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Effective September 28th, Ukraine will reopen borders for tourism…again.
On August 29th, Ukraine made the surprising decision to re-shut its borders after being open for tourism for only two months since the original closure back in March.
A sudden surge in cases throughout the summer prompted the nation to ban all non-essential foreign arrivals and tourists from entering on August 29th, for at least 30 days.
Ukraine’s border closure is set to expire on September 28th, and we have now learned that Ukraine will allow the ban to expire, re-opening the country for tourism a second time.
A statement on Ukraine’s Ministry of Tourism site reads:
“From 00:00 September 28, 2020, restrictions on the entry of foreign citizens into the territory of Ukraine are lifted”
Ukraine receives around 14 million tourists per year, which is sure to be a major deciding factor in getting borders back open for foreign arrivals.
Before the abrupt closure in August, Ukraine had been a haven for couples separated by travel bans, as they were allowing visitors from almost every nation worldwide, albeit with different entry requirements like PCR testing for arrivals from high-risk areas.
The government of Ukraine became concerned after a ‘second-wave’ surge in cases erupted across the country, prompting the government to seal up the borders, stopping most foreign arrivals.
However, it appears as if the second lockdown was all in vain. Case numbers have been soaring higher than ever before, on a steady incline upwards, greatly surpassing the numbers that prompted the re-closure in the first place.
Credit: Worldometers
Green and Red Zones
For the re-reopening on September 28th, The Ministry of Health is keeping their ‘Red’ and ‘Green’ zoning for countries but is not keeping the same criteria it once used for creating these lists.
Throughout the summer, Ukraine was using the number of new cases compared to 100,000 population of each nation to determine what ‘color’ list they would be on. For example: Countries that had more than 55 new cases per 100,000 people in the past 14 days would be on the ‘Red’ list.
Now, the ‘Red’ zone is now defined by countries where COVID-19 cases numbers in the last 14 days are higher of cases numbers in Ukraine – or -countries where new case numbers have increased more than 30% in the last 14 days compared to the prior 2-week period.
Green is such simpler. The ‘Green’ zone is now defined by countries with lower rates than Ukraine.
Rules For Entry
The same rules of entry will apply for arriving tourists after September 28th
Passengers coming from ‘Green’ zone countries can enter the Ukraine restriction free, while ‘Red’ zone passengers will have to quarantine for 14-days, with the option of PCR testing to end isolation early.
Which list is your country on?
Countries like USA, Spain, France and the UAE show on the ‘Red’ list. While Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, Poland and Sweden show on the ‘Green’ list.
Ukraine’s ‘Green’ list is actually massive, allowing over 140 lower-risk countries to enter without testing or quarantines. It is unknown at this time if they plan to apply additional rules for ‘Green’ country arrivals, but as of right now, it’s extremely simple for tourists to gain entry.
To see the full list of ‘Red’ and ‘Green’ countries, plus all other entry regulations, testing rules, insurance requirements and information about entering as a tourist, we keep the following article updated frequently: “Ukraine Reopening for Tourism: Everything You Need To Know”
Read More: See a full list of countries in Europe now open for tourism and who offers travel insurance that covers covid
Sources: The Government of Ukraine
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- Kashlee Kucheran
- Originally Published September 27, 2020
- 15 Comments
Disclaimer: Current travel rules and restrictions can change without notice. The decision to travel is ultimately your responsibility. Contact your consulate and/or local authorities to confirm your nationality’s entry and/or any changes to travel requirements before traveling. Travel Off Path does not endorse traveling against government advisories
Chydon
Tuesday 29th of September 2020
Thank you for your write ups Kashlee I want to know and be sure if visitors and tourists can now freely enter ukraine from now on so I don't book a ticket and get stuck on the way . Please respond
Kashlee Kucheran
Tuesday 29th of September 2020
That is the main premise of this article :) In this crazy environment, every traveler should check the rules themselves before booking a flight, but as I outlined in this article, the government of Ukraine has lifted the entry ban as of yesterday
Liam
Monday 28th of September 2020
What is the source for this info? I can't find it mentioned on any official government website. Great news if it's true though!
Kashlee Kucheran
Monday 28th of September 2020
All sources are linked at the bottom of each article. It goes directly to the governments website
Michael
Monday 28th of September 2020
Great news. I was there for 2 weeks in August. Everything was open and everyone was happy to see an American tourist for the first time in months.
Victoria
Monday 28th of September 2020
Hi Kashlee,
Do you have info on what's open in Ukraine (restaurants etc?). We were planning on going there before they abruptly closed and now we're a bit reluctant on booking if they are still in lockdown. Especially since their cases are still increasing, so they might decide to close suddenly again. Thanks in advance
alans
Monday 28th of September 2020
It depends what part of the country you are visiting. Internally Ukraine is divided into four colours, red, orange, yellow and green. These are applied by local district, not oblast, so for example while much of Kyiv is orange, other parts may be yellow. Different levels of restrictions apply by colour, and they are not uniformly enforced. I live in Dnipro which has just gone from green to yellow, and there doesn't seem to ne that much difference
Kashlee Kucheran
Monday 28th of September 2020
Hi Victoria! At this time, I don't really have much information, since it's been closed for a month I don't have any readers there at the moment. Try searching local newspapers and using Google Translate to see what some of the local situation is like right now. I would assume that reopening the border also means having things like restaurants open
Vlad
Monday 28th of September 2020
Thanks Kashlee for sharing some great news! Does anyone know if I can transfer in Warsaw going from US to Ukraine as a US Citizen? Thanks for your feedback!
Kashlee Kucheran
Monday 28th of September 2020
It might be possible, but of course tricky right now! I would contact the airline and the airport to confirm your transit