Updated 17 August 2021: In the current situation, the corona virus causes constant changes in the restrictions regarding quarantine rules. For foreigners it can be difficult to know which quarantine rules apply when arriving in Norway. The purpose of this blog post is to clarify the rules for quarantine.

During the ongoing pandemic, there are temporary restrictions on the entry to Norway. This blog post focuses on the quarantine rules. To read about the rules for entry to Norway during the pandemic, please refer to the blog post linked to below:

Rules and requirements regarding entry to Norway

Different categories of countries

The Norwegian quarantine rules may be understood as dividing countries or areas into categories based on their level of infection. There are green, orange, red, purple and dark red category countries.

Travelers arriving from a green category country are not required to register when entering Norway, present a test, or undergo quarantine. Travelers arriving from all other countries are generally required to undergo quarantine.

The rules for anyone in mandatory quarantine are strict. In principle, persons arriving in Norway are required to stay in a quarantine hotel. An exemption is if the employers offer accommodation at a certain place instead. The employer must however have the premises pre-approved by the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority before the workers arrive in Norway. The fee is NOK 2 000 for each application.

Furthermore, persons living or working in Norway may be exempt from living in a quarantine hotel. Foreign employers should make a thorough assessment and plan to ensure that their workers will in fact be exempt from quarantine hotel, and that quarantine is carried out according to relevant rules.

Exemptions

• Persons who are strictly necessary to maintain the proper operation of critical public functions or take care of the basic needs of the population including transportation of goods and passenger may be exempt from quarantine on certain conditions. This rule may only be used in cases where it is strictly necessary to ensure proper operation of the business or where there is no time to carry out a test regime.

• Persons who arrive to work at a vessel in a Norwegian port may be exempt from quarantine after two negative tests taken during the first 24 hours after arrival in Norway and no earlier than three days after arrival in Norway. The exemption will only apply to the person’s working hours. The person will still have to be in quarantine during his leisure time.

• Aircraft personnel and train personnel on freight trains, who start their work in Norway and who travel to a red country, without leaving the aircraft or train, are exempt from entry quarantine during both working hours and leisure time in Norway. If the personnel leave the aircraft or train in a red country, then the personnel are exempt from entry quarantine during both working hours and leisure time if they test negative in Norway during the first day after they arrive in Norway, and then every seven days. Aircraft and train personnel on freight trains, who arrive in Norway from a red country and who are not to work on domestic flights or domestic train transport, are exempt from quarantine during working hours, but have to undergo quarantine during their leisure time.

• Persons who arrive in Norway after only travelling through a red country without using public transport, without spending the night there and without having close contact with others than those they live with may be exempt from quarantine. Of course, this exemption does not apply to someone living in a red country.

• Persons who board a vessel in Norway that crosses Norway's territorial borders and only stay in the vessel until they arrive in Norway again, without passengers or crew having boarded or been ashore in a foreign port may be exempt from quarantine. This exception applies even if the vessel takes on board persons who carry out goods transport from a foreign port, provided that the shipping company arranges for them to avoid close contact with other passengers and crew.

• Individuals who regularly arrive in Norway from areas in Sweden or Finland with a quarantine obligation as part of travel between place of work and place of residence, may be exempt from quarantine during working hours if they are tested in Norway for SARS-CoV-2 at least every seven days. This does not apply to healthcare professionals.

Individuals not exempt from quarantine, will have to undergo quarantine for 10 days, but this time may be reduced by testing negative no earlier than 7 days after arrival.

Can persons who have been vaccinated be exempt?

Currently, there is a general exemption for persons who have been fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. They do not need to register upon entry to Norway and they do not need to quarantine. However, they need to show the valid EU-conform certificate of their vaccination. The same applies to people who have recovered from Covid in the past 6 months.

Feel free to contact us at any time.