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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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EES PASSPORT CHECKS

EES border checks could undergo ‘soft launch’, UK says as app concerns mount

The UK government is preparing for a "soft launch" of the new EU border system – the Entry/Exit (EES) system - in October but authorities are still waiting for European Commission to confirm the start date, amid concerns over the delay of a new app.

EES border checks could undergo 'soft launch', UK says as app concerns mount

The government is working on the assumption that the system will go live on October 6th, ministers told a hearing at the House of Commons European scrutiny committee this week.

But the European Commission is expected to confirm the exact launch date of the new biometric checks for non-EU travellers entering the Schengen area at some point this summer, they added.

“We are very much working on a basis whereby this policy will go live on the 6th of October. It is important that we plan for that eventuality. We are expecting to hear definitively from the European Union that ‘go live’ arrangement in the summer,” Tom Pursglove, UK Minister for Legal Migration and the Border told the committee.

The parliamentary committee is conducting an inquiry on the disruptions the system will cause in the UK.

Pursglove also said that “precautionary measures” have been agreed by the EU, that will be put in place in certain circumstances after the start of EES, for example if delays at the borders exceeded a certain length of time.

Guy Opperman, Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport, said that in practice this meant a “soft launch” of EES for 6 months before “a full go live”. During that soft launch EU member states and the UK could deploy flexibility measures should problems occur.

“The likelihood is, after multiple delays, that the 6th of October will proceed” and the implementation looks “very different” compared to previous scenarios considering the flexibility allowed in the first 6 months, he argued.

No details were given on what these “flexible” measures would involve however. 

READ ALSO: Your questions answered about Europe’s EES passport checks

He conceded that “a lot of work” still needs to be done but the UK “should be as ready as everybody” and “better be at front of the queue”.

App not ready

During the meeting, it also emerged that a much-anticipated app that would allow remote pre-registration of non-EU citizens subject to the checks will not be available for testing until August “at best”, prompting concerns about the EES launch date.

“You don’t need to be a sceptic about future projects to think that the provision of the app in August for going live in October is optimistic,” Opperman said.

Ministers confirmed that the app will not be ready in time for October and the committee previously stated it might be delayed until summer 2025.

The app will facilitate pre-registration, but photo and fingerprints will still have to be taken at the border in front of a guard, the committee heard.

READ ALSO: How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

Several MPs asked whether the entry into operation of the EES should be delayed again if technology is not ready. But Under-Secretary Opperman said the app “is not going to be a panacea to fix all problems”.

The main aim of EES is to increase security and to ensure that non-EU nationals visiting the Schengen area for a short-term do not stay more than 90 days in any 180-day period.

The entry into operation of the system has already been delayed several times and there have been calls from certain travel companies and national authorities to delay it again.

Under the new scheme, non-EU/EFTA travellers who do not need a visa will have to register their biometric data (finger prints and facial images) in a database that will also record each time they enter and exit the Schengen area.

Instead of having passports manually stamped, travellers will have to scan them at self-service kiosks before crossing the border. However, fingerprints and a photo will have to be registered in front of a guard at the first crossing and there are concerns the extra time needed will generate long queues, especially in Dover, Folkestone and St. Pancras station in London, where there are juxtaposed French and UK border checks.

Progress in preparations

Minister Pursglove also updated MPs on ongoing preparations. He said some testing of the system will take place within days, 5 kiosks have been installed at St. Pancras station and are available for testing. “You are beginning to see the physical infrastructure appear,” he said.

Kiosks and extra lanes are also being created at the port Dover and it was agreed with the EU passengers travelling by coach will be checked away from the Eastern dock, where controls usually take place, allowing to gain space. The vehicles will then sealed and drive on the ferries.

MPs also discussed the infrastructure cost linked to the introduction of the EES. Opperman said all EU countries will have to make “huge investments” in their ports. In the UK, he argued, this will help “address problems that have existed for some time”. Because of this “massive investment”, in a few years time “Dover will be totally transformed,” he said.

This article is published in cooperation with Europe Street News.

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