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What are the new rules for Covid pass holders travelling between Norway and the UK

New travel rules have been introduced for Covid certificate users travelling between Norway and the UK, Here's what you need to know.

What are the new rules for Covid pass holders travelling between Norway and the UK
A Norwegian Air Shuttle jet taking off from Oslo Airport. Photo Jan Johansen/Flickr

Travel to Norway 

Travel to Norway is restricted to residents, citizens, EU and Norwegian vaccine pass holders and arrivals from “green countries“, countries which have low enough infection levels to allow entry into Norway. 

In addition to this, the partners and the close family of residents and citizens from the EU/EEA, the UK and purple list countries can enter Norway

Typically, unvaccinated arrivals or those without a valid EU or Norwegian Covid certificate will be required to quarantine either at home or a hotel, register their entry and test before and after arriving in Norway. 

The quarantine period in Norway is either ten or seven days depending on whether a negative PCR test is returned on day seven. 

Arrivals from green countries and those with vaccine passports aren’t obliged to quarantine or test. You can read more about the rules and entry requirements depending on your situation here

New travel rules for fully jabbed travellers entering the UK

From August 2nd, fully vaccinated travellers from countries in Europe can skip the mandatory 10-day quarantine period when arriving in England, Scotland and Wales from amber list countries like Norway

Travellers will still need to provide a negative test no more than three days before travel and take a PCR test on the second day after arriving. 

All arrivals will also be required to fill out the passenger locator form. Below we’ll look at how the new rules affect travel between Norway and the UK. 

Travel from Norway to the UK for vaccine pass holders

Vaccine pass holders, with either the EU, Norwegian or NHS covid certificate, travelling from Norway will need to take a test no earlier than three days before their arrival into the UK. 

The test results must be in English, French or Spanish.

Getting test results in English shouldn’t be a problem in Norway if you use a testing service such as Dr.Dropin or Volvat. 

The best option for non-residents to get tested before travelling to the UK will be to get one done privately. These cost around £100, including the fit to fly certificate. 

You can read more about the specifics for testing here.

Travellers will also be required to fill out a passenger locator form.

Under the new rules, fully vaccinated health pass holders will skip the ten-day quarantine period as Norway is an amber country

They will still need to pre book a PCR test for the second day after arriving in the UK. This will cost upwards of £60.

In the UK, you are only classed as fully vaccinated two weeks after your final jab. 

If you are using the Norwegian Covid certificate as proof of vaccination, you will need to show border police the extended control page, which includes the vaccines you took and the date you received them. 

READ MORE: How you can use Norway’s Covid-19 certificate at the border? 

Furthermore, the UK only accepts EMA approved vaccines. If you have been vaccinated in Norway, this won’t be an issue as the country only uses EMA approved serums. 

Travel from the UK to Norway for health certificate holders

Fully vaccinated travellers arriving, or those who have had Covid in the past six months, from the UK with an EU or Norwegian Covid certificate aren’t subject to any entry restrictions provided a week has passed since their final shot. 

Those planning on using the NHS app are still subject to entry restrictions and requirements as while the UK is accepting Norwegian vaccine passes, this isn’t being reciprocated, for now at least. 

This is because Norway cannot verify the NHS app as proof of vaccination, but talks are underway to get the NHS app accepted by Norwegian authorities, according to the British Embassy in Norway

This means entry from the UK for non-residents and citizens is restricted to close family and partners. 

The British Embassy also said that it doesn’t currently have a date for when the NHS app will be accepted. 

Children and stepchildren (regardless of age), parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are classed as close family.

Those without a Norwegian or EU health pass will also need to take a test, either PCR or antigen, 24 hours before arrival.

In addition to this, they will need to register their entry into Norway, test at the border and enter a quarantine hotel for a minimum of three days as the UK is a dark red country under Norway’s Covid country classification system

They will be released from the hotels, which cost 500 kroner per night for adults, or 250 for children over 10, after returning a negative PCR test. 

They will then need to quarantine until day seven at the earliest, where the option will be available to take another PCR. Otherwise, the isolation period will end on day ten. 

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TRAVEL NEWS

What will Europe’s EES passport checks mean for dual nationals?

The EU's Entry & Exit System (EES) of enhanced passport checks will usher in big changes for travellers - here we answer readers' questions on the position for dual nationals.

What will Europe's EES passport checks mean for dual nationals?

The EU is preparing, after many delays, to introduce the EES system for travel in and out of Europe.

You can find a full explanation of how it works HERE, but in essence it is an enhanced passport check – registering biometric details such as fingerprints and facial scans and introducing an automatic calculation of how long you have stayed within the EU/Schengen zone in order to detect ‘over-stayers’.

And it’s already causing stress for travellers. We asked readers of The Local to share their questions here – and one of the biggest worries was how the system will work for dual nationals ie people who have a passport for both an EU country and a non-EU country.

EES: Your questions answered

EU passports 

One of the main purposes of EES is to detect ‘over-stayers’ – people who have either stayed in the EU longer than their visa allows or non-EU nationals who have over-stayed their allowance of 90 days in every 180.

As this does not apply to EU nationals, people travelling on an EU passport are not required to do EES pre-registration and will continue to travel in the same way once EES is introduced – going to the ‘EU passports queue’ at airports, ports and stations and having their passports scanned as normal.

Non-EU 

Non-EU travellers will, once EES is up and running, be required to complete EES pre-registration.

This means that the first time they cross an EU/Schengen zone external border they will have to go to a special zone of the airport/port/terminal and supply extra passport information including fingerprints and a facial scan.

This only needs to be done once and then lasts for three years.

Non-EU residents of the EU/Schengen zone

This does not apply to non-EU citizens who are permanent residents of an EU country or who have a long-stay visa for an EU/Schengen zone country – click HERE for full details.

Schengen zone passports/Irish passports 

EES applies within the Schengen zone, so people with Swiss, Norwegian and Icelandic passports are treated in the same way as citizens of EU countries.

Ireland and Cyprus are in the EU but not the Schengen zone – these countries will not be using the EES system at their borders, but their citizens are still EU citizens so can continue to use EU passport gates at airports and will be treated the same as all other EU citizens (ie they don’t have to do EES pre-registration).

OK, so what if you have both an EU and a non-EU passport?

They key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any of the rules on immigration – it’s just a way of better enforcing the rules that are already in place. 

Therefore the rules for dual nationals remain as they are – for most people which passport to travel on is a matter of personal choice, although Americans should be aware that if you have a US passport and you are entering the USA, you must use your American passport. 

But it’s also important to remember that the passports of dual nationals are not ‘linked’ – therefore if you present an American passport at the Italian border, you will be treated exactly the same as every other American, there is no way for the border guard to know that you are also Italian.

Likewise if you are a UK-Germany dual national and you travel back to the UK on your German passport, you can expect to be treated the same as every other German at the border, and might be asked for proof of where you are staying in UK, how long you intend to stay etc – the system has no way of knowing that you are also British. 

Therefore whether you have to complete EES pre-registration or not is entirely a matter of which passport you are travelling on – if you use your EU passport you won’t have to do it, if you use your non-EU passport you will.

It’s also possible to use two passports for the same trip – so let’s say you’re travelling from Spain to Canada – you enter Canada on your Canadian passport, and show your Canadian passport again when you leave. However, once you re-enter Spain you show your Spanish passport in order to benefit from the unlimited length of stay.

If you’re travelling between France and the UK via the Eurostar, Channel Tunnel or cross-Channel ferry, you need to remember that the Le Touquet agreement means that French passport checks take place in the UK and vice versa. You can still use both passports, but you just need to keep your wits about you and remember to hand the French one to the French border guards and the British one to British guards.

In terms of avoiding immigration formalities using two passports is the most efficient way for dual nationals to travel, but some people prefer to stick to one passport for simplicity, or don’t want to keep both passports together in case of theft.

Basically it’s a personal choice, but you just need to remember that you will be treated according to the passport that you show – which includes completing EES pre-registration if you’re showing a non-EU passport.

It’s also worth remembering that if the changes do cause border delays (and there are fears that they might especially at the UK-France border), then these will affect all travellers – regardless of their passport. 

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