Singapore to extend vaccinated travel lanes with seven more destinations

Singapore will also open new vaccinated travel lanes (VTLs) from 2 March to Israel and the Philippines to set up two-way quarantine-free travel with the two countries.

Applications for quarantine-free entry for Hong Kong travellers into Singapore have been paused from 17 February. From 25 February, only vaccinated travellers from Hong Kong can enter Singapore without quarantine, not all travellers.

According to a statement by Ministry of Health (MOH), Singapore will introduce a new ‘general travel category’, and will place all countries and regions currently in categories 2, 3 or 4 into this new category. Travellers in this category will be required to serve a stay-home notice (SHN), the duration of which will vary depending on which country they are travelling from.

The country will also create a ‘restricted category’ to update border measures for travellers in case any country and region experiences an outbreak of a new Covid-19 variant. There is no country in this category now. 

Countries and regions in category 1 are considered to be of the lowest risk of Covid-19 infections.

Mayumi Soh of Pinsent Masons MPillay, the Singapore joint law venture between MPillay and Pinsent Masons said: “With the increase in destinations covered under the VTL scheme, and travellers becoming increasingly familiar with the concept and what it entails, it appears likely that travel in and out of Singapore will increase.”

A local report said that from 22 February, VTL travellers from countries and regions considered to be of low Covid-19 risk will be able to undergo a supervised antigen rapid test (ART) within 24 hours of their arrival. More people will be allowed to enter Singapore under the quarantine-free travel scheme and the government will phase out the 50% cap on the number of VTL travellers that has been in place since December 2021.