Travel Asked on December 10, 2021
I am soon travelling from the UK to Austria (via Switzerland), and will self-test for Covid-19 beforehand. According to the website of the Austrian embassy in London, I must present a specific form signed by a doctor to say that my results are negative.
However, as a healthy person who isn’t an essential worker, there are no options to get tested in the UK by a doctor at the moment: the only tests I can access are drive-through ones or self-test kits, and the results are sent by email. For various reasons, getting a doctor to sign this form after taking the test but before leaving the UK isn’t realistic.
So (assuming the results are negative), if I simply present a print-out of the official results email at the border, is this likely to be accepted? My contact details are linked to the test, so if someone needed to, they could cross-check these details with my passport to confirm that the test is real. Since this seems to be the standard way the UK government/health system sends out test results, it seems possible that border control would be flexible about the exact paperwork required, though perhaps this is over-optimistic.
Ideally I want to avoid the 2-week quarantine period, but I have also heard that the travel restrictions to Austria are being tightened from today (23 Jul 2020) onwards, and so I am also concerned that having an invalid form could potentially lead to being refused entry at the border. Any information about what documentation is accepted would be helpful to know.
I'm not sure if this is the answer you're looking for but after doing some research I am unable to find any source that states the exact format of the certificate, i.e. if a digital scan/photo of the certificate from the GP is acceptable. But here's what I found.
According to the gov.uk website if a UK resident wishes to travel to Austria from the UK, he/she "... must be able to present at the border a medical certificate with micro-biological test results in English, French, German or Italian which is no more than 4 days old. You can find the certificate on the website of the Austrian Embassy in London."[1] There is however no mention of if the certificate can be in a digital form or has to be in the original paper form. If, depending on your situation, you are unable to receive the required certificate from your GP, you can get tested at the at the Vienna Airport on arrival (albeit for 190€). If you want to take this route, you have to make an appointment beforehand. More information can be found here.[2] austria.info also states the same requirements and was last updates on the 22nd of July. [3]
The official website of the Austrian Embassy in London also mentions the PCR/Swab Test but doesn't mention if a scan/photo of the form signed by your GP.[4] However, I would advise you to either take the original form, since there is no room for error, or take the test when you arrive at Vienna Airport or you also have the ability to take a test during your quarantine (in the case of a negative result you can finish your quarantine then and there).[1]
Sources:
[1] https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/austria/entry-requirements
[2] https://www.viennaairport.com/pcrtest
[3] https://www.austria.info/en/service-and-facts/coronavirus-information
Answered by Ski Mask on December 10, 2021
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