The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) of Singapore issued a warning on November 6, stating that individuals planning to visit Malaysia during the Deepavali holiday should anticipate “very heavy traffic” at both the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints.
Travellers are advised to account for additional waiting time for immigration clearance from November 9 to November 14, given the upcoming public holiday on November 12 and the year-end school holidays.
ICA advises motorists to check the traffic conditions at both checkpoints on the Bukit Timah and Ayer Rajah expressways before embarking on their journeys.
In addition to providing traffic updates on its websites and social media accounts and broadcasting on local radio stations, ICA will collaborate closely with the Traffic Police to ensure road discipline at critical junctions and roads leading to the checkpoints.
In October, four sports cars travelling from Malaysia to Singapore were turned away at the Tuas Checkpoint for attempting to cut the queue when entering Singapore. ICA reminds travellers to ensure that their passports have a remaining validity of at least six months.
During the Children’s Day weekend last month, more than 1.27 million travellers used the land checkpoints. Traveller volume peaked on October 6 with over 4,60,000 crossings, marking the highest daily figure for land checkpoints since the borders reopened in 2022, said the authority.
