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TL;DR: Austria has waved off the requirement of negative COVID-test for some specific cases including mine. Traveling from India to Austria via a layover in another country in Schengen. Will the negative COVID-test still be required by 1) immgiration at the layover (another Schengen country) or 2) the airlines?

I am currently in India and hold an Indian passport. I am in the process of applying for visa D to visit my husband in Austria. My husband holds an Austrian residence permit (Rot Weiss Rot karte plus). Austria usually requires a negative COVID-test or home quarantine for people coming in. However, on the official Austrian government ministry webpage (answer to question 5 in the link), they have clearly mentioned that visits for special family reasons (which includes visiting a spouse) are exempt from both of the above requirements.

Almost all the convenient flights from India to Vienna have a layover in another city in the Schengen area say Frankfurt. Since I will be entering the Schengen area at Frankfurt in that case, I suppose I will have to go through immigration there rather than in Vienna. Will I be required to present a negative COVID-test at the immigration in Frankfurt even if I am there for a short layover(a couple of hours)?

And secondly, are the airlines too asking for negative COVID-test before letting the passengers board? I will mostly be using Lufthansa and Austrian, so the answer could be specific for only these two.

I tried looking through the websites of the German government and the airlines too, but I couldn’t find clear answers. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

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    When in doubt, take the safest route, get a test... There are far too many people involved here (airlines, ground handlers for the airlines, immigration, health services) for you to be sure there won't be someone on the way insisting on something even if you don't need it.
    – jcaron
    Commented Aug 28, 2020 at 21:59
  • @jcaron that is great advice. Generally, if you are not sure whether you need something, and it's fairly easy to get, you should get it. A problem may arise, of course, if it is not in fact easy to get, in which case people might want to know how likely they are to run into trouble. The demand for testing is high, and in some places it outstrips the supply or the processing capacity. I recently waited 16 days for the results of a COVID-19 test.
    – phoog
    Commented Aug 28, 2020 at 22:45
  • @phoog 16 days? Wow, I had heard stories of a few days which resulted in big questions about the validity of the test, but 16 days is indeed hard
    – jcaron
    Commented Aug 28, 2020 at 23:01
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    @jcaron yeah, I would have proven my non-infectiousness more quickly by simply living in isolation for 14 days.
    – phoog
    Commented Aug 28, 2020 at 23:04
  • @jcaron, I would get the test if I can. Although, getting a test is not easy. Hence the question.
    – Mathias_Sinner
    Commented Aug 29, 2020 at 13:23

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Yes definitely should have papers in case anything happens. A lot of countries still require a lot of paperwork including negative Covid test even when vacationing. There are stricter countries than others. I would definitely have it on hand

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    (-1) Germany doesn't require anyone to have a test in advance
    – Crazydre
    Commented Aug 30, 2020 at 16:04

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