Iceland becomes the first country in the Schengen/EU area to allow vaccinated passengers to enter the country from anywhere in the world. As per the reports, until now, travelers from Switzerland and outside the European Economic Area (EEA) were not allowed to enter, and the case still remains the same if they haven’t been vaccinated. Further, travellers from within who haven’t been vaccinated, will still be required to pre-register, undergo two tests after arrival, and also complete the quarantine procedure of five or six days.
As per the reports, visitors from any country who are able to provide an approved digital or paper vaccination certificate, will now be exempted from official border restrictions. Further, they will not be obliged to test negative for the COVID or undergo screening while arriving in the country.
Earlier in December, Iceland also decided to allow qualifying travelers to avoid testing and quarantine if they could prove they had tested positive for the COVID previously and recovered, which still applies for EU/EEA citizens.
Referring to this, Icelandic Prime Minister said, “The world has been through a lot in the past 12 months and we are all hoping for a slow and safe return to normalcy.” He added that this also includes the resumption of travel between countries, which is valuable to trade, culture, and enterprise. He further stated that the decision to allow vaccinated travellers from all countries, and outside the EU/EEA area is a logical extension of their current policy.