Italy August 2020 - will i be turned away?

US travelers are currently excluded from the country list of admissible leisure travelers to Italy. When they change their guidance, they will communicate through official channels. I don't expect they will given the worsening COVID situation in the US.

https://www.esteri.it/mae/en/ministero/normativaonline/decreto-iorestoacasa-domande-frequenti/focus-cittadini-italiani-in-rientro-dall-estero-e-cittadini-stranieri-in-italia.html

That's a confusing link from Agnes, it appears to contradict itself many times. The USA is not mentioned in it, so no American ban per se. I'd look to this passage:

From July 1, the following are also allowed to travel to Italy:

foreign nationals residing in Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Republic of Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay

However, people travelling to Italy from all Countries other than EU Member States, Schengen Member States, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island, Andorra, Principality of Monaco, Republic of San Marino or Vatican City State will still be required to observe a 14-day quarantine period in self-isolation.

So if you are coming directly from Thailand, Japan, South Korea, or Georgia and are a resident there (not a tourist) and avoided the prohibited transiting airports on the way than maybe that's a go. I think the definition of expat is that you have residency outside the US in some official form, to live or work in a foreign country.

It appears any nationality can come for study, so if you have a student visa than you are fine.

I would think it would depend on what third country you have been in, and for how long. Have you been in Thailand, for example, for a week or two months. Have you crossed any national borders in the x number of days, weeks or months, and if so which ones...

If you are expats (using the term as defined) does that mean that it has some years since you were in the US?

Are you in, and have been in for some time, one of the countries on the approved list?

My understanding is that it all depends on the persons legal residence, not just on their citizenship.... Without European residence don't count on getting in.... with or without a quarantine period....

That's a confusing link from Agnes, it appears to contradict itself
many times.

It's an official Italian link, nothing I can do about it. If it's that hairy, that's a clue in itself. I would not count on having access coming from the US. It's up to each person to understand and interpret the rules, I wouldn't take advice from a travel forum personally. I would look to government sources.

@Agnes. I always enjoy your responses. "If it's that hairy, that's a clue in itself".

Part of why it's confusing is that there are two separate questions:

1. whether you will be granted/permitted entry
2. whether you will have to quarantine for 14 days

If you are an American traveler coming from Asia, the answers appear to be:

1. You can enter if you reside in Georgia, Japan, South Korea or Thailand (the Asian countries on the list below)

From July 1, the following are also allowed to travel to Italy :

foreign nationals residing in Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Republic of Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay

1. However, you definitely have to quarantine:

Self-isolation for 14 days remains obligatory if you travel to Italy from any of the following Countries:

from any Country except for the following: EU or Schengen Member State
or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or
Andorra, the Principality of Monaco, the Republic of San Marino or the
Vatican City State;

from any foreign Country (except San Marino and
the Vatican), if you stayed in any Country other than the following
prior to 14 days before travelling to Italy: EU or Schengen Member
State or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland or
Andorra, the Principality of Monaco, the Republic of San Marino or the
Vatican City State.

I didn't read carefully enough about the American traveler coming from Asia...after their hypothetical trip to Italy, where are they headed next? Because international travel between the EU and the US is curtailed, how will they easily fly back to the US even if they can go to Italy? I would think everything through very carefully...law of unintended consequences.

note that the OP has changed to traveler from expat

so based on nobody saying - yes I've spent the last more than 14 days in Georgia, Korea, Japan or Thailand continuously so I'll be OK, it looks like the answer is, yes they will turn you away.

I am an American expat in the UK and I have done a lot of research on this as we are planning to travel to the continent in August. I ended up contacting the French Embassy in London to make sure we would be allowed to enter France on a US passport. The Embassy staff said we would be as long as we could prove our residency in the UK. So I think if you can not prove your residency in the country you are coming from, you may be out of luck. It is best to check with the Embassy- maybe the US Embassy in Rome? Then you would be getting the official word and not just advice from fellow travelers.

"so based on nobody saying - yes I've spent the last more than 14 days in Georgia, Korea, Japan or Thailand continuously so I'll be OK, it looks like the answer is, yes they will turn you away."

But what if one were to have gotten stuck in say Vietnam for past 6 months straight during covid19? Not officially a "resident" but have been here half a year. And it's been quite safe considering the low rates of covid19 in Vietnam.

Vietnam is not on the list, I'm afraid. Those countries are listed above.

Call the Embassy and ask if they will make an exception for you.... Is there an Italian Embassy near you?

https://ambhanoi.esteri.it/ambasciata_hanoi/en/ambasciata/gli_uffici/gli-uffici.html

You have some unique circumstances that likely need an answer from 'the horses mouth'

The Embassy appears to be the only source of reliable information.

As for 'quarantine', as best I can tell, one has to isolate at whatever lodging they procure at market rates. I have seen nothing about a government run quarantine facility.

But what if one were to have gotten stuck in say Vietnam for past 6 months straight during covid19? Not officially a "resident" but have been here half a year. And it's been quite safe considering the low rates of covid19 in Vietnam.

Doesn’t matter how long you spend anywhere. It depends on whether you can prove residency in an EU or EEA country, or in one of the countries mentioned that the EU is allowing.

My understanding is that it all depends on the persons legal residence, not just on their citizenship

That's definitely the case. And residency is tricky, and can be subject to different interpretations. If you spend a night at a foreign hotel, you're definitely not a resident of that country. If you spend 6 months at that hotel, maybe you are. I know that in my city, if you apply for something that requires that you be a resident, you need to show some proof, such as a lease or a utility bill. So the OP would probably need something like that from one of the Asian countries he spent a long time in, and they need to be one of the approved countries.. And he'd still have to quarantine.

I see some serious hurdles here. Even if the source at the Embassy says “yes”, they aren’t going to greet you at the airport to get you through the immigration portal. I would think you’re going to be at the mercy of the immigration staff that day, especially if you’re traveling on a U.S. passport.

I have to wonder if you will even be allowed to board the flight to italy without any sort of pre-approval from the embassy.

Indeed, the airline is the first enforcer of the target country’s entry rules, because they (the airline) are on the hook to get you back to where you came from if you don’t meet the criteria for entry.

Do let us know how this all turns out in the end. It is a great soap opera in any case.

Use this link:

https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/international-travel-document-news/1580226297.htm

It is updated daily and is the website airlines use to decide whether or not you can board a flight.

About where you can pass your quarantine, in Italy there are the so called "COVID hotels". Are normal hotels where you can pass your quarantine if you don't have your own place to stay. I believe the most are 2/3 stars hotels, so nothing luxury and quite cheap. Is not paid by Government, so you can even decide to spend your quarantine in another hotel (but I suppose is better ask to the hotel about it).

About travel to Italy from Vietnam at the moment you cannot come for a leisure travel. Is possible only for family or working reason. I know that Vietnam is not a "dangerous" country to come from, but is not on the list of the allowed countries.
As proof in my opinion is enough the invoice of the hotel (or flat) where you stay (to prove you where in the country for 6 months) and the stamp on your passport (whom prove you never leave Vietnam) to have the authorization for the flight, but as suggested is better ask to the Embassy, because your is not a standard case.

Indeed, the airline is the first enforcer of the target country’s entry rules, because they (the airline) are on the hook to get you back to where you came from if you don’t meet the criteria for entry.

So if the airlines are on the hook, how do they know you don't meet one of the exception criteria? They pretty much have to take your word for it, dont they?

I would think you’re going to be at the mercy of the immigration staff that day, especially if you’re traveling on a U.S. passport.

That would seem to be the biggest hurdle.

Stan, my understanding is that you need a letter from the government of the country that you would be flying to saying that they will let you in. My husband was scheduled to speak at a meeting in Lisbon and the meeting organizers said it would be no problem because they could get him a letter from the government; however, now it appears that the meeting will be virtual.