It has been reported by media outlets that Iceland plans to grant an exemption from travel restrictions to visitors coming from 15 countries outside the Schengen Area.
Iceland allowing travellers from 15 non-Schengen Area countries
It has been reported by media outlets that Iceland plans to grant an exemption from travel restrictions to visitors coming from 15 countries outside the Schengen Area.
The announcement follows a decision made by the EU to designate 15 countries as ‘safe’ based on a number of scientific factors. Consideration is based on the number of new COVID-19 cases over the last 14 days and per 100,000 inhabitants being close to or below the EU average (as it stood on 15 June 2020), the presence of a stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days and the country’s total response to the virus, including aspects such as testing, surveillance, contact tracing, containment, treatment and reporting, as well as the reliability of the information.
Current measures (586/2020 from the 15th of June) dictate that EU/Schengen citizens and residents are free to travel to Iceland provided that they preregister before arriving. Once arrived in Iceland, the visitors will be subject to a COVID-19 PCR test or have to take mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Once the new regulation comes into effect, travel restrictions will be lifted to travellers from Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay and China (subject to confirmation of Icelandic travellers being allowed into China). All visitors from these countries must have pre-registered their travel to Iceland, undergone a COVID-19 PCR test or opted to quarantine for 14 days.
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