France now requires a pre-departure COVID-19 test for travellers from Singapore

With countries around the world remaining on alert over the new Omicron COVID-19 variant, France has become the latest country on Singapore’s Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) list to impose pre-departure testing for travellers before they check in for their flights.

This new decree (French) follows the government’s weekly Defence Council meeting, where it was agreed to tighten the country’s entry requirements, even for fully vaccinated travellers who were previously exempt from pre-departure testing.

See this statement from the French Embassy in Singapore.

Singapore is currently on France’s “orange list”, meaning only fully vaccinated travellers can visit without needing an essential reason, and without any quarantine requirement.

Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travellers aged 12 or over aren’t allowed to visit France from “orange list” countries for non-essential reasons.

New PDT requirements

Effective for arrivals from Saturday 4th December 2021, all travellers from Singapore to France will require:

• A PCR or ART test conducted no more than 48 hours prior to departure.

For those taking non-stop services to Paris from Changi, the first flights to be affected are:

• SQ336 departing at 00:15 on Saturday 4th December
• AF257 departing at 23:05 on Saturday 4th December

In the SQ336 example on 4th December, you’ll therefore need a negative PCR test result or an eligible* ART test result from a swab taken on or after 00:15 on Thursday 2nd December (-48h).

If you are travelling from Singapore to France via a transit point, for example with Emirates via Dubai, note that the pre-departure test requirement timing applies before departure from the first embarkation point (i.e. still Singapore in this case).

If you have a busy schedule, Raffles Medical at Changi Airport Terminal 3 (Basement 2) is open 24 hours a day and provides 30-minute turnaround ART testing at S$30.

It may therefore be easier to arrive at the airport earlier than planned and have the test done there before proceeding to check-in for your flight.

You will also still be required to complete a “statement of honour” (déclaration sur l’honneur) health form when entering France, in which you swear that you do not have COVID-19 and have not met anyone with it in recent days.

You can download the form via this page.

What about children?

The pre-departure test requirement will not apply to children aged 11 or younger, by date of birth on arrival in France.

They can accompany you unvaccinated when travelling to France, without testing.

Other VTL countries requiring pre-departure testing

France isn’t the only VTL country requiring a pre-departure test for fully vaccinated Singapore residents.

You’ll also be subject to testing requirements when travelling to the following countries, in addition to VTL testing on your return:

Testing before travelling to selected countries
based on fully vaccinated travellers departing from Singapore by air

Country	Test type	Test timing	Exemptions
Hong Kong	PCR	48h before departure	—
Japan	PCR	72h before departure	Age 5 or below
Myanmar	PCR	72h before arrival	Age 5 or below
Qatar	PCR	48h before departure	Age 3 or below & Vaccinated Qataris and residents
South Korea	PCR or ART	PCR 2 days before departure or ART 1 day before departure	Age 5 or below
Taiwan	PCR	2 days before departure	Taiwan citizens & residents

Testing costs in Singapore

If you require a pre-departure test in Singapore before embarking on a VTL trip, here’s our latest rundown of the cheapest locations to get a test suitable for travel.

Note in particular that self-administered ART tests are not accepted for travel purposes, so you’ll still need to visit a clinic and obtain a certificate from the health provider when travelling to countries that accept an ART swab, like France.

Based on our recent analysis, pre-departure test costs in Singapore are around:

• PCR: S$107 (cheapest) – S$149 (average)
• Home PCR: S$138 (cheapest) – S$193 (average)
• ART: S$27 (cheapest) – S$37 (average)

VTL flights CDG-SIN

Here’s a list of the VTL (and non-VTL) flights from Paris to Singapore, which you’ll need to use on your return journey to benefit from quarantine-free arrival in Singapore, assuming you are also returning from France (click to expand):

  Full list of all VTL Flights

VTL testing to Singapore has also been beefed up

On your return from France (or any VTL country), you’ll now face two additional COVID-19 ART tests on Day 3 and Day 7 after your arrival day (Day 1).

These take the form of a supervised self-administered COVID-19 ART test at one of over 40 Quick Test Centres (QTCs) / Combined Test Centres (CTCs) on Day 3 and Day 7 (arrival day is Day 1). The cost is S$15 including GST per test.

You must book an appointment before your visit. If you do not have a local mobile phone number, you won’t be able to make an appointment and will instead have to register in-person at the QTC/CTC.

You do not need to self-isolate after the Day 3 or Day 7 tests. Results are provided by SMS within 1 hour, but you can leave the QTC/CTC immediately after the test itself.

Unfortunately it means there will now be four separate COVID-19 tests to complete when travelling to Singapore on the VTL, for those touching down from 3rd December 2021, which slightly increases the associated costs.

VTL Estimated Testing Costs  Test Cost Till 2 Dec From 3 Dec VTL country pre-departure* ~S$30 ~S$30 Singapore arrival S$125 S$125 Day 3 – S$15 Day 7 – S$15 Total S$155 S$185 * Prices vary between providers and locations.

In addition to the new pre-departure test requirement, that’s now five COVID-19 tests on a roundtrip from Singapore to France.

France becomes the 16th country on Singapore’s VTL list requiring pre-departure testing for those travelling from Singapore, even for those fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

For arrivals from Saturday 4th December 2021, a pre-departure PCR or ART test will need to be presented for each passenger aged 12 or over at the check-in desk in Singapore.

Elsewhere in Europe, Italy and the Netherlands also require pre-departure testing.

This list may grow further, or existing test requirements for some countries could be enhanced, as concerns over the Omicron variant continue to dominate in the days and weeks ahead.

Stay tuned for the latest updates, including via our Telegram Channel and Instagram page, where the details often break first.

(Cover Photo: Mika Baumeister)