The Government today adopted amendments to the temporary ban on entry into Sweden. The amendments primarily mean that additional people who can present a vaccine certificate issued in certain specific countries and territories are exempted from the entry ban and test requirement.
The temporary entry ban came into force on 19 March 2020 and initially applied for 30 days. It has subsequently been extended on several occasions, and under the latest such decision, the entry ban now applies until 31 October 2021.
The entry ban means that a foreign citizen departing from a state other than an EEA State or Switzerland travelling to Sweden will be denied entry into Sweden and turned away. There are a number of exemptions from the ban, but travellers are normally required to present a negative COVID-19 test result even if they are covered by one of the exemptions.
The Government’s decision today means that people travelling to Sweden who can present a vaccination certificate issued in Albania, Andorra, the Faroe Islands, Israel, Morocco, Monaco and Panama are exempt from the entry ban and test requirement. According to a European Commission decision, vaccination certificates issued in these countries are equivalent to the EU Digital COVID certificate, which means that such certificates can be checked and verified in the same manner and using the same technical systems as the EU certificate.
Additional countries, including the United Kingdom, are awaiting a decision from the European Commission in the near future. The intention is to continuously add more countries to the Swedish rules following Commission decisions. The Government will provide information about this on an ongoing basis.
As a result, travel to Sweden from countries outside the EU/EEA will now be easier. At the same time, the Government will continue to monitor the situation and retain the test requirement for travellers from other countries outside the EU/EEA. This is due to the continued uncertainty concerning infection rates and transmission of particularly significant variants of the virus, and taking into account the difficulties in checking and verifying the wide range of different vaccination certificates that these travellers may present. This should be considered a step in the successive and responsible reopening of travel to Sweden for vaccinated people from other countries.
The amendments enter into force on 27 September 2021.
Press release from Ministry of Justice
