The COVID-19 immigration regulations aim to prevent COVID-19 infections entering Germany from other countries. This is particularly important in view of the spread of new variants of the virus.

The regulations covering travellers entering Germany by air have thus been expanded to include a mandatory test. This was agreed by the Cabinet as part of the changes to the COVID-19 immigration regulations on 26 March 2021. The new mandatory test will apply as of 00:00 on 30 March and will remain in place up to and including 12 May 2021. Everyone wishing to fly to Germany must present evidence that they have been tested and that the result was negative before they fly. The test must be conducted no more than 48 hours before travel. Carriers may only accept passengers who provide evidence of a negative test result. Travellers must pay for the test themselves.

FAQs on the new immigration regulations can be found here. 

What continues to apply

In addition to these new provisions, the regulations currently in place will continue to apply for all travellers entering Germany by bus, rail, car or ship.

A distinction is made between three types of risk areas outside Germany:

• Areas where the Federal Ministry of Heath, in conjunction with the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of the Interior, has identified a higher risk of infection with a threatening communicable disease
• High-incidence areas, where the incidence is several times higher than that in Germany, but at least 200
• Areas in which particularly infectious variants of the virus are widespread.

All travellers who have been in a risk area will have to fill in an online immigration registration form before they enter Germany, as is already the case. Within 48 hours of entering the country they must have evidence that they were not infected with SARS-CoV-2 at the time they entered the country, and must present this to the relevant authority on request.

Everyone entering Germany from a risk area in which there is a particularly high incidence or where particularly infectious variants of the virus are widespread will have to carry this evidence on their person when they enter the country and present it, on request, to the carrier before they leave, to the relevant authorities on entry into Germany or to officers undertaking any police checks.

The Robert Koch Institute provides an overview of designated risk areas, high incidence areas and areas where variants of the virus have been identified.

The requirement to self-isolate, i.e. to quarantine, on arrival from risk areas remains in place. Travellers arriving from outside Germany, who have been in an area designated a risk area within the last ten days, are required to quarantine immediately on their arrival in Germany for a period of ten days.

Under certain circumstances exceptions to mandatory quarantine can apply. The individual federal states impose mandatory quarantine regulations for all travellers arriving from abroad and also stipulate any exceptions to this rule. Please check the regulations that apply in your federal state.

Since 1 March mobile telephony providers must inform their customers by text message about the immigration and infection control measures in place in Germany.

Here you will find an overview of the regulations currently in place for all travellers and commuters.