Use the Travel check designed by the Dutch government for more information.

Find out what you need to arrange if you are travelling outside the Netherlands.

The impact of the travel advice on the UvA is as follows:

Yellow advice (safety risks, use caution)

Students and staff should monitor developments in the region themselves and make their own decision in terms of risk management and acceptability before they travel.

COVID-19 infection rates may pose a (mounting) risk to continuity and safety. Entry and exit restrictions and local coronavirus restrictions may apply, such as a COVID certificate, (mandatory) testing and quarantine.

Orange advice (necessary travel only)

A negative travel advice is in force for both students and staff. Staff/researchers with urgent travel requirements must consult with their institution or faculty beforehand. Students and staff in the region concerned are urgently requested to return home.

The infection risk for people in the region concerned is high. Many institutions and public buildings are partially or entirely closed and educational institutions offer only a limited range of teaching activities on campus. Entry and exit restrictions and local coronavirus restrictions may apply, such as a COVID certificate, (mandatory) testing and quarantine. An automatic orange travel advice is in force for a number of countries outside the EU, where it is government policy to keep borders closed until further notice.

Red advice (do not travel)

A negative travel advice is in force for both students and staff. Students and staff in the region concerned are being actively repatriated.

The infection risk for people in the region concerned is very high. Public life is at a standstill and travel to and from the region concerned has become (almost) impossible. Entry and exit restrictions and local coronavirus restrictions apply, such as a COVID certificate, (mandatory) testing and quarantine.

The UvA has travel insurance through Meijers. In principle, any trip that’s part of a curriculum (students) or work-related (in the case of UvA employees) can be covered by the UvA’s travel insurance, as long as its destination is signalled as 'green' or 'yellow' area.

Cover extends to cancellations and all travel-related costs (e.g. ticket, taxi, accommodation costs). This also applies if you booked your travels independently for work or study.

Key to insurance cover is that the loss or damage was beyond the control of the policyholder/insured person(s). Cover applies:

• If your flight is cancelled by the airline and they do not refund you (or only partially).
• If a conference was cancelled. This is also beyond the control of the person insured.
• If the teaching and research institutions in the affected region are closed. This is a valid reason for travel to be cancelled or cut short.

What is not covered by the UvA’s travel insurance through Meijers?

Travel to or from areas designated by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs as ‘red’ or ‘orange’ are not covered. 

There is no cover if you decide to cancel a trip yourself when the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not issued a travel warning for your destination. You can check with your faculty to see whether they can possibly cover the costs.

The moment when you book a trip also plays a role in whether you can get your money back. Travel insurance is designed to cover unforseen events. If you knowingly book a trip for study or work to an area where the coronavirus is prevalent, it will not be viewed as an unforseen event. Each claim will be examined individually.

How can I submit a claim or request to the UvA’s Meijers insurance?

Claims and requests can be sent for review/response to the following email address: volmachtschade@meijers.nl. State that you are an UvA employee or student and include your completed claim form in the email.

Make sure to include at least the following information:

• A completed claims form.
• Proof of the fact you were abroad for the purposes of work or study as a UvA students or staff member, indicating the planned period of your stay (e.g. an intership contract.)
• Indicate whether you had already booked a return journey, and whether you have already been reimbursed for this?
• What additional costs you incurred to return home? Including an itemised calculation of the costs.
• Claims must be submitted individually (no joint claims).
• The UvA travel insurance policy number is: DL221283

Ask your question via coronaquestions@uva.nl

Individual internships and graduation projects abroad will not be cancelled in the academic year2021-2022. Individual internships and graduation projects abroad are possible under the condition that:

• A positive travel advice must apply to the country in which the internship takes place.

The reason for this is that the UvA cannot meet the duty of care and insurance coverage requirements if there is a negative travel advice.

If students have returned to their country of origin and have found an internship or research project in their city of residence, then that can go ahead. If students have returned to their country of origin and found an internship or research project outside of their city of residence, this may conflict with local COVID-19 regulations. The internship can then only take place after consultation about possible consequences and after the student has explicitly exempted their study programme from the UvA’s duty of care. This guideline for internships and graduation projects applies to both compulsory and non-compulsory parts of the curriculum.

For more information and to request the UvA student indemnity form for damage resulting from internship / research abroad with travel restrictions, please contact the relevant Study Abroad Offices.

If your exchange has been postponed, cancelled, interrupted, or if you are continuing it online from a different country, you have to apply for a force majeure arrangement to retain your right to the Erasmus grant. That is because you are not able to satisfy the usual requirements set for Erasmus exchanges because of circumstances beyond your control (‘force majeure’).

If you continue following online education in the host country of your exchange, you do not need to apply for a force majeure arrangement.

Making a force majeure application – Degree students

Degree student can apply for the force majeure arrangement here. We need two documents: 

• A Statement - Declaration of Host University stating the start and end date of the exchange.
• An email or letter from the host university stating that the exchange has been cancelled, if you received one.

Please note: If you have already submitted the documents for the force majeur application via the general email address of the Central International Office you need to submit the documents again via the Canvas-page. We apologise for the inconvenience! You can use the link above.

You can find a more comprehensive FAQ’s for Erasmus+ degree students here  

Application for force majeure – Internship students

Are you doing a placement or internship?  Please send an email to erasmus-sts@uva.nl, citing ‘Force Majeur Internship – [Student name]’ in the subject line.

To process force majeure applications of internship students (including ACTA and AMC students), we need the following documents: 

• A ‘Learning Agreement – After Mobility’ stating the start and end date of your internship or placement. Your Faculty International Office can provide you with a template of the ‘Learning Agreement – After Mobility’ form.
• An email/letter from the host institution stating that the exchange has been cancelled, if you received one.

Please send these documents in one email.

You can find a more comprehensive FAQ’s for Erasmus+ and internship students here

The UvA will not be withholding wages. If you travel to a country that is labelled red or orange at the time of your departure (according to the travel advisory codes of the Dutch government), this can result in you having to use holiday leave during the quarantine period.

Countries with code orange at the time of your departure

The government does not recommend travelling to countries with code orange for non-essential purposes such as holidays. Anyone who does travel to these countries is urgently advised to immediately quarantine themselves at home for a period of ten days after their return to the Netherlands.

• Naturally this means you cannot visit any of the UvA locations within this period. The University has a duty to protect the rest of the staff and students and provide a safe work and study environment.
• If this means you cannot work at all during this period, this is at your own risk.
• You must use leave hours for the days you cannot work during the quarantine period, unless the work can be carried out from home.
• If you do not have enough remaining leave, hours will be reserved in advance from your leave entitlement for next year.

Countries with code yellow at the time of your departure, changing to code orange in the course of your stay

Circumstances in a country may change, resulting in the code changing from yellow to orange. If this happens while you are on holiday, and you need to go into quarantine after your return, this is not something you could plan for when you departed. Therefore, the consequences listed under code orange will not apply. In these cases it will depend on the specific circumstances whether a ‘contribution’ on your part can be reasonably requested.

Code-red countries

The government strongly discourages travelling to countries with code red because of a significant risk of ‘life-threatening situations’ – this can be related to corona, but also other reasons such as armed conflict or other dangers. Insofar as it is even possible to enter these countries, you do so entirely at your own risk, with all the consequences described under code orange.

For upcoming travel to countries with a yellow or green travel advice, travel insurance willoffer normal coverage, with the exception of international repatriation costs in the event of a new COVID-19 outbreak.