Norwegian citizens who have not renewed their passports following the pandemic are able to travel to Germany, Iceland, Estonia, and Portugal using their expired passports as identification. This change takes effect from Tuesday (July 5) and will apply until 31 December 2022.
This scheme means that people over the age of 16 years old will be able to identify themselves with passports that expired less than three years ago when entering the above countries. Children under the age of 16 years old can use passports that expired less than one year ago. Passports for children have shorter validity durations and the one-year limit has been set in order to, among other things, prevent child abduction. Passports that have been destroyed cannot be used.
“It is important to understand that there are risks associated with travelling abroad without regular and valid identification. There is no guarantee that the authorities’ information about the scheme will be disseminated to all transportation providers and tourism operators. The Norwegian authorities, therefore, recommend that those travelling to these countries on expired passports do so using direct flights departing from Norway,” says Minister of Justice and Public Security Emilie Enger Mehl (Centre Party).
“I would also like to remind the public that some European countries have implemented new COVID-19 regulations and that everyone should make a point of checking current travel advice and their travel insurance before departing,” says Mehl.
