Iceland will allow vaccinated travelers to bypass testing and quarantine

Travelers heading to Iceland may be pleased to learn that qualifying visitors are permitted to bypass its requirement for testing and quarantine, once they can demonstrate proof of vaccination against COVID-19.

Those presenting an approved digital or paper vaccination certificate in Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish or English are exempt from official border restrictions and are not obliged to undergo screening. This new rule also replaces the requirement for them to test negative for the virus when arriving in the country.

Vaccinated travelers can enter Iceland without quarantine and testing © Maria Uspenskaya/Shutterstock

At present, travelers from the EEA and Switzerland must pre-register, take two tests after arrival and quarantine for the five or six days in between. Iceland also decided in December to allow qualifying travelers to avoid quarantine and testing if they could prove they had previously tested positive for the virus and recovered.

The vaccination ruling also applies to residents, as the country's directorate of health is now finalizing a digital solution in order to issue digital vaccination certificates to those who have received two vaccine shots. The idea is to facilitate the movement of Icelandic residents between countries. The certificate will be available online and in accordance with existing European standards and the International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis. It will enable vaccinated residents to present a certificate and be exempt from border measures, in accordance with the rules of the country concerned.

Even with this new ruling, being vaccinated does not automatically enable visitors to enter the country. At present, non-EU citizens are not allowed to visit Iceland.