November 11, 2021

Guide: traveling between Norway and Ukraine

Updated: December 14th 2021.

 

Insurance 

As a foreigner who holds a temporary residence permit for entering Ukraine, you need to buy a certificate of insurance, issued by a company registered in Ukraine that’s valid for the full period of your stay. The purpose of this rule, is to cover the traveler in regards to all potential COVID-19 related treatment.

The insurance is fairly cheap, and can be bought on this website. To ease the process when entering Ukraine, we recommend printing a physical copy of your insurance, as you have to present the certificate of insurance together with your passport at border control.

When traveling to Ukraine, you need to have one of the following:

  1. A document confirming that you have had two doses of the covid-19 vaccine (the vaccine has to be on the WHO list of approved vaccines for emergency situations)
  2. A foreign COVID certificate confirming vaccination against COVID-19 with 1, 2 or more doses vaccines that are included in the WHO list of approved for emergency use, or a certificate proving recovery of a person from COVID-19.
  3. Negative PCR test result or rapid test for the SARS-CoV-2 antigen (RAT, Ag) that was done no more than 72 hours before entry.

What does this mean for you when you arrive in Ukraine?

If you are vaccinated, or have a COVID certificate confirming recovery from COVID-19: 

You do not have to take a covid-19 test for entry into Ukraine, but you need a certificate of vaccination/certificate of recovery from COVID-19. We recommend printing out your certificate, to ease the process when undergoing border control. When you have entered Ukraine, you may be asked to show the certificate when entering shops, museums, etc. Therefore, you should always have the printed certificate on you.

If you are over 18 years old, and not vaccinated:

You must install the application “Vdoma” and begin self-isolation 72 hours after entry. During this time, you will be able to undergo PCR testing or perform a rapid test for antigen – you can end self isolation in case of a negative result.

 

Children under 12 years old:

Do not need test certificates, an are exempt from self-isolation with the installation of the app “Vdoma”.

Children from 12 to 18 years old:

Will have to have one of the above documents, but are exempt from self-isolation with the installation of the app “Vdoma”.

Grey country

New regulations from December 3rd:

All travellers arriving in Norway over the age of 16 must complete registration prior to arrival. This also applies to Norwegian citizens. After completing the digital registration, you will receive a receipt which you must then present to the police at the border control. You cannot register your journey any earlier than 72 hours prior to the time of arrival.

Go to the travel registration form HERE. Choose your language via the drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner.

Additionally, all travellers arriving in Norway must take a test after arrival, regardless of their vaccination status. 

Ukraine is categorised as a grey country in Norway, this means that a lot of entry restrictions still apply for people traveling from Ukraine to Norway. There are however exemptions (list of all the exemptions to entry restrictions) which allows for people living in Ukraine to enter Norway, the most relevant being:

If you are vaccinated, or have a COVID certificate confirming recovery from COVID-19 in the past 6 months: 

You can travel to Norway, without having to enter into quarantine, as long as you pass the obligatory covid-test at the Norwegian border. On the other hand, you have to document that you are fully-vaccinated or have recovered from COVID-19 in the past 6 months through possessing a verifiable COVID-19 certificate. Only presentation of a COVID-19 certificate with a QR code which can be verified by the Norwegian authorities is considered a secure and verifiable way to document vaccination or previous illness. The Ukrainian digital covid certificate is approved and effectively connected to the system of the EU digital covid card, and is therefore accepted upon entry into Norway.

The same applies for:

  • Minors travelling together with their parents, if the parents are exempt from travel restrictions because they have a COVID-19 certificate.
  • Minors travelling to Norway together with their parents, if the parents are exempt from travel restrictions on grounds other than a COVID-19 certificate.

If you are over the age of 18 and not vaccinated, or do not have a COVID certificate confirming recovery from COVID-19 in the past 6 months: 

You are required to take a test for COVID-19 before arrival in Norway. You must present a certificate showing a negative test result for SARS-CoV-2. The approved test methods are PCR or a rapid antigen test. The test must have been taken less than 24 hours before arrival in Norway.

Requirement to get tested upon arrival. You must take a test for SARS-CoV-2 at the border crossing point in Norway. If there is no test centre at the border, the test centre is closed, or the authorities have given instructions not to take the test at the border crossing point, you are under an obligation to get tested at a different test centre or to take a self-test within 24 hours of arrival. If the rapid antigen test or self-test return a positive result, you must take a PCR test as soon as possible, and no later than within 1 day. People over the age of 12 must wear a face covering when it is not possible to avoid close contact with other people until they have received a negative test result.

Requirement of travel quarantine. You can end travel quarantine early following a negative PCR test taken no sooner than 3 days after arrival.

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Being fully vaccinated is therefore in most cases the only option at the moment (although other exemptions do exist), for people living in Ukraine – who are eager to travel to Norway – for instance on a business trip without having to quarantine up to 10 days. As stated on the website of the Norwegian Government, “Vaccination is the way out of the pandemic, and the second dose offers good protection against serious illness and infection”.

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