With its majestic mountains, breathtaking lakes and awesome activities, New Zealand is high on any traveller's bucket list. It's definitely a dream destination and one place we're longing to visit when the pandemic gets better. If you've been wondering when New Zealand's borders will open and "can I travel to New Zealand from Singapore?", there seems to be a glimmer of hope! From early 2022, New Zealand plans to allow quarantine-free entry for vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries.

New Zealand travel update - how will borders open?

While there are no talks of a New Zealand travel bubble with Singapore or Malaysia yet, this update is a huge step for New Zealand as it has closed its borders for almost 18 months due to Covid-19. Previously, New Zealand only had a Trans-Tasman bubble with Australia but that has currently been suspended.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said its government will put in place a risk-based model for quarantine-free travel from the first quarter of 2022. This means that there will be 3 travel models for countries deemed low-risk, medium-risk and high-risk:

Low-risk: Can travel quarantine-free
Medium- and high-risk: Will have to go through quarantine measures such as self-isolation or 14-days quarantine

New Zealand will start its self-isolation pilot project this year and there will also be new testing and vaccine checking systems set up at its borders. It will also increase its rate of vaccinations from September onwards.

Currently, New Zealand has only recorded 2,500 Covid-19 cases and 26 deaths. Thanks to its elimination strategy, the country has managed to keep the pandemic under control and the government says they will be careful and deliberate with the reopening of borders.

Which destinations are considered low-risk for New Zealand?

Currently, New Zealand has not mentioned which countries are deemed as low-risk. However, New Zealand news site Stuff predicts that Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan are some of the places that could be on this list. New Zealand has plans to resume its travel bubble with Australia when it's safe to do so while Hong Kong and Taiwan have managed to keep their number of Covid cases down. You might be wondering, "what about Singapore?" In June 2021, New Zealand's Trade Minister Damien O'Connor said that a travel bubble with Singapore "would be logical". Travellers from New Zealand are also able to visit Singapore under the Air Travel Pass (ATP).

However, it's still too early to tell and we hope that in the near future, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia could be on New Zealand's list! For now, if you're already dreaming of your next trip there, check out our New Zealand travel guides:

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