Residents of 11 third-countries will be eligible to enter the territory of Germany starting from July 2, all of which are also part of the EU Council’s list of ‘safe’ third countries.
The decision has been taken by the German Federal Cabinet today in line with the recommendation of the Council of the European Union issued on June 30, which suggests to the EU Member States and the Schengen Associated countries to lift entry restrictions for the residents of 15 third-countries, deemed as safe.
The German authorities, however, have decided to open borders to only 11 of them, which are:
- Australia
- Canada
- China *
- Georgia
- Japan *
- Montenegro
- New Zealand
- South Korea *
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Uruguay
As per China, Japan, and South Korea, their residents will be allowed to travel to Germany only if they grant Germans with entry into their territory, as the three of them have entry bans for Germans in place.
Starting from tomorrow, residents of these 11 countries, regardless of their nationality, will be able to enter Germany without restrictions, like quarantine or COVID-19 test.
The Cabinet has, however, left 4 out of Councils 15 countries deemed as ‘safe’, which are Algeria, Morocco, Rwanda and Serbia. The decision has been taken upon evaluation of the current situation in these countries related to the Coronavirus.
While the majority of EU and Schengen Countries have still not published their individual lists of countries, the residents of which can enter their territory, countries as Spain and the Czech Republic have published narrowed-down lists. Spain, for example, has excluded China and Morocco, while the Czech Republic has decided to grant with permitted entry the residents of 8 out of the 15 countries recommended by the EU Council.
At the same time with the nationals of these 11 countries, the following categories of travellers coming from the rest of world countries can enter Germany starting from July 2:
- German nationals, Union citizens and third-country nationals with an existing right of residence in Germany
- Health personnel, health researchers and geriatric nursing staff
- Foreign specialists and highly qualified employees, whose employment is necessary from an economic point of view and whose work is not postponed or can be carried out abroad,
- personnel in goods transport and other transport personnel
- seasonal workers in agriculture
- seafarers
- international students whose studies cannot be carried out entirely from abroad
- foreign family members arriving by family reunification and visiting trips for urgent family reasons
- persons who need international protection or protection for other humanitarian reasons,
- diplomats, Personnel from international organizations, military personnel and humanitarian workers in the course of their duties
- late repatriates
- passengers in transit traffic
“Regardless of the entry options in Germany, a quarantine obligation based on the Infection Protection Act applies in all federal states for incoming and returning travellers from the risk areas specified by the RKI [Robert Koch Institute],” a press release of German Ministry of Interior explains regarding the categories of persons listed above.
It also points out that with the exception of passengers in transit traffic, this also applies in principle to travellers with an important travel reason. Those who present COVID-19 negative test results are also exempt from the quarantine requirement.
