Greece Imposes Testing Requirements on All Travelers
As a preventive measure taken amid the emergence of the new coronavirus variant, Greece decided to impose obligatory pre-arrival testing for all travelers aged 5 and older. The new restrictions became effective on Dec. 19th, 2021, and will remain in effect until Jan. 10th, 2022.
Earlier this month, Greece also shortened the validity of the COVID-19 recovery certificate to 3 months.
Content:
Pre-arrival testing for all travelers
Every traveler arriving in Greece, no matter the country of departure or status of vaccination, must provide a negative PCR test result. The test needs to be taken within 72 hours before a trip.
Greece also accepts rapid antigen tests that must be taken within 24 hours of departure time.
Passenger Locator Form
All travelers, no matter the country of origin, vaccination status, and age, need to complete a passenger locator form before going to Greece. Those who fail to submit it may face problems upon entering the country.
This health declaration enables controlling the COVID-19 spread since thanks to the details provided in the form, the Greek authorities can easily reach the travelers who may have contacted the infected persons.
Completing the form should be done by 23:59 of the day before the planned arrival in the country so every traveler must fill it out maximally 24 hours earlier.
The Greek passenger locator form requires such information as the flight number that is why it cannot be completed earlier.
Quarantine
Should the rapid antigen test shows a positive result, a person will need to take a PCR test. If the PCR test also comes positive, non-vaccinated arrivals will be subject to a 10-day quarantine (a 7-day quarantine if vaccinated).
Regardless of the vaccination status and quarantine period, all COVID-19 positively-tested persons must perform a PCR test on the last day of their isolation.
List of countries excluded from coming to Greece for essential reasons
- United Kingdom
- Belarus
- Northern Macedonia
- Bahrain
- Qatar
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Israel
- Kuwait
- Serbia
- Ukraine
- Montenegro
- Russia
- Azerbaijan
- Albania
- Turkey
- Lebanon
- Armenia
- Vatican City
- United Arab Emirates
- Jordan
- Moldova
- Monaco
- San Marino
- Andorra
- Kosovo
- Saudi Arabia
- United States of America
- South Korea
- Mexico
- Oman
- Canada
- New Zealand
- Argentina
- Singapore
- India
- China
- Taiwan
- Japan
- Brunei
- Uruguay
- Chile
- Australia
Travelers from the countries not included on the above-mentioned list will need to have compelling reasons in order to visit Greece.
