After more than two years of keeping its borders closed and advising against travel, the Australian authorities have decided to ease their travel rules for citizens of the country.
The Australian government announced earlier this week that all citizens of the country, including those who have not been vaccinated against the virus, can now travel abroad for all kinds of purposes.
“From 18 April 2022, unvaccinated Australian citizens and permanent residents can leave Australia without an individual travel exemption. Travellers entering or leaving Australia will no longer require a negative pre-departure test, and cruise vessels can enter Australian territory,”
the statement of the Australian government reads.
Currently, Australians can enter a total of 11 European Union/Schengen Area countries – Czechia, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and Sweden – without having to follow any entry rules.
All Australians, regardless of their vaccination status, can now enter the above-mentioned countries even if they do not hold valid COVID-19 proof – a vaccination, recovery, or test certificate.
Apart from no longer being required to prevent a valid pass upon entry to one of these countries, Australians are also exempt from the requirement to follow domestic COVID restrictions.
The countries mentioned above have already dropped the majority of domestic rules and now permit access to bars, restaurants, cafes, theatres, museums, and other events even to those who do not hold valid COVID-19 proof.
Nonetheless, Australians should still make sure to meet certain requirements when reaching several other European Union countries that have not entirely lifted their travel restrictions yet.
Vaccinated Australians can travel to the other EU Member States without following any additional rules, provided that they hold a valid vaccination pass.
On the other hand, unvaccinated Australians need to present a valid recovery pass or a negative COVID-19 test result.
While unvaccinated Australians are able to leave their country for travel purposes, the authorities explained that incoming international travellers still need to follow entry rules when reaching Australia.
This means that even though 11 EU countries now permit restriction-free entry to Australians, their citizens need to provide one of the accepted COVID-19 documents and follow additional rules in order to be permitted entry to Australia.
“All incoming travellers will need to comply with the testing and quarantine requirements of the state or territory of their arrival, and any other state or territory to which they plan to travel,”
the Australian government noted.
With the summer season just around the corner, the majority of EU countries now apply facilitated rules for all travellers.
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