Advertisement

Singapore to halt RGL travels with Malaysia, Germany and S. Korea for 3 months from 1 Feb

Departure hall at Changi International Airport in Singapore.
Departure hall at Changi International Airport in Singapore. (PHOTO: Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images)

SINGAPORE — From 12.01am on Monday (1 February), Singapore will suspend the Reciprocal Green Lane (RGL) travel arrangements with three countries – Malaysia, Germany and South Korea – for three months.

In a media release on Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that this is due to the resurgence of COVID-19 cases worldwide.

It added that the Singapore government will review the RGL arrangements at the end of the suspension period.

Travellers who have already been approved to enter Singapore under these RGLs can continue to do so.

The RGL allows cross-border travel for essential business and official purposes between the two countries under the arrangement.

Travellers under this arrangement would have to adhere to a set of COVID-19 prevention and public health measures, which are under discussion and will have to be mutually agreed upon by both countries.

PCA arrangement for Singapore-Malaysia travel

Besides Malaysia, Germany and South Korea, Singapore also has RGL arrangements with Brunei, Japan, and several regions of mainland China.

Earlier this month, it suspended applications to travel from Japan to Singapore using the RGL arrangement, after Japan suspended all its travel arrangements with other countries during its state of emergency period.

For Malaysia, Singapore has an additional travel arrangement – the Periodic Commuting Arrangement, which allows residents who hold long-term immigration passes for business and work purposes in the other country to periodically return to their home countries for short-term home leave.

Travellers are advised to visit the SafeTravel website to check for the most updated border measures.

Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore

Other Singapore stories:

COVID-19: No 'Huat ah!' allowed – 6 things to observe this Chinese New Year

Singapore confirms 25 UK variant COVID-19 cases from 23 Dec-26 Jan: MOH

'Generational twilight struggle' if US, China cannot reconcile differences: Lee Hsien Loong

Government won't rush into decision on Dover Forest development: Desmond Lee