Covid-19: Singapore further eases border restrictions - Move to Vaccinated Travel Framework and removal of pre-departure requirements

28 April 2022

On 24 March 2022, the Ministry of Health (“MOH”) announced that it would launch the Vaccinated Travel Framework for all travellers including Short-Term Visitors (“STVs”) from 31 March 2022, 2359 hours, in tandem with the easing of community safe management measures.

Further, on 22 April 2022, MOH announced the removal of pre-departure test requirements for fully vaccinated travellers arriving from 26 April 2022, 0001 hours, among other things.

General travel category border measures

Vaccinated travellers

It was previously announced on 24 March 2022 that, from 31 March 2022, 2359 hours, all fully vaccinated travellers and non-fully vaccinated children aged 12 and below arriving via air or sea checkpoints from countries/regions in the General Travel Category are permitted to enter Singapore without the need to apply for entry approvals or take designated Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) transport. They continued to be subject to a pre-departure test (“PDT”) within two days of departure for Singapore, but would no longer be required to serve a Stay-Home Notice (“SHN”) or undergo an unsupervised Antigen Rapid Test (“ART”) after arriving in Singapore.

On 22 April 2022, MOH further revised its requirements and announced that all fully vaccinated travellers and non-fully vaccinated children aged 12 and below arriving from 26 April 2022, 0001 hours via air or sea checkpoints, would no longer be required to take a PDT before departing for Singapore. Following this move, fully vaccinated and well travellers will not require any tests to enter Singapore. In addition, from 1 May 2022, fully vaccinated non-Malaysian Work Permit Holders no longer need to apply for entry approvals to enter Singapore.

Non-fully vaccinated travellers

From 31 March 2022, 2359 hours, non-fully vaccinated Long-Term Pass Holders (“LTPHs”) and STVs aged 13 and above are generally not allowed to enter Singapore, with the following exceptions: (i) LTPHs medically ineligible for vaccines, (ii) LTPHs aged 13 to 17, subject to the appropriate measures, and (iii) LTPHs and STVs with other valid entry approval (e.g. for compassionate reasons). They are required to take a PDT within two days before departure for Singapore, undergo a seven-day SHN, and take a Polymerase Chain Reaction (“PCR”) test at the end of their SHN period.

On 22 April 2022, MOH announced that given the increased availability of vaccines globally for those aged between 13 and 17, all LTPHs aged 13 and above arriving from 1 July 2022 will be required to be fully vaccinated prior to entry into Singapore, unless medically ineligible for vaccines. 

Land travel with Malaysia

The Government has also resumed land travel with Malaysia for fully vaccinated persons from 31 March 2022, 2359 hours.

Restricted category border measures

In the event of a new variant with potentially significant public health risk, the Government may re-classify significantly affected countries/regions under the Restricted Category with stringent border measures, such as the need for entry approvals for STVs to enter Singapore. This is to enable Singapore to limit the risk of importing new and potentially dangerous variants if they arise, as well as to buy time for experts to better understand the characteristics of these variants and to develop appropriate public health recommendations.

Latest border requirements 

The latest border requirements can be found on the SafeTravel website. MOH strongly advises travellers to visit the website to check the latest border measures before entering Singapore, and be prepared to adhere to the prevailing border measures upon entry into Singapore.

Reference materials

The following press releases are available from the MOH website www.moh.gov.sg:

• Easing of community SMMs and border measures (24 March 2022)

• Further easing of community and border measures (22 April 2022)