Appeals Mechanism for Incoming Travellers with ICA's Upcoming No-Boarding Directives

53 Ms Hany Soh asked the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs with regard to the new No-Boarding Directives to commence from 30 January 2026 (a) whether any appeal mechanism will be made available to travellers who wish to enter Singapore; and (b) whether ICA has any plans to implement adapted schemes at our sea and land checkpoints.

Mr K Shanmugam: Travellers who are issued with No-Boarding Directives (NBD) but wish to enter Singapore nevertheless may appeal to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) by writing to the ICA feedback channel on its website. If the appeal for entry is approved in due course, the travellers may then re-book their flight to Singapore. There is no mechanism for immediate appeals.

The NBD will be implemented at our air and sea checkpoints from 30 January 2026 and by end-2028 respectively. The ICA has no plan to implement NBD at the land checkpoints for now. This is because while we can conduct screening for air and sea travellers before they board the craft at the country of departure, this does not work for the land checkpoints where most of the travellers turn up at the checkpoints in their own vehicle or on public transport.