Covid-19: Travel Advice for Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia (current as of 19 July)

News

General advice

The Government of Ireland continues to recommend staying at home as far as possible and advises against all but essential overseas travel.

The Irish Authorities require anyone coming into Ireland, apart from Northern Ireland, to restrict their movements for 14 days, this includes citizens and residents returning to Ireland. Restricting your movements means staying indoors in one location and avoiding contact with other people and social situations as much as possible. To ensure that this is being observed all passengers arriving to Ireland from overseas are obliged to complete a mandatory Public Health Passenger Locator Form and to submit it to the relevant authority at their port of entry. Exemptions are in place for providers of essential supply chain services such as hauliers, pilots and maritime staff. Check the Irish Government Advice Page for full information on these requirements. Further advice for people who have recently returned from abroad is available from the HSE.

The situation regarding Covid-19 is a developing one and measures outlined below are subject to change. We advise checking latest regulations on the websites of the relevant authorities, which can be found below. Please also monitor the situation in Bulgaria, Georgia and Armenia through the Embassy’s Facebook and Twitter accounts as well as local media and contact the Embassy at sofiaconsular@dfa.ie if you have specific concerns. If you are an Irish citizen abroad, register your contact details through our Citizens’ Registration system so that the Embassy will be able to contact you quickly in the event of any major developments that may affect you.

Bulgaria

Anyone planning to travel to Bulgaria from Ireland and back again should be aware that Ireland advises against any non-essential overseas travel at this time and requires anyone arriving in Ireland, including Irish citizens returning from abroad, to complete a form confirming where they will restrict their movements  for 14 days. 

Irish citizens are in principle permitted to enter Bulgaria and are at this time not required to self-quarantine if coming to Bulgaria from Ireland. Please see below for the rules that are in effect if you are coming to Bulgaria from elsewhere.

Until 15th July anyone who travels to Bulgaria from any non-EU/Schengen (etc.) country including the UK (but not Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro or Serbia), as well as Portugal and Sweden, is required to self-quarantine for 14 days on arrival (unless transiting Bulgaria and leaving immediately or travelling for a limited number of specific economic, employment, medical or humanitarian reasons). The requirement to self-quarantine applies regardless of the person's citizenship. The Bulgarian authorities have confirmed that the self-quarantine requirement relates to the place where a person's journey starts, regardless of transit by air, sea or land after leaving home. 

Please note that the Bulgarian authorities may change entry and quarantine requirements at any time, without warning.

Georgia

In connection with the Covid-19 global pandemic, the government of Georgia declared a state of emergency on 21st March 2020. As of this date, all scheduled flights to and from Georgia were suspended with permission only granted for a limited number of Georgian Airways and specially chartered repatriation flights. As of 1st July certain commercial flights may become available again. For up-to-date information on the situation in Georgia including any Covid-19 measures in place please visit StopCov.ge.

Armenia

The Covid-19 situation in Armenia is deteriorating and we continue to advise against travel there. At present,there are extremely limited air connections between Yerevan and Europe via Minsk with Belavia. For up-to-date information on restrictions in Armenia, please visit the websites of the Government of the Republic of Armenia, as well as the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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