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Norway to Introduce New Digital Travel Registration System

All persons wishing to enter Norway from January will be required to provide detailed information when crossing the country’s border, as Norway will introduce a new system for travel registration, the country’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security has announced.

Persons wishing to cross the Norwegian border must first register by providing information such as their name, quarantine location, contact information and any employer, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

In this regard, the Minister of Justice and Emergency Management Monica Mæland stressed that the new system will be a useful tool for many sectors in order to halt the further spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.

“The system will be useful for the health sector in infection control and infection tracing work, but also for the police and the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority in their role in following up on breaches of quarantine regulations,” Mæland pointed out.

The Minister of Fisheries and Seafood, Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen, said that the seafood industry foresees a large influx of international labour for next year’s winter fishing.

“This will help to ensure that it can be carried out in an orderly and good manner, where we take care of both infection control and facilitators for the business actors who are dependent on seasonal workers from abroad”, he said.

Authorities in Norway announced that the decision would take effect from January 2021, while the information no longer needed will be deleted.

Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also urged its citizens to avoid travelling to the district of Lapland, Finland, unless it’s necessary, as the community will go from yellow to red on the COVID-19 infection map for Europe.

This means that all citizens of this district will be required to follow ten days mandatory quarantine, upon their arrival in Norway, from December 12.

At the same time, Norway continues to advise its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the following countries, in a bid to stop the spread of the Coronavirus; Belgium, Andorra, Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, France, Ireland, Italy, Iceland, Croatia, Latvia, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Malta and Monaco.

Under the current pandemic situation, Norway’s government also urged its citizens not to travel to Poland, the Netherlands, Romania, Portugal, Slovakia, San Marino, Slovenia, United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Vatican City State as well as some regions in Finland and Denmark.

Earlier this month, the government of Norway decided to exempt from the entry ban to researchers of third-countries, if they could be able to self-finance. Whereas in November, Norway’s Ministry of Health and Care Services announced that commuters from Finland and Sweden, who enter the country more than once during 15 consecutive days would not be subject to quarantine rules.

Over 39,520 persons have tested positive for the Coronavirus pandemic in Norway, as yet, and 361 persons have died.