Although the majority of countries in the European Union/Schengen area are lifting or relaxing some of their COVID-19 related restrictions, some still require travelers to complete the Passenger Locator Form.

Austria, Germany and Spain are currently the only countries that require certain categories of travelers to complete the form, reports SchengenVisaInfo.com.

The authorities of the three countries explained that not all travelers are subject to such an obligation. Only people who do not hold the necessary documents, such as COVID-19 proof or other equivalent document as well as those from areas heavily affected by the virus, are currently subject to the passenger locator form requirement.

Austria currently requires only travelers who do not hold a vaccination, recovery or test certificate to complete a pre-travel authorization, which is similar to the passenger locator form.

“Travellers entering Austria with ‘3-G’ proof do NOT need pre-travel authorization. Pre-travel authorization is required when entering without ‘3-G’ proof” read the statement from the Austrian authorities.

With this form, travelers who do not have the required documents must provide information on the state of departure, the day of entry into Austria, the means of transport and the number of plates or the flight number, boat, train or bus.

Germany requires travelers from high-risk areas and virus variants to complete the digital entry form as well. However, currently there are no countries on this list, which means that travelers do not need to complete this form when visiting Germany.

“Travellers who have already stayed in a risk area are required to complete the digital registration form on einreiseanmeldung.de and have with them the confirmation they received upon entry,” explains the German body responsible for disease prevention and control, the Robert Koch Institute.

Like the countries mentioned above, Spain also requires travelers to complete the health screening form. However, the Spanish Ministry of Health explained that such a requirement only applies to people who do not hold an EU digital COVID certificate or other equivalent document.

“If you do not have the EU digital COVID certificate or equivalent, you must complete the SpTH health check form, manually entering details of your vaccination, recovery or diagnostic test certificate”, the ministry statement said.

According to the ministry, such a requirement only applies to people over the age of 12.

All other countries have already dropped the Passenger Locator Form requirement.

Italy is the most recent country to announce that travelers are no longer required to complete the Passenger Locator Form prior to arrival.

It is believed that the Italian Health Ministry decided to make such a decision after taking into account vaccination and infection rates in the country and further afield.

Slovakia also lifted pre-COVID-19 registration earlier in April. The Slovak government has declared that travelers from other countries are no longer obliged to register with eHranica.

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