ICA Says Health Declarations No Longer Required At Land Checkpoints
During the Covid-19 era, travelling means having to produce a long list of documents for authorities to assess.
Now that land travel to Malaysia has resumed, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) has announced a change in light of the re-established heavy traffic.
Travellers will no longer need to show their health declaration forms at land checkpoints from Friday (15 Apr).
Caption: mianbaoren on Flickr
This applies to fully vaccinated Singapore residents and long-term pass holders.
Health declarations still required for air & sea travel
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), this move comes as greater traffic is expected at land borders, with commuters crossing between Singapore and Malaysia more regularly. Here are the changes in a nutshell.
From 15 Apr:
- Travellers arriving via land checkpoints — no need for health declaration forms.
- Travellers arriving via air or sea — health declaration forms are still required.
Currently, those arriving in Singapore by land must still submit their health declaration via SG Arrival Card e-Service either on the ICA website or mobile app.
Travellers who have not travelled to any country or region under the Restricted Category in the past seven days are exempted. However, ICA states that the Restricted Category is currently empty.
Vaccination records submission
SG Arrival Cards aside, here are other travelling obligations to take note of:
- If you’ve been vaccinated in Singapore, your vaccination status must be reflected on TraceTogether/HealthHub apps.
- If you’ve been vaccinated overseas, submit your vaccination record to the Ministry of Health (MOH) system upon first entry.
The Straits Times (ST) reports that digital overseas vaccination certificates can be submitted via the ICA Vaccination Check Portal before arrival.
If you are unable to do so or have a non-digital overseas vaccination certificate, present a physical copy to show ICA officers at the manual immigration counters upon arrival in Singapore.
You only need to perform this process once, as your records will be kept for subsequent trips to Singapore.
Lastly, all other travellers arriving via land checkpoint will need to submit their health declaration forms three days before arrival.
Change will quicken travel times
As more travellers journey across the border, this change will surely quicken up waiting times.
No more long snaking queues or narrowly missing buses out of the country.
Hopefully, this will smoothen the travelling experience for both Singaporeans and Malaysians alike.
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Featured image adapted from m varman on Flickr.
