Forum: VTL scheme procedures were frustrating

I recently returned to Singapore via a vaccinated travel lane (VTL) flight from the United States.

While I am very happy that the Government has allowed travellers like me to fly back to see our families, the procedures can be very frustrating.

Due to the differences in conventions for names and dates between the US and Singapore, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) website could not accept my vaccination QR code from the US.

Since the website allows me to file a declaration only three days before the flight, and inquiries are typically responded to in about five days, there was no way to seek rectification in time.

Moreover, calling the SafeTravel helpline was useless as it was automated with no one to speak to, and repeated information that could already be found online.

At the airport, even though I had received an e-mail acknowledging my health declaration, the immigration officer said that it was not in the system and that I would have to redo it and queue again.

It would have been better if provisional acceptance of the materials could be done on the ICA website, so that any problems could be flagged in advance and officers know what needs to be manually reviewed.

This would avoid the need to have an immigration officer review all the materials and slow the arrival process down.

Another issue I ran into is that some instructions received were contradictory. For example, the e-mail acknowledgement I received included a stay-home notice attachment as I was coming from a high-risk country, but the e-mail also said that stay-home notice is not applicable if VTL conditions are met.

I had to read it several times and cross my fingers that I wasn't doing anything wrong.

I hope many others after me can have a better experience with the VTL flight scheme.

Lee Kok Kiong

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