Singapore Opens It’s Borders For India

In a recent announcement, Singapore will finally be reopening its doors for fully vaccinated travellers from India starting November 29 through a “vaccinated travel lane” (VTL). Travellers under VTL are not subject to stay-home notice (SHN) on arrival. Instead, they need to produce a negative pre-departure test taken within two days prior to departure and undergo an on- arrival PCR test, says the island nation’s health ministry.

In its tweet shared by Singapore mission in India it read, “Following discussions between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore will be launching a VTL for fully-vaccinated travellers from India with valid entry approvals starting November 29, pending resumption of commercial passenger flights.”

While Indonesia is also included in this announcement along with India, the programme is expected to be extended to visitors from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from early next month.

Currently, there are 13 countries, including Canada, Australia and Germany, under Singapore’s vaccinated travel lane (VTL) programme.

“We hope the VTL with India will be a significant first step towards a broader travel reopening. While we do not expect a major uptick in inbound tourists from India in the immediate term, it will be useful for travellers to get used to the new protocols and for both countries to streamline processes in the coming months,” said Mr G.B. Srithar, Regional Director (India, Middle East and South Asia), Singapore Tourism Board. “India is an important market for Singapore. We will market Singapore’s varied offerings to our fans in India and look forward to welcoming Indian visitors once again when the VTL for India launches on Nov 29,” he added.

Noticably, Since November 12, India had started recognising vaccination certificates issued by Singapore implying that fully vaccinated travellers from Singapore entering India will just need to self monitor for 14 days upon arrival.