People who can show a Covid vaccination certificate issued in the US are as of November 5th able to travel to Sweden freely, without any entry bans or test requirements.
And fully vaccinated travellers from the Schengen area, including Sweden, can travel to the US as of November 8th.
“Sweden enjoys close and good relations with the US, and cooperates on important matters in many areas. Travel between Sweden and the US is therefore of major importance in many different ways. For example, it plays an important role when it comes to companies’ competitiveness and opportunities to conduct their activities,” read a Swedish government statement when it announced its new rules.
EXPLAINED: What's the difference between exempt and approved countries?
The Swedish government also added vaccine certificates issued in Guernsey, Isle of Man or Jersey to the list of countries exempted from entry restrictions, following a previous decision to accept vaccine certificates issued in the United Kingdom.
It also decided to extend the entry restrictions for travel from within the EU/EEA until November 30th. These restrictions do not ban entry entirely, but state that travellers have to present a valid Covid certificate which shows they have either been vaccinated, tested negative or recovered (for a more precise rundown of the rules, visit the police authority’s website).
The Swedish government also last week extended the entry ban from non-exempt countries outside the EU/EEA until January 31st. This means that foreigners travelling from those countries must be covered by an exemption to the ban (such as having a residence permit, or travelling for especially urgent reasons or to carry out essential work) and present a negative test unless they’re exempt from that too.
It is still possible to enter Sweden without any restrictions at all from Denmark, Finland, Iceland or Norway, regardless of your nationality, reasons for travel, testing or vaccination status, or your original point of departure.
The US is not the first country to have its vaccination certificates approved by Sweden. This list also includes the UK, Turkey, Israel, Ukraine and Switzerland, among others. A full and up-to-date list can be found on the Swedish police authority’s website.
The entry ban has been in place since March 2020, but has been extended and amended several times. In theory, the dates above could also be extended or lifted before the deadline.
Becky Waterton, Editor, The Local Denmark
Comments (8)