15 Countries To Be Admitted To Iceland, USA Not Among Them

15 Countries To Be Admitted To Iceland, USA Not Among Them

Published July 1, 2020

Sam O'Donnell
Photo by
Maarten Visser

The European Union agreed on June 30th to abolish travel restrictions into the Schengen Area for residents of 15 countries. The USA was not one of them.

According to a notice posted on the Ministry of Justice website on June 30th, the Icelandic government is now working on creating a plan to remove the current restrictions created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

New regulations will be issued in the coming days, but currently the nations that will be allowed to travel to Iceland will be Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, and Uruguay. China will also be admitted once they confirm that they are taking the same measures as the EU in regards to testing and quarantining.

Countries within the Schengen region will naturally be allowed to continue to travel to and from Iceland as they have before. According to the notice, “EU/Schengen citizens and residents are free to travel to Iceland under the condition that they preregister prior to arrival and undergo either a PCR test or a 14-day quarantine upon arrival.”

As of July 1st, travelers will be charged for testing at the border. They may pay in advance through an online pre-registration process, or at the testing station. Paying through the pre-registration process costs 9,000 ISK while paying at the testing stand costs 11,000 ISK. Most passengers up to this point have opted to pay in advance.

As ever, those looking for more information or advice should go to the Icelandic Government’s excellent COVID-19 help page.

Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.

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