Note: This information is no longer current. Since September 17, 2022, there are no longer any corona rules for travelers to the Netherlands. You can travel to the Netherlands without a long-distance relationship statement, proof of vaccination, proof of recovery or negative test result. If you are subject to a visa requirement, you must of course first apply for a Schengen visa.
All travelers from a high-risk area from outside the EU/Schengen must be able to show a negative COVID-29 test result and a statement signed by the traveler from December 19 if they travel to the Netherlands by air or ship. This also applies to the Dutch and others EU/Schengen citizens.
Can a traveler not show a negative test result and statement? Then the traveler is not allowed to board the plane or ship and he is not allowed to travel to the Netherlands.
This only applies to travelers coming from a country outside the EU/Schengen that is not on the list of safe countries of the European Union state. At the moment, travelers from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and China do not have to show a negative test result.
From 15 December this already applies to non-EU/Schengen citizens. From December 29, it will therefore apply to all travelers, including Dutch people.
Entry ban remains in effect
The negative test result and signed statement is not a relaxation of the EU entry ban or home quarantine. That still only applies travelers who are exempt from the EU entry ban may enter the Netherlands, either because the country of departure is on the list of safe countries of the EU, or because someone falls under an exception category and is allowed to travel to the Netherlands despite the EU entry ban. This negative test result and statement are therefore supplementary to this. In addition, it still applies that if you return from a risk area, you must be quarantined.
Show test result and statement
The traveler must be able to show the following documents:
- an official negative COVID-19 test result;
- completed and signed Negative Test Declaration
They show these documents to the airline or shipping company before departure. And after arrival at the security region or the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee.
Mandatory data on test result
The negative test result must be in English, German, French, Spanish or Dutch. The document is checked on 5 points:
- Type of test: This must be a molecular PCR test and a test for Sars-Cov-2/COVID-19. Any other type of test, including a rapid test, is not valid;
- Test result: must be negative (or not detected);
- First and last name: according to the passport;
- Date and time of taking the test: The test is no more than 72 hours old upon arrival in the Netherlands;
- Details of the institute or laboratory that administered the test.
Travelers from within the EU/Schengen only need to be able to show the test result. And not the self-signed test statement that travelers from outside the EU/Schengen must be able to show upon arrival in the Netherlands.
The completed and signed statement (Negative Test Declaration) must be taken with you in print. Showing a digital version on a phone or tablet is therefore not sufficient. The negative test result is allowed digitally.
Importance of negative test result and explanation
Travelers from high-risk areas pose a risk of spreading and importing the coronavirus. To limit this risk, they must have a negative test result.
The time between the moment of taking the test and arrival in the Netherlands may be a maximum of 72 hours. The test result must be known before someone leaves for the Netherlands.
Travelers requiring a negative COVID-19 test result
Travelers must show a negative COVID-29 test result from 00.00 December 19:XNUMX if they:
- come from outside the EU/Schengen, from a country that is not on the list of safe countries of the EU/Schengen;
- come by plane or ship;
- be 13 years or older;
- do not fall under any exception category listed below.
The negative test statement is for travelers from high-risk areas outside the EU/Schengen area. Travelers out countries that the EU considers 'safe' therefore do not have to show a negative test statement. These are currently: Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and China.
Travelers who arrive at the airport in the Netherlands and travel directly by plane also need a negative test result.
Exceptions to obligation negative test result
The following people do not need a negative test result:
- Persons under the age of 13
- Travelers out safe countries
- Frontier workers, frontier students and frontier schoolchildren;
- Holders of a diplomatic identity card issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
- Holders of non-Dutch diplomatic passports;
- Holders of Dutch diplomatic passports, if they travel in the performance of their duties or if they travel to or from their activities in the Netherlands.
- Heads of State and Members of a Foreign Government:
- Persons working in the transport of goods and other transport personnel insofar as necessary, such as truck drivers. This includes persons working on container ships, bulk carriers (e.g. ore or coal), tankers (fuels and chemicals), fisheries. And also persons working in the energy sector, so oil and gas platforms and wind farms, offshore companies that provide services to this sector, and air, cruise and ferry crew when they travel in the performance of their duties;
- Seafarers in possession of a seaman's book if they travel in the performance of their duties or if they travel to or from their activities in the Netherlands. The exceptions do not apply to seafarers on commercial yachts and pleasure craft;
- Passengers on a flight that do not have the Netherlands as their final destination, but have to divert to a Dutch airport due to unforeseen circumstances
Negative test result not for car, train or bus
The Netherlands is currently not requesting a negative test result for travelers entering the Netherlands by car, bus or train. Keep in mind that every country has measures against the spread of the corona virus, so perhaps in the countries through which you travel by car, train or bus.
Negative test result and arrival in the Netherlands
Does a traveler have a delay through no fault of his own? Then the test may be no more than 96 hours old upon arrival in the Netherlands. The traveler therefore receives an extra 24 hours. It is up to the traveler to prove that the negative test result was due to delay through no fault of his own.
Traveler without a negative test result
When traveling by plane or ship, does a traveler not show a negative test result and statement before the departure of the plane or ship? Then he is not allowed to travel to the Netherlands and the traveler is not allowed to board the plane or ship. If it appears in the Netherlands that a traveler from outside the EU/Schengen does not have a negative test result and statement, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee can refuse the traveler entry to the Netherlands in certain situations.
Home quarantine
The negative test is not a substitute for home quarantine. Even with a negative test you have to stay at home for 10 days.
Do not travel to the Netherlands if the test results are positive
Do travelers have a positive result of a corona test? Then they are not allowed to travel. So not to the Netherlands either. They must remain in that country until the complaints are over. They follow the advice of the local health services. This also applies to Dutch travelers.
Only when they no longer have any complaints and test negative for corona are they allowed to travel to the Netherlands.
A negative test result is not a health declaration
Travelers must also have completed a health declaration if they enter the Netherlands by plane. Please note: this is an additional statement to the test statement.
Source: Rijksoverheid.nl
