Australia prepares to open international borders to Singapore

Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison has said that as the country prepares to open its international borders in the coming months, visa holders from Singapore could be allowed to enter.

He told reporters, “We are in the final stages of completing an arrangement with the Singapore government.”

“Some months ago, I met with the Prime Minister of Singapore to set up a new arrangement which will see our borders open more quickly to Singapore. We anticipate that being able to be achieved within the next week or so as we would open up to more visa class holders coming out of Singapore,” he added.

Recall that it was recently announced that from next month, Australian citizens who are fully vaccinated, those who are permanent residents and their immediate families will be allowed to enter Sydney from overseas, without the need to quarantine.

However, there was no specific timeframe as to when tourists from the city-state would be allowed into Australia as visa holders can also mean students, business travellers and skilled migrants.

The prime minister said on Friday that the country will gradually give permission for more non-resident visitors into the country, including students and business travellers, skilled migrants and tourists.

He commented saying, “I’m confident that because of the way we have prepared for this day, that that is very possible and very achievable before the end of the year to be getting to international visitors.”

In July, the government introduced a transition plan whose objective was to fully vaccinate between 70% and 80% of the population before easing international border restrictions and during the week, the country achieved that important milestone with 70% of people above the age of 16 now fully vaccinated.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore welcomed the announcement as he wrote in a Facebook post saying, he is delighted to hear that Australia will be allowing entry to visa holders from Singapore.