Germany Facilitates Entry Rules From Several Third-Countries, Including South Africa
Schengen visa info - 22 August 2021
The German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention Robert Koch Institute has removed several third countries from the list of virus variant areas, which has prompted the German authorities to facilitate entry restrictions for arrivals from these countries.
At the same time, the institute has announced that from August and on, there will be only two types of risk areas: high-risk areas (previously high-incidence areas) and virus variant areas, while the simple risk area category will no longer exist.
Since Sunday, August 1, 2021, at 12:00 am, Germany has removed nine third countries from the virus variant area category and placed them in the category of the high-risk areas, including here South Africa, which has been in place since the beginning of 2021. These countries are
- Botswana
- Eswatini
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- South Africa
The change of categories for these countries means that visa holders from these areas will finally be eligible to travel to Germany, including here work and student visa holders.
Last weekend, SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs imposed a requirement of negative COVID-19 test results for travellers who have not been vaccinated yet, and those that haven’t previously been infected with COVID-19, including arrivals from areas in the safe list.
The requirement will also apply to arrivals from the countries listed above, who now are obliged to present proof that they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, they have recently recovered from the virus or proof of negative test results.
“When entering the Federal Republic of Germany after a stay in a foreign high-risk area (previously high-incidence area) or virus variant area, special registration, verification and quarantine obligations must be observed,” the RKI explains.
According to RKI’s most recent update, no new virus variant areas have been detected since the previous update. Currently, in this category remain only Brazil and Uruguay.
At the same time, Andorra has been moved from the category of simple risk areas to the high-risk list. The Dominican Republic, on the other hand, is no longer a risk area.
Germany is among the EU countries with the highest vaccination rates, with 72.9 per cent of its population having received at least the first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19, while 59.1 per cent of them are fully vaccinated, data by European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reveals.
Yet, according to the World Health Organization, Germany has reported 2,454 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours and 30 deaths, which has brought the number of COVID-19 infections in the country to 3,766,65 since the beginning of the pandemic. The country now counts 91,637 deaths due to the virus.
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