As the European Union prepares for a more travel-friendly season, Norway has announced updates to its reopening plans, easing the permissions for different groups.
Starting Saturday, June 19 (at 12 noon)
- Residents of Denmark do not have to quarantine if they have been fully vaccinated or have had COVID-19 in the past six months.
- Entry will be permitted for foreign nationals residing in the EEA or the United Kingdom who are related in the following ways to a person residing in Norway:
- Adult children and stepchildren and parents and stepparents of adult children/stepchildren
- Grandparents, step-grandparents, grandchildren, and step-grandchildren
- Romantic partners over the age of 18 and the minor children of romantic partners, when the partners’ relationship has had a duration of at least nine months and they have previously met each other physically. Entry permission for romantic partners requires prior consent for a romantic partner visit. It is to be arranged by application to the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI). The system is fully automated, with no fees, and those rejected will have no right of appeal.
- Travelers from EEA/Schengen area countries with fewer than 500 new infection cases per 100,000 inhabitants over the past two weeks are now exempt from the quarantine hotel requirement.
- Travelers who have been outside the EEA/Schengen area during the 10-day period before entry into Norway must as a general rule stay in a quarantine hotel until they obtain a negative result from a PCR test taken no earlier than 3 days after entry.
- Minors are not to stay in quarantine hotels.
Starting Monday, June 21
- Travelers who stayed in the UK during the 10-day period before their entry into Norway must stay at a quarantine hotel until they obtain a negative result from a PCR test taken no earlier than 3 days after entry.
- Norway will align its color-coding system with the EU’s. The national infection severity thresholds used in exempting travelers from quarantine will not change until July 5.
Starting Thursday, June 24
Fully vaccinated people and those who have had Covid-19 in the past six months are exempt from entry quarantine duty provided that they can document their status on the Norwegian Covid-19 certificate.
On 24 June, Norway will link up with the EU’s solution. Travelers to Norway from EU/EEA countries will then be able to use a COVID-19 certificate.
Starting Monday, July 5
- Norway will rescind the travel advice for the EEA/Schengen area, the United Kingdom, and countries on the EU’s third-country ‘safe list’ that the Norwegian Institute of Public Health also views as safe. The ministry’s travel advice against non-essential travel for all countries outside the Schengen area/EEA and the UK will be extended until August 10. The ‘safe list’ will be regularly evaluated and is subject to change with short notice.
- The Institute of Public Health will assess the infection levels of certain European islands and archipelagos. If the levels are low enough, it will be possible to travel to these islands and archipelagos without having to undergo quarantine on return.
- Norway will adopt the EU’s quarantine requirement recommendations so that green countries will be those with 50 or fewer new infections per 100,000 inhabitants over the past 14 days and fewer than 4% of all tests coming back positive, or alternatively a rate of new infections under 75 per 100,000 and a positive test rate below 1%.
It is expected that in the Step 4 phase, entry will be permitted for all work-related travelers from the EEA, students, and romantic partners and more distant family members from third countries. This easing of rules will not necessarily coincide with the introduction of Step 4. For students, an easing can be expected before August 1.
Erickson Immigration Group will continue to send updates as more news is available. If you have questions about anything we’re reporting above or case-specific questions, please contact your employer or EIG attorney.