Iceland opens its borders to all vaccinated travelers

Iceland has become one of the first countries in the world to re open its doors to vaccinated passengers from anywhere in the world, and the first country in the EU/Schengen area to do so. It means that Americans (but not only) who have been fully vaccinated (2 injections), can head to Iceland from Thursday 18 March 2021, one year after most of Europe was closed to third party countries.

Iceland Opens its Borders

Up until now, only vaccinated passengers from the EU/EEA/Schengen area could bypass testing and quarantine requirements by showing vaccination certificates, but the policy is now open to all travelers worldwide.
The Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir said in a statement, that “the world has been through a lot in the past twelve months, and we are all hoping for a slow and safe return to normalcy. This also includes the resumption of the opportunity to travel, which is valuable to culture, trade and enterprise. The decision to apply border exemptions for vaccinated individuals to countries outside the EU/EEA area is a logical extension of our current policy.” 

As reported by Schengenvisainfo, the following certificates and proof are accepted at Icelandic borders:

• Vaccination certificates issued by the European Union of the European Economic Area;
• A certificate provided from the World Health Organisation (WHO), given that the WHO has examined and authorized the vaccine mentioned in the certificate;
• A certificate that shows the prior presence of Covid-19 that conforms with the requirements defined by the Chief Epidemiologist.

Tourism is a relatively small component of the Icelandic economy, representing roughly 3.5% of its GDP in 2019. However, it is U.S. and U.K. travelers who make up a large share of that percentage. The Icelandic tourist board chair, Bjarnheidur Hallsdottir, called the reopening “great and important... not least because the U.S. and U.K. are much better at vaccinating their citizens than EU countries”, emphasizing that 41% of all hotel stays in 2019 were from U.K. and U.S. visitors.

​Whilst this is good news for the travel industry, travelers should be aware of two important pieces of information:

• It should be noted that the vaccines authorized by the European Medicines Agency and the WHO do not currently include the Russian and Chinese vaccines, which has led to criticism that the policy is discriminatory. This means that people who have had the Chinese or Russian vaccines would not be included as per the certification requirements.
• IcelandAir notes on the website that for travelers hoping to use Iceland as a means of spring-boarding to other EU/Schengen area destinations, they will be disappointed. The rules for this policy very clearly state that further travel from Iceland to the rest of Europe is currently not permitted for non-Schengen residents.

It is great news in these uncertain times to have the opportunity to visit Iceland. We very much hope that other countries will do the same with the tourism industry to restart as soon as possible.

VISION Destinations | March 21

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