore to undergo and show a positive serology test result taken at a Public Health Preparedness Clinic. Individuals who test negative will be required to complete the full vaccination regimen in Singapore or face revocation of their passes.

The vaccination condition will not apply to:

• individuals below 12 years old;
• individuals aged 12 to below 18 years old, who can continue to make a declaration to complete the full vaccination regimen after arriving in Singapore; and
• pass holders who are medically ineligible for vaccination, provided they submit a doctor’s memo at the point of application, and undergo a medical review upon arrival in Singapore.

New Permanent Residence, Long-Term Visit Pass, and Student’s Pass applications

Vaccination will be a condition for the grant of new Permanent Residence (“PR”), Long-Term Visit Pass (“LTVP”) and Student’s Pass (“STP”) applications.

The vaccination status of applicants will be verified during the pass issuance process. Their vaccination records will have to be updated in the NIR (i.e. vaccinated in Singapore or receive a positive serology test result). Applicants who are not registered in the NIR (e.g. unvaccinated or vaccinated overseas but tested serology negative) will have to complete the full vaccination regimen in Singapore to fulfil the vaccination condition before they can be granted PR or long-term passes. The vaccination condition will not apply to PR, LTVP and STP applicants who are aged below 12 years old, and those medically ineligible for vaccination.

Reference materials

The press release is available on the MOM website www.mom.gov.sg.

 

Further information

Allen & Gledhill has a Covid-19 Resource Centre on our website www.allenandgledhill.com that contains knowhow and materials on legal and regulatory aspects of the Covid-19 crisis.

In addition, we have a cross-disciplinary Covid-19 Legal Task Force consisting of Partners across various practice areas to provide rapid assistance. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us at covid19taskforce@allenandgledhill.com.