If you thought that by now European countries would have figured out how to deal with overseas visitors with non-EU vaccination certificates, you were wrong. In fact, it’s only gotten more complicated in recent days with shifting rules and procedures.
Let’s start with a few semi-definitions: By ‘green pass’ we’re talking about a document or electronic equivalent that can be used within Europe for entry to museums, clubs, restaurants, hotels, and other venues and facilities. For Europeans, generally, this is the EU Covid Vaccination Certificate, or the equivalent showing very recent negative test results.
But the fact that the certificate issued by any EU country or its close partners is accepted by all the others doesn’t mean it has the same rules everywhere. Some venues in some countries require vaccination; testing is not enough. In some countries, a green pass is required for outdoor cafes, in others only for indoors. In Belgium, it depends on where you are in the country.
But enough of that: Those are only problems if you have arrived (the CDC paper card is still good enough for that) and you need an EU-recognized green pass to have dinner or take a train. Each country sets its own rules for how you can get a pass, and some have still not issued instructions for overseas visitors.
Testing is always an option, but paying $25 or more for a test every three days (and in some places as often as daily) can get old quickly. The best advice at this point is a) check with the consulate of the country you are planning to visit. And check again, and again up to the moment you leave. You may be given a way to a pass; you will at least get the correct link for information. Believe no rumor.
If you want an object lesson in how things can change, let’s take a look at France, which was the first country to have an official system for overseas visitors in place, and which has just extended its green pass requirements to July, 2022.
After initial reports that pharmacists could generate a certificate after looking at CDC cards. In June, they set up a system for submitting documents by email to specific addresses for different regions. In July they changed that, referring applicants to a website that was quickly changed to French nationals only; please go back to the emails. Then, when the email system got flooded, they created another website, for visitors, in late August.
That got so overwhelmed that visitors (including me!) only got their certificates after their trips, and has now been shut down; the new plan is to have visitors arrive, and go to a pharmacy—not just any pharmacy, this time around there is a list of designated pharmacies—that have agreed to do the job for a €36 fee. The list has started with a hundred pharmacies, half in Paris, but is expected to grow.
Or, if your trip is far enough in the future, you can cross your fingers and hope the mess will be resolved down to a simple answer by the time you’re ready to go.
