PUBLISHED ONNovember 17, 2025 3:20 AMBYEsther LamThose travelling to Malaysia during the upcoming year-end school holidays — from Nov 21, 2025, to Jan 1, 2026, — can expect longer waiting times to clear immigration at both Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Monday (Nov 17).
ICA has sought travellers' understanding to cooperate with its officers, observe traffic rules and maintain lane discipline.
During the recent Deepavali long weekend from Oct 17 to 20, close to two million travellers crossed Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints.
The peak was on Oct 17 when over 550,000 travellers cleared immigration through the land checkpoints in a single day, the authority said.
Car travellers departing during peak periods over the long weekend had to wait up to three hours for immigration clearance, due to traffic tailback from Malaysia.
Meanwhile, more than 5.8 million travellers crossed the two land crossings during the September school holidays from Sept 5 to 15.
With the upcoming school holidays, the ICA will be conducting more intensified checks against the smuggling of e-vaporisers during this period.
Travellers are advised to check for the traffic situation, via the Land Transport Authority's One Motoring website or ICA's Facebook and X (former Twitter) account, at the land checkpoints before embarking on their journey.
The ICA encourages travellers to use QR codes generated from the MyICA mobile app for more convenient passport-less immigration clearance.
Those who are travelling during peak periods can also consider taking the cross-border bus services to avoid congestion.
[[nid:723465]]