Entry to Slovenia COVID Requirements
(see Croatia info here: https://discovercroatia.com.au/entry-to-croatia-requirements/)
Australian Govt current advisory for Slovenia: https://smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/europe/slovenia
There is a new Ministry of the Interior website, ‘Enter Slovenia‘, that you can pre-fill to help speed up your arrival once you enter in Slovenia: https://policija.si/enterslovenia/en
European Union (EU) employers are not allowed to ask the vaccination status of their employees, nor can they require employees to be vaccinated.
Slovenia has new public health rules designed to ensure the highest of health standards for tourism operators; https://gov.si/en/topics/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/measures-to-contain-the-spread-of-covid-19-infections/. Slovenia is also included in the ‘Safe Travels’ Global Safety Stamp Protocols; https://wttc.org/COVID-19/Safe-Travels-Global-Protocols-Stamp.
COVID – Negative Test, Vaccine or Recovered is required for entry by tourists
Here is the link to the official Slovenian Government website with all the information about tourists entering Slovenia and the requirements as it pertains to COVID-19. There is a form at the bottom of the page that you can fill in to request more information from the Croatian government about your specific case if necessary.
Our clients will mostly be using number 1 or 2 to gain entry to Slovenia (negative test or vaccine certificate). Please fully check below which option will be the one you choose and be prepared with all your documentation.
https://gov.si/en/topics/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/border-crossing/
Here is the excerpt from the above page (as at 17th February 2022) as it pertains to tourists with arrangements and reservations already made (eg cruise, tour, hotel bookings etc where you have proof of the arrangement such as a Voucher or Booking email):
A person who meets the recovered/vaccinated/tested rule (RVT rule) may enter the Republic of Slovenia without being ordered to quarantine at home. A rapid antigen self-test cannot be used to meet the requirement of the tested rule.
The RVT rule is met if a person provides one of the certificates listed below:
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1. Vaccination
The vaccination condition is met if a person was vaccinated against COVID-19 with a second dose and no more than 270 days have passed since the second dose of one of the following vaccines:
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- Comirnaty by BioNTech/Pfizer,
- Spikevax (COVID-19 Vaccine) by Moderna,
- Sputnik V by Russia’s Gamaleya National Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology,
- CoronaVac by Sinovac Biotech,
- COVID-19 Vaccine by Sinopharm,
- Vaxzevria (COVID-19 Vaccine) by AstraZeneca,
- Covishield by Serum Institute of India/AstraZeneca,
- Covaxin by Bharat Biotech (India),
- or a combination of two of the aforementioned vaccines, or
- one dose of COVID-19 Vaccine Janssen by Johnson and Johnson/Janssen-Cilag and no more than 270 days have passed since the dose.
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2. Recovery
Recovery is demonstrated by:
- a positive PCR or rapid antigen test result, that is older than 10 days and not older than 180 days (6 months),
- a certificate of recovery (positive PCR or rapid antigen test result) and vaccination with at least one dose of vaccine received within 180 days from the positive PCR or rapid antigen test result, or
- a certificate of recovery (positive PCR or rapid antigen test result), vaccination with at least one dose of vaccine received within 180 days from the positive PCR or rapid antigen test result and vaccination with a booster dose.
3. Testing
To comply with the test condition, a negative result is required:
- a PCR test that is not older than 48 hours from the time when the swab was taken, or
- a HAG test (rapid antigen test) that is not older than 24 hours from the time when the swab was taken.
The PCR and HAG tests are suitable if carried out in an EU Member State or a Member State of the Schengen Area, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Turkey, Canada, New Zealand, Russia, Serbia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or the United States of America.
If a test is carried out in a country not mentioned above, the test is suitable if it also meets all of the following conditions:
- consists of at least an identical selection of data as the PCR or HAG test issued in an EU Member State or a Member State of the Schengen Area: forename, surname, unambiguous natural person identifier (PIN, health insurance number, travel document number or another national document number, date of birth or another similar identifier), data on the test type (manufacturer, date and time of the test sample collection), data on the certificate issuer and issue date of the certificate, and
- is equipped with a QR code, and
- enables verification of authenticity, validity and completeness of the certificate.
Irrespective of the country of the issue, the HAG test is only suitable if it is on the Common European list of COVID-19 rapid antigen tests.
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Slovenia allows entry for non-essential travel
Entry into the Republic of Slovenia is possible for non-essential travel in accordance with Council Recommendation (EU) 2020/912 on the temporary restriction on non-essential travel into the EU and the possible lifting of such restriction, including amendments thereto. The information was updated on 10 January 2022.
Non-essential travel is allowed for the following categories of persons if they fulfil the requirements set out in the Ordinance determining the conditions of entry into the Republic of Slovenia to contain and control COVID-19 and in the Ordinance on the method of meeting the condition of recovery, vaccination and testing to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus infections:
- all persons residing in the EU member states and the Schengen area, including Andorra, Monaco, San Marino and Vatican;
- persons residing in the following third countries/entities listed in Annex 1 of the Recommendation (as of 10 January 2022):
– Bahrain,
– Chile,
– Colombia,
– Indonesia,
– Qatar,
– Kuwait,
– New Zealand,
– Peru,
– Rwanda,
– Saudi Arabia,
– South Korea,
– Uruguay,
– United Arab Emirates,
– Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China,
– Macao, Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China,
– Taiwan; - other foreign nationals if, on entry to the Republic of Slovenia, they meet the recovered/vaccinated rule and provide certificates according to the Ordinance on the method of meeting the condition of recovery, vaccination and testing to curb the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus infections.
“Other foreign nationals” (This means Australian, USA, UK, NZ etc passport holders)
Slovenia DOES accept PAPER VACCINATION CERTIFICATES. It does not accept Australian QR codes, so you will need to print out your vaccination certificate and take it with you. We suggest you print out many copies as you might need to leave one with the authorities when you arrive in each country.
However, IF you are travelling elsewhere before or after Croatia, it seems that Australian vaccine certificates are not actually accepted in a lot of other EU countries. As of January 2022, it looks like the best way to get an accepted certificate is via the Swiss portal mentioned in this article. We provided this info as most of our clients travel to other countries as well as Croatia. You need to check which each country on your travel list requires for your entry.
The likely reason that the EU doesn’t accept the Australian government QR code is that a foreign country’s QR code has nothing to do with Europe. That’s probably why our digital certificate won’t work, because they have nothing to scan an Australian QR code with. So you need to get the kind of digital certificate they can validate if you are worried about using a hard copy (printed) version.
Swiss portal: https://covidcertificate-form.admin.ch/foreign
Here is how one traveller managed to use the Swiss portal: I have seen info on people applying online via the Swiss portal for EU certificate recognition – they want to see a hotel name etc, but you can put one in that you may be “thinking of” and a set of dates (or book a refundable hotel and use those details) and then it takes at least 5 business days to process. This can be done from here before clients depart, so that it’s in place before they get over there.
Please contact us if you have any questions about your specific arrangements.
Phone or WhatsApp: +612-9212-1507
Email: [email protected]
