Update 26th March
52 clinics are now on the updated approved list offering this service.

Update 23rd March
Kingston Medical, the cheapest provider of Tele-ART services in Singapore at S$12 per person, has expanded its services to include overseas consultations from these newly approved countries.

If you’re a Singapore resident returning from one of 17 Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) countries, you can now simplify your pre-departure test process by taking a remote video-link ART test with a provider based in the Lion City itself, satisfying the requirement to show a negative swab result before your flight home.

This is now possible thanks to a Ministry of Health update of regulations for pre-departure testing (PDT) on 19th March 2022, allowing remote supervised ART test for residents and pass holders returning to Singapore from the United States, Australia, most European countries, India and the Middle East.

Unfortunately this still excludes many regional VTLs like Thailand and Malaysia, but those returning from many popular countries including Australia, Germany, the USA and the UK will be able to benefit, saving the hassle of having to source a PDT towards the end of the trip and potentially avoid taking a good chunk of time out of the day to get it done.

Pricing currently starts at S$12, plus the cost of your own ART kit approved for use in Singapore (around S$5).

Pre-departure test requirement

The normal requirement when travelling to Singapore, either as a resident or short-term visitor and regardless of whether you are arriving on the VTL or via the General Lane, is a clinic-based PCR test or a professionally administered ART test within two calendar days of your departure date.

For example, if you are departing from Frankfurt to Singapore on SQ325 at 10pm on Wednesday, your test must be taken on or after 0.01am on Monday (i.e. any time on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday).

Children aged two or below in the current calendar year are exempt from pre-departure testing before travelling to Singapore.

Until now, self-swab ART tests have not been permitted.

Supervised video ART: Who’s eligible?

This new option allows Singapore residents to have a virtually supervised test via video link during the same pre-departure time window, provided they are:

• a Singapore Citizen, Permanent Resident, Long-Term Pass Holder or Work Pass Holder; and
• physically present in a selected country (see below) at the time of the test; and
• using an ART provider in Singapore offering such services.

Remember this is not a ‘carte blanche’ approval to use any telemedicine provider in these overseas countries, like Project Screen in the UK, for example.

Your provider (the person at the other end of the video call) must be in Singapore, operating as part of an MOH-approved clinic.

Unfortunately the option is not currently available for short-term visitors (e.g. US Citizens visiting Singapore as tourists).

Supervised video ART: Which VTL countries?

Singapore residents returning to Changi on the VTL can use the supervised ART test via video link if they are tested in one of the following VTL countries, or approved travel history countries.

VTL Countries
Allowing remote supervised ART
(or clinic ART/PCR)

🇦🇺 Australia
🇩🇰 Denmark
🇫🇮 Finland
🇫🇷 France
🇩🇪 Germany
🇬🇷 Greece
🇮🇳 India
🇮🇱 Israel
🇮🇹 Italy

🇳🇱 Netherlands
🇶🇦 Qatar
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
🇪🇸 Spain
🇸🇪 Sweden
🇦🇪 UAE
🇬🇧 UK
🇺🇸 USA

VTL Travel History Countries
Allowing remote supervised ART
(or clinic ART/PCR)

🇦🇹 Austria
🇧🇪 Belgium
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
🇭🇷 Croatia
🇨🇾 Cyprus
🇨🇿 Czech Rep.
🇪🇪 Estonia
🇭🇺 Hungary
🇮🇪 Ireland

🇱🇻 Latvia
🇱🇹 Lithuania
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
🇲🇹 Malta
🇵🇱 Poland
🇵🇹 Portugal
🇷🇴 Romania
🇸🇰 Slovakia
🇸🇮 Slovenia

You can also have a supervised video ART conducted in one of these countries and return via the General Lane to Singapore (e.g. on a non-VTL flight) if you wish – the pre-departure testing requirement is the same either way.

However, if you are returning from one of the following VTL countries you will not be eligible to have a pre-departure ART test through video link, and you must continue to comply with the requirement for either a clinic-based PCR test or a professionally administered ART test (no self-swabs).

VTL Countries
Requiring clinic ART/PCR
(no remote supervised ART)

🇧🇳 Brunei
🇰🇭 Cambodia
🇨🇦 Canada
🇫🇯 Fiji
🇭🇰 Hong Kong
🇮🇩 Indonesia
🇲🇾 Malaysia
🇲🇻 Maldives

🇵🇭 Philippines
🇰🇷 South Korea
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇹🇭 Thailand
🇹🇷 Turkey
🇻🇳 Vietnam

Hopefully some of these countries can be added to the approved list in future, to allow more flexibility for travellers returning from regional VTL locations and even some further afield like Canada and Switzerland, which are (strangely) omitted from the approved list.

Supervised video ART: Non-VTL countries

You can also take a video supervised ART pre-departure test with a provider based in Singapore before returning from the following non-VTL countries, as a Singapore resident.

• Bahrain
• Egypt
• Iran
• Jordan
• Kuwait
• Oman
• Yemen

In this case a negative Tele-ART result will satisfy the requirements for General Lane travel back to Singapore (followed by seven days SHN at home).

Providers and costs

At the time of writing, four providers in Singapore are offering supervised pre-departure video ART swabs including service provision if you are located in one of these newly approved overseas countries.

Several more currently offer the service exclusively for those in Singapore itself, but not yet at these approved overseas locations. We expect these providers to expand their offering in the coming days to include the new service.

Prices currently start at S$12, plus the cost of your own approved ART test kit (~S$5).

Update: MOH now states that ART test kits approved for use in the relevant country or region can be used. We’ll check whether providers will actually support this, since their supervisors may not be familiar with the operation of these kits.

Cost of COVID-19 pre-departure
Overseas Video ART tests

Clinic / Provider	Price (inc. GST)*	Hours (SGT)
Kingston Medical	S$12.00	9am – 6pm
	S$25.00	6pm – 9am
Intemedical	S$15.00	8am – 11pm
Speedoc	S$16.05	9am – 9pm
MyCLNQ	S$20.00	8am – Midnight
Healthway Medical	S$25.00	Mon-Fri 9am – 9pm or Sat/Sun/PH 9am – 5pm
Swab Station SG	S$25.00	8am – 5pm
RMDY Clinic	S$26.80	Mon-Fri 9am – 6pm or Sat 9am – 2pm
Raffles Medical (via mobile app)	S$30.00	24 hours
Belief Family Clinic (24 hours)	S$30.00	Mon-Fri 9am – 6pm
	S$40.00	Sat/Sun/PH 9am – 9pm or Mon-Fri 6pm – 9pm
	S$45.00	Daily 9pm – 12am
	S$60.00	Daily 12am – 9am
Swab N Go	S$30.00	8am – Midnight

* Plus the cost of providing your own approved test kit.

Do note that the provider operating hours shown above refer to Singapore Time (SGT). Some providers will ask you to book your test in SGT and others in the local time zone of your approved overseas testing country.

You can check the current local time in Singapore via this link, which also allows you to view local times in other cities – worth checking before making your overseas Tele-ART booking.

Other Tele-ART providers including Minmed, Kingston Medical, DA Clinic, Speedoc and IMC are not yet providing the option for overseas supervised swabs, though we expect them to come on board in the days ahead.

You should check their sites to see how the pricing looks once they join the scheme, since this could reduce costs even further, with the cheapest providers currently setting supervised ART costs at around S$12 in Singapore (plus your own kit).

How the Tele-ART works

The Tele-ART process with a provider in Singapore is simple enough, with either an in-app video function or weblink sent to you, depending on which provider you choose. You’ll need an internet connection, and we’d recommend Wi-Fi if possible (beware of exceeding your overseas data roaming limits if you’re using 4G/5G).

You should allow around 30 minutes for completion, but it should be a bit quicker in most cases.

You will have to provide your own test kit approved for use in Singapore, with some providers recommending you have a second spare kit on standby in case of invalid results, or in case you make a mistake.

Some providers will ask for the test kit brand and/or the LOT number of the kit you’ll be using at the booking stage, so you may have to purchase in advance.

The swab supervisor will then guide you through the process, which typically involves:

• Verifying your identity by holding your IC or passport up to the camera
• Showing the unopened ART kit including its LOT number
• Following the test instructions as guided
• Leaving the ART kit in view of the camera during the 15 minutes it takes for the test to complete
• Showing the result to the swab supervisor (you may also be asked to take and upload a photo of the kit once the result is shown)

Clinic antigen rapid testing is widely available in many of Singapore’s VTL countries, and in some cases you can complete the test near your hotel, or at the airport before you check-in, for similar or lower costs than you’ll find in Singapore.

However, in locations where ART testing is very expensive, like Finland where it’ll set you back a whopping ~S$120 for an antigen pre-departure test, there’s a significant saving to be made here by using a tele-ART provider for S$12-30.

There’s also the convenience factor of a supervised swab, taking only 30 minutes, which may be a better prospect than having to plan a clinic visit during one of the final days of your trip.

Just remember to bring a test kit or two along with you, in case those on the approved list aren’t readily available in your destination.

(Cover Photo: Shutterstock)