How to Legally Cross-border to Malaysia (including Johor Bahru) from Singapore

Crossing the border from Singapore to Malaysia is a straightforward journey. It’s often just a short journey by land, depending where you want to go in Malaysia. This opens up a plethora of easy weekend destinations you can take from Singapore, such as Legoland, Desaru Coast, Rawa Island, etc.

It’s even easier because there are plenty private Malaysian transportation services that will pick you up from your door step in Singapore and drive you to wherever you need to go in Malaysia. Usually, this costs a pretty penny at around SG$200 – 400 round trip, but it’s a price most customers are willing to pay for the convenience. And if you’re a family with young kids, you know that’s priceless.

Well, if you’ve been paying attention to the news, you may have heard that this door-to-door private transportation service is apparently… illegal. In early August 2025, the LTA (Land Transport Authority, a government body that manages Singapore’s roads) has cracked down on such transportations in Singapore. The drivers were caught in Singapore, fined S$3,000 and the cars were impounded.

Yes, this is news to me. Honest to God, I had NO idea that this was not a legal way to cross over to Malaysia.

But, just as luck have it – guess who booked a trip to Legoland with four young kids a few months ago? That’s right… yours truly. I had been using the door-to-door car service since I first moved to Singapore nearly two decades ago, and I was going to rely on them again this time. I did not know other convenient ways to cross over to Malaysia. Yes, I have taken the public bus to JB, but I definitely did not want to take that route with young kids since we would be bringing car seats and strollers.

So, I had to do some research while keeping convenience in mind. I thought some of you may benefit from this information, thus I’ve packaged it nicely for you in a blog post.

Here are five options how to legally cross over to Malaysia, ranked by convenience:

1. Rent a car
2. Hire an excursion van
3. Hire an officially licensed taxi
4. Hop on a shared coach bus
5. Take the public transportation

And as usual, let’s dive into the details. But before you do that, please take some time to read this disclaimer:

DISCLAIMER! I am not a lawyer or professional travel planner by any means. All info communicated in this post are based on my own research for my personal trip. While I believe the information is true at the time of writing, it is not meant to be taken as an official information. Additionally, regulations are fluid – it could change at any moment, so please always double check with your own research.

1. Rental Car

Some car rental companies in Singapore will allow you to drive their rental car to Malaysia for an extra surcharge. Starting 1 July 2025, foreign-registered vehicles are required to get Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) in order to enter Malaysia, including rental cars. Usually, the rental companies would have taken care of this for you, but make sure to double check if you go down this option!

Renting a car is undoubtedly the most convenient way in terms of border-crossing. This is because you can get on the private car queue when you get to the check point, which means your immigration process can be done from within the car. You won’t need to step out of the car at all, and you don’t need to take your luggage down to be scanned, although they do spot checks from time to time.

However, renting a car definitely won’t be the cheapest option, unless maybe if you’re going for just a day trip. Also, this option is (obviously) limited to those who can drive and have an official driver’s license. If you’re a tourist in Singapore, you may need to get an International license too, on top of your regular driver’s license, to be able to rent a car.

With a car, you can also go through both checkpoints: Tuas Link or Woodlands Checkpoint, which gives you more options in case there is a traffic jam.

2. Excursion Vans

Excursion vans (the big vans that can take 13 to 16 people) are not considered private hire vehicles. They can obtain permit from LTA and therefore are able to legally pick up passengers in Singapore.

Hire Private Excursion Van: You can book excursion van to popular destinations in Malaysia here. For going to Legoland, book here (choose the premium van option).

On the Malaysia side, the Malaysia Ministry of Tourism (MoT) requires such vans to have a tour guide present in the van, unless the van is carrying 7 passengers or less. Read more about the requirements here. Yes, this includes infants and children. If you have more than 7 passengers, you’ll need to pay for a tour guide which costs MYR 400 which is about S$120 at the time of writing.

It’s also worth noting that excursion vans goes through the bus lane at the check point. Which means you’ll need to take your luggages out of the van at least once when crossing over the border, at the side of the country you’re entering. They won’t let you leave your luggage in the van, because it needs to be scanned before entering another country.

The excursion van is a pretty convenient way to cross over to Malaysia, just slightly less convenient than the private cars which are no longer legal, and definitely not the most cost effective. But if you have 7 people in the group, I think you can consider it.

Similar with cars, you can also go through both checkpoints with excursion vans: via Tuas Link or Woodlands Checkpoint.

3. Official Licensed Taxi

I did not know about this, but yes, there ARE official licensed taxis that can operate cross-border between Singapore and Malaysia. However, they don’t operate like regular taxi. It is a little complicated so bear with me while I explain the rules to you.

Basically, there are two types of licensed taxi for cross-border trip between Singapore and Malaysia: A Singapore-licensed taxi (which I will refer to as SG taxi from this point onward), and a Malaysia-licensed taxi (which I will refer to as MY taxi).

What’s the difference between the two? The difference lies in their licensing, which affects how the taxis can operate once they are outside of their country of license.

To sum it up:

• Taking the SG taxi: An SG taxi can only drop you off at one designated point in Malaysia – the Larkin Street Terminal in JB. The benefit of an SG taxi is that they can pick you up from anywhere in SG, including your doorstep. But you do need to book ahead of time – contact any taxi operator in SG. This cross-border taxi costs S$90 one way.
• Taking the MY taxi: On the other hand, an MY taxi can only pick you up from one designated point in Singapore, which is the Ban San Street terminal near Bugis MRT. Once you’ve crossed over to Malaysia, MY taxi can drop you off anywhere in Malaysia. I heard it costs S$60 to hire MY taxi one-way, but if you’re going to areas outside of Johor Bahru city, you might need to bargain the rate since the official rate is only for going to Johor Bahru city.

So, when going Singapore -> Malaysia, you’ll want to look for an MY taxi at Ban San street in Singapore – they can take you straight to your destination in Malaysia. When coming back from Malaysia -> Singapore, look for an SG taxi at Larkin Street terminal in JB – they can drop you off straight at home.

4. Shared Coach Buses

The Singapore <> Malaysia border is one of the busiest borders in the world. There are millions of people going in and out of both countries every single day. No matter where you want to go in Malaysia, there will be shared coach routes that you can take from Singapore.

Book Shared Coaches: You can find shared coaches on Klook depending on your destination in Malaysia. Here are a few of them: Johor Bahru, Desaru, Legoland, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca

Shared coach is popular because it is a pretty a cost-effective way, but it is certainly not the most flexible way. Your departure time and drop-off point would be dictated by the coach schedule. I also think it is probably not the best way to travel with young kids.

At the checkpoint, you have to get off the bus twice – once in the Singapore side, then again on the Malaysia side. In Singapore side, you get your passport processed for exiting Singapore. In Malaysia side, your passport is processed for entry, and you also need to get your luggage off the bus and get them scanned.

I’ve taken this option when I went to Malacca and Kuala Lumpur, and I found it pretty convenient since I was traveling by myself with very limited luggages (just a backpack).

5. Public Transportation

Yes, it is possible to cross-border to Malaysia via public transportation. It is not the most convenient way, but it is the cheapest way. Most of the routes runs through Woodlands Checkpoint if you choose this option, but a few runs through Tuas Link as well..

There are so many different ways and permutations you can do to take public transportations to Malaysia from Singapore, so I’ve written all about them in a dedicated blog post:

How to use public transportation to go to Malaysia: I’ve written about this option in detail over at my “How to Go to Johor Bahru by Bus from Singapore” post.

Tips for Crossing over to Malaysia from Singapore by land

No matter which option you choose, here are a couple of pointers that will make your journey to Malaysia smoother:

Bring your passport with a minimum of 6 months validity – Yes, even though it’s such a short trip that doesn’t feel like an international journey, you’re still crossing over to another country – so you need your passport. Make sure you have at least 6 months’ validity on your passport!

Check if you need a Malaysia visa – If you hold a China or India passport, you need to get a visa to enter Malaysia. You can check Malaysia visa requirements here.

Fill in Malaysia Digital Arrival Card (MDAC) – Unless you’re holding a Singapore passport or Malaysian Long Term Residence, you will need to fill in MDAC. You can fill out MDAC here within 3 days of your planned departure to Malaysia.

Get an Malaysia eSIM from Klook – I’m a huge fan of eSIM. You’ll get access to a Malaysia local data package without the hassle of having to buy and swap your phone SIM card to a local one. Just buy them from Klook, activate from the app, and you’ll be connected in seconds. The one I used is this 5G one from Maxis and it worked very well throughout the trip.

Best time to cross the Singapore-Malaysia border – Crossing the border is easy, but when it’s holiday time, it could take up to 4 hours to clear the immigration on both sides. The best time to cross from Singapore to Malaysia is on weekdays, from Monday to Friday in the morning by 10 AM, and coming back to Singapore in the afternoon by 4 PM. Otherwise, you might face long queues at the checkpoints. On Weekends (Sat and Sun) or Public Holidays, I would go from Singapore to JB as early as possible in the morning – as early as 6 – 8 AM. And if you’re coming back to Singapore on Sunday, I’d try to cross the border by 2 PM.

Using E-Gate at Johor Baru Checkpoint – If you hold a Singapore passport, good news! You can use the automated E-Gate to enter Malaysia. However, on the first visit, you still need to go to the manual counter to get your passport verified. On the subsequent visits after that, you can use the E-Gate.

Coming back to Singapore? Fill out the SG Arrival Card – If you’re coming back to Singapore as a tourist and you do not hold residency here, you’ll need to fill out Singapore Arrival Card (SGAC). You can fill out SGAC here. Note that if you have residency in Singapore (whether you are Singapore citizen, Permanent Resident, or Long-Term Pass holder), you do NOT need to fill out the arrival card when traveling through Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoint.

In Conclusion

For my trip to Legoland, I decided to hire an excursion van. It was the most convenient way for us and the cost made sense since we were a group of 7.

Hire Private Excursion Van: You can book excursion van to popular destinations in Malaysia here. For going to Legoland, book here (choose the premium van option).

We did have to take down our luggage and strollers every time we crossed the border, but we mitigated that by packing one luggage per family. In the end, it was really not a terrible way! I would do this again, and I would highly recommend this method to anyone looking for a balance between convenience and cost.

And there you have it – these are all the official and legal ways to cross over to Malaysia from Singapore that I could find. Please leave a comment below if you have any questions, or if you spot anything in this blog which you believe is incorrect, or if you have other ideas how to cross-over to Malaysia legally from Singapore.

I will just have to repeat the disclaimer again before you go:

DISCLAIMER! I am not a lawyer or professional travel planner by any means. All info communicated in this post are based on my own research for my personal trip. While I believe the information is true at the time of writing, it is not meant to be taken as an official information. Additionally, regulations are fluid – it could change at any moment, so please always double check with your own research.

Until next time, fellow travellers! 🧳