Netherlands Has Finally Removed All COVID-19 Travel Restrictions

As of last Saturday, September 19, the Dutch government has scrapped all remaining Coronavirus entry restrictions, for all incoming travellers, including here those coming from non-European Union countries.

The decision has been announced by the Government of the Netherlands through a statement issued on Friday, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

“The Dutch government has decided to lift the EU entry ban for the Netherlands as of September 17 2022. Given the current epidemiological situation in the Netherlands, the government feels that for entry to the Netherlands, the EU entry ban is no longer proportional,” the statement reads.

It also points out that the removal of the restrictions will be applied to all travellers, including those arriving from countries outside the EU and Schengen area countries.

Up until now, travellers from countries that are not part of the Schengen Area and the EU have been required to present a vaccination or recovery certificate in order to be permitted to enter the territory of the Netherlands.

Moreover, the certificates were subject to several criteria, like the last vaccine dose being taken within the last nine months or the type of the vaccine being amongst the ones approved by the European Medicines Agency or the World Health Organization.

Announcing the removal of entry restrictions, the Dutch authorities have also noted that the EU Commission might soon issue a proposal on the revision of COVID-19 entry rules to the Member States.

“The European Commission is also planning to publish a proposal for revising the rules for entering the European Union (EU) in autumn 2022,” the authorities pointed out.

The Netherlands was amongst the last three EU countries keeping in place COVID-19 entry restrictions, alongside Spain and Luxembourg. However, now that the Netherlands has lifted these restrictions, only the latter two are keeping their restrictions in place.

Only last weekend, the Spanish authorities have announced that entry restrictions for incoming visitors from non-EU and non-Schengen countries will be extended until November 15.

The decision has been taken by the Spanish Ministry of Health, and the same has become effective immediately after being published in the Official State Gazette.

The move means that travellers from non-EU/Schengen countries who are aged 12 and older are required to present a certificate of vaccination, a negative COVID test, or a recovery certificate upon their arrival in order to be permitted to enter the country.

Luxembourg, on the other hand, has a bit tighter entry rules in place, as it permits entry only for those vaccinated against COVID-19. Luxembourg’s entry restrictions will remain in place at least until the end of September, according to an announcement of the country’s Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs made in July this year.

Whether these two countries will remove travel restrictions by the end of the year or earlier remains to be seen. If COVID cases spike up around autumn or later in winter, restrictions, in particular domestic ones, can be introduced Europe-wide.

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