Reader question: When will Americans be able to travel to Norway again? 

Question: When will Americans be able to travel to Norway again? 

That's a question on the lips of many readers from across the Atlantic; it's also a fair one, too, given Norway's Eurocentric approach to lifting travel restrictions and easing its strict border controls.

Currently, family and partners from the EU, EEA and UK can come to Norway, but family and partners from outside Europe cannot. Furthermore, Norway will soon let fully vaccinated travellers come to Norway if they have valid EU vaccine passes but haven't said if they plan to allow vaccinated Americans to enter. 

Currently, apart from a few exceptions, which you can read here, only residents and citizens of Norway can enter from the US. 

It's also worth noting that the US currently ranks Norway as a level 3 for its Travel Health Notice.

This basically means Americans "should reconsider travel to Norway".

So when will Norway open its border to Americans again? 

Unfortunately, Norway hasn't set a date for this or provided any estimates. However, we could make some educated guesses based on the information we currently have available. 

When it unveiled its four-step plan to reopen and lift coronavirus measures, the Norwegian government said that most things would be "almost normal" as part of step four, and it could be fair to assume that this could apply to travel.

Step four could get given the green light as early as mid-July as each step of the reopening plan has been taken roughly three weeks apart. 

But before you rush to book your tickets, it's worth pointing out that the easing of travel restrictions has been pushed back before. For example, allowing entry for family and partners was supposed to happen during step two but was pushed back to step three. 

In addition to this, in the government's eyes, the situation may have changed since the plan was formulated in April, and they may choose to keep tight border rules or introduce specific rules for certain countries based on how events unfold. 

Norway to harmonize with the EU

Another opportunity for Norway to reopen travel will be when it fully harmonizes its Covid traffic light classification and travel advice with the EU's. 

The Nordic country has begun raising its thresholds and bringing its requirements in line with the pan-European solution and will finish doing so on July 5th.

This could open up the door for Americans to come to Norway as the US is on the EU's third country list, or "white list".

READ MORE: EU opens door to return of American tourists 'after adding US to safe list'

However, while the list lifts blanket travel bans for EU members, Norway is not an EU member, meaning it will not have to open its borders to the US.

In addition to this, Norway can also impose its own requirements such as requiring or only letting certain travellers such as close family and partners enter at first, as it has done with EU/EEA and UK travellers.

There will also likely be paperwork involved, such as an application for partners, which is currently the case for partners from the EU, EEA, and UK.  

Another issue that could prove a stumbling block for US travellers itching to come to Norway is the lack of a universal vaccine passport in the US. 

Norway has placed a big emphasis on verifiable vaccine passports and has made no plans to accept vaccine passports that do not comply with the EU's framework for vaccine passes. 

Without a nationwide US vaccine pass it would be difficult for arrivals from the US to prove they are vaccinated due to Norway's rigid requirements for what qualifies as proof.