KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 14 — The Vaccinated Travel Lane-Land (VTL-Land) that allows quarantine-free travel between Malaysia and Singapore will be expanded to all categories of travellers who are citizens of the two countries, Malaysia’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) announced today.
Miti said however that requirements to be vaccinated against Covid-19 and other measures such as Covid-19 testing will continue to apply.
“Due to increased public demand for travel via VTL-Land, all categories of travellers who
are Malaysian and Singaporean citizens will be able to enter Singapore and Malaysia
respectively, via VTL (Land) effective December 20, 2021.
“Holders of Malaysian Permanent Resident status can continue to enter Malaysia via VTL (Land),” the ministry said in a statement.
This means that all Malaysian travellers can enter Singapore using the VTL through land transport, while all Singaporean travellers can enter Malaysia using the same VTL starting from December 20.
“Travellers are still required to be fully vaccinated and for unvaccinated children below the age of 12, they must be accompanied by vaccinated parents or guardians.
“Eligible travellers will be subjected to Covid-19 testing and further health requirements determined by the respective country,” the ministry said.
The ministry said the VTL-Land scheme will still be limited to bus transportation only, with designated VTL-Land bus operators to offer bus tickets to meet the increased demand but subject to the prevailing public health situation.
Designated VTL-Land bus services bound for Singapore will depart from Larkin Sentral Bus Terminal in Johor, Malaysia, while the Queen Street Terminal and Woodlands Temporary Bus Interchange will be the boarding and disembarkation points in Singapore.
Before buying bus tickets, travellers heading to Malaysia via the VTL-Land need to register at https://mysafetravel.gov.my, while travellers from Malaysia and heading to Singapore have to register at https://go.gov.sg/vtl-portal.
More details on the VTL-Land requirements can be found at https://www.miti.gov.my and https://www.safetravel.ica.gov.sg
The VTL-Land between Malaysia and Singapore was launched on November 29, with the aim of facilitating quarantine-free, seamless cross-border movement by integrating health protocol, security and immigration clearance, Miti said.
“This initiative allowed those separated from their loved ones due to the pandemic to travel home and reunite with their families.
“True to its purpose of providing opportunities for both countries to reopen the land border in a gradual, safe, systematic and sustainable manner; necessary health measures are implemented and imposed on travellers between Malaysia and Singapore,” Miti said.
When it was first launched, Singapore restricted the travel programme to its citizens, permanent residents, holders of long-term passes (such as work permits, student’s pass or long-term visit pass) entering the republic.
On the other side of the border, travellers accepted under the programme then similarly had to be Malaysian citizens, Malaysian permanent residents and Malaysian long-term pass holders.
Such travellers are also required to remain in the departing country for 14 days before departure.
Currently, travellers seeking to enter Singapore through VTL-Land must undergo Covid-19 testing two days before departure and upon arrival, followed by daily Covid-19 antigen rapid tests using a self-administered kit for the next six days after the day of arrival.
Including the day of arrival in Singapore, the Covid-19 testing on day three and day seven has to be supervised by an approved test provider at test centres, while the results from the daily self-testing on the other of these days are to be submitted online.
Travellers keen to enter Malaysia via VTL-Land are required to undergo Covid-19 testing two days before departure and upon arrival.
Additionally, those who enter Malaysia via VTL-Land are also currently required to carry out self-testing for Covid-19 using antigen rapid tests on day two, day four and day six.
The self-administered test results have to be reported on the MySejahtera app, while the rapid tests on day three and day five have to be done at healthcare facilities.
The additional daily testing within seven days of arrival of VTL-Land travellers in Malaysia and Singapore were introduced on December 6, 11.59pm and are effective from December 8, following the discovery of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus.
