As reported, there are a number of important points to remember if you’re planning to travel to Iceland on or after June 15th.
Apart from the fact that a health certificate from home will no longer grant you express access—you’ll have to get tested for the novel coronavirus upon arrival, or go into two week quarantine, and the tests themselves will only be free until July 1st, after which they’ll cost 15,000 ISK—there is also the question of who will be allowed in the country at all.
Numerous people have expressed confusion about the updated travel restrictions. For clarification, we refer to the Icelandic government’s announcement on the matter:
“Iceland will continue to implement the travel restrictions imposed for the Schengen Area, which are currently due to remain in place until 15 June 2020. These restrictions may be extended until 1 July, but this remains to be decided by Schengen member states. While these restrictions are in place, foreign nationals, other than EU/EEA, EFTA or UK nationals, are generally not allowed to enter Iceland.”
In other words, if you are a citizen of a Schengen Area country or the UK, you are still permitted to come to Iceland. If you’re not from one of these countries, you will probably be allowed to enter Iceland on June 15th, unless Schengen member states decide to extend the deadline to July 1st. More on this is explained in detail on the official site of the Directorate of Immigration.
What qualifies as essential travel is a matter of contention. Generally speaking, diplomats, foreign dignitaries, health care professionals and those seeking to be re-united with immediate family are strong contenders for “essential” travel. If you’re in doubt, the best thing you can do is contact the state department or foreign ministry of your home country and ask first.
As always, more on the upcoming changes can be read here.
(This article has been updated.)
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