COVID-19

PLEASE NOTE - YOU PERSONALLY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING SURE YOU ARE WITHIN THE LAWS FOR FRANCE. WE CAN ONLY OFFER THE ADVICE BELOW. THANKS 

Before booking or travelling make sure you read the current up to date FCDO Advice – France. We also recommend that you visit the website of your airline or, if you are driving, the Eurotunnel website or the ferry company website which will also contain useful information for entering France.

Travelling from the UK to France

The UK is currently on the French amber list. Entry requirements are different depending on whether you are fully vaccinated or not.

Unvaccinated (or not fully vaccinated) arrivals in France from countries on the French amber list will only be permitted to travel for essential reasons (from the list specified for this category of country). If you are not fully vaccinated, you will need to have an essential reason to travel from France to a country on France’s amber list.

Those who are not fully vaccinated will need to present the following documents:

a completed International Travel Certificate to confirm their essential reason for travel. In exceptional circumstances, the French Consulate in London may be able to assist with travel for an essential reason not listed on the International Travel Certificate

a completed ‘sworn statement’ (déclaration sur l’honneur) form self-certifying they are not suffering from symptoms associated with coronavirus and have not been in contact with confirmed cases in the preceding fortnight, and that they will self-isolate for seven days after arrival. This can be found on the French government’s website.

arrivals from the UK aged 12 years old or over are required to present evidence of a negative test (PCR or antigen) taken within 24 hours of departure (first flight departure in case of connecting flight). For unvaccinated arrivals from other non-EU countries, the pre departure testing window may vary. Please check this page for further information. Self-administered tests are not accepted.

Travellers who are not fully vaccinated will need to self-isolate for 7 days after arrival, then take another PCR test following this period of self-isolation.

From 1 November, adults travelling from the UK to France by Eurostar who are not fully vaccinated will be asked to take an additional COVID-19 test upon arrival at Gare du Nord (vaccination status will be checked ahead of departure at St Pancras). Anyone testing positive for COVID-19 will be subject to mandatory self-isolation for 10 days.

Children aged 12 years old or over who are not fully vaccinated and travelling with a fully vaccinated adult are required to present a negative test result (PCR or antigen). In this instance, the child aged 12 years old or over does not need to provide an essential reason for travel, nor do they need to self-isolate on arrival.

Children aged 12 years old or over who are unvaccinated and travelling alone are subject to the same conditions adults who are not fully vaccinated. Children aged 11 years old or younger do not need to present a negative test result to travel.

Travellers who are fully vaccinated do not need an essential reason to travel to France and do not need to self-isolate on arrival. Fully vaccinated travellers will need to present the following documents:

a completed ‘sworn statement’ (déclaration sur l’honneur) form self-certifying they are not suffering from symptoms associated with coronavirus and have not been in contact with confirmed cases in the preceding fortnight. This can be found on the French government’s website

proof of vaccination status

proof of a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 48 hours before departure (PCR or antigen)

Further detail on who is considered fully vaccinated by the French government, and how you can prove your status, can be found below under ‘vaccination status’.

If you are fully vaccinated, you do not need to complete the certificate to leave metropolitan France, unless you are travelling to a country on France’s red list.

Returning home to the UK

If you are fully vaccinated

This is what you need to do if you qualify under the fully vaccinated rules for travel to England.

Before you travel to England – fully vaccinated

Before you travel to England you must:

take a COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 2 days before you travel to England
book and pay for a COVID-19 PCR test – to be taken after you arrive in England
complete a passenger locator form – to be completed in the 48 hours before you arrive in England

Read more about taking a COVID-19 test before you travel to England.

If you’re in England for less than 2 days, you still need to book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test. You must quarantine until you receive a negative test result, or until you leave England, whichever is sooner.

When you arrive in England – fully vaccinated

After you arrive in England you must take a COVID-19 PCR test. This is the test that you booked before travel.

You can take the test any time after you arrive and before the end of day 2 at the latest. The day you arrive is day 0.

You must quarantine in your home or the place you are staying while you await your test result.

Test results

If your test result is negative, you can end your quarantine.

If your test result is positive, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day of the test is day 0.

If your test result is unclear, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day you took the test is day 0.

If your test result is unclear, you can choose to take another private test. If the result of that test is negative, you can stop self-isolating.

If your PCR test result is delayed, you must quarantine until you receive a negative test result or until day 14 after arrival, whichever is sooner.

If you are not fully vaccinated

This is what you need to do if you do not qualify under the fully vaccinated rules for travel to England.

Check this section of this guidance to see if you qualify as fully vaccinated.

Before you travel to England – not fully vaccinated

Before you travel to England you must:

take a COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 2 days before you travel to England
book and pay for day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 PCR tests – to be taken after arrival in England
complete a passenger locator form – to be completed in the 48 hours before you arrive in England

Read more about taking a COVID-19 test before you travel to England.

When you arrive in England – not fully vaccinated

After you arrive in England you must:

quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 full days
take your COVID-19 PCR tests – you must book these tests before you travel

You must take the first test on or before day 2 and the second test on or after day 8. The day you arrive is day 0.

If you are in England for less than 10 days, you need to quarantine for the time you are here. You need to book day 2 and day 8 PCR tests. You only need to take the tests if you are still in England on those days.

If the test result is positive

If your day 2 test is positive, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day you took the test is day 0.

You do not need to take the day 8 test if your day 2 test is positive. If your day 2 test is negative, you must take your day 8 test.

If your day 8 test is positive, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day you took the day 8 test is day 0.

If the test result is negative

If your day 2 test is negative, you must continue to quarantine.

You must take your day 8 test on or after day 8.

If your day 8 test is negative, you can stop quarantine on whichever is later:

day 10 – day 0 is the day you arrived in England
when you receive the day 8 test result

Example

If you receive your day 8 negative test result back on day 9, you must continue to quarantine until the end of day 10.

If you receive your day 8 negative test result back on day 12, you must quarantine until the end of day 12.

If the test result is unclear

If the result of your day 2 test is unclear, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day you took the test is day 0.

If the result of your day 8 test is negative, you can stop self-isolating on whichever is later:

day 10 - day 0 is the day you arrived in England
the day you received the negative day 8 test result

If your day 8 test is unclear, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day you took the day 8 test is day 0.

You can choose to take another private test. If that test result is a negative result, you can stop self-isolating on whichever is later:

day 10 - day 0 is the day you arrive in England
the day you received the negative replacement test result from the additional test

Test to Release scheme

If you need to quarantine, you may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release scheme.

Some travel operators such as airlines may specify types of masks to be worn on board e.g. surgical masks, and may encourage you to take spares for long journeys. Please check with your travel operator before travelling.

PCR and rapid antigen tests are no longer be free for international travellers visiting France. The cost of these tests will be €49 for PCR tests and €29 for rapid antigen tests. If you have a prescription from a French medical practitioner or are identified as having been in contact with someone who has a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, these tests remain free so long as you present a valid UK European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) or the new UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC). The process for accessing these tests in France remains the same with a list of places available via the French government site.

Whilst in France (Pass Sanitaire)

People aged 12 and over will need to demonstrate their COVID-19 status through the “pass sanitaire” in order to access services and venues. This includes leisure facilities (bars, restaurants, museums, cinemas), hospitals, retirement homes and modes of transport such as long distance train and bus journeys and planes. To read up to date information on this see this link.

This can be acquired by fulfilling one of the following three criteria:

1) A vaccination certificate, which conforms to the EU Digital Covid Status Certification framework, illustrating that you are fully vaccinated with a vaccine authorised by the European Medical Authority. This means:

7 days after a second dose of Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna
28 days after a single dose of Johnson & Johnson
7 days after a single injection for those able to demonstrate they have already been infected (this only applies to those vaccinated in France)

2) A negative PCR or antigen result from a test taken within the last 24 hours.

3) A document (dated more than 11 days ago and less than six months ago) proving you have recently recovered from COVID.

The French Government has announced that from 15 December, those who are 65 and over and who have been fully vaccinated for more than six months and five weeks will need to demonstrate that they have received an approved COVID-19 booster injection in order to access the “pass sanitaire” in France.

From 15 January 2022, those who are aged 18-64 years old and who have been fully vaccinated for more than seven months will need to demonstrate they have received an approved COVID-19 booster injection in order to access the “pass sanitaire” in France. This applies to visiting tourists and those residing in France. You can access the QR code for your booster in the same way as for previous injections (see ’How to obtain a French Pass Sanitaire’ section below).

You can find more information on how to access the “pass sanitaire” from the French government.

France will accept the UK’s proof of COVID-19 recovery and vaccination record. If you are travelling with a printed PDF proof of vaccination status, it must date from 1 November to ensure that the certificate can be scanned successfully, if domestic certification is required. Your NHS appointment card from vaccination centres is not designed to be used as proof of vaccination and should not be used to demonstrate your vaccine status.

Those vaccinated in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can also choose to scan and save the NHS QR code into France’s “TousAntiCovid” app.

More information on how to obtain a certificate/QR code is available, if vaccinated in Northern Ireland and if vaccinated in Scotland.

Other Covid status certification that conforms with the EU Digital COVID Certification scheme (e.g. from other EU member states) can also be used for entry into settings where there is a COVID status certification requirement in France.

Facemasks are mandatory in all enclosed public spaces. This applies to those aged 11 and over. It is no longer required to wear a facemask in all outdoor public spaces, with some exceptions, including gatherings, queues, markets, and stadiums. Failure to comply with these restrictions may result in a fine. Please refer to local guidance for more information.

Whilst in France (ski lifts)

There is now the requirement to show a Pass Sanitaire to use the ski lifts.
Face coverings will need to be worn in lift queues and on bubbles (not chairlifts) and these must be medical masks. They will also need to be worn in other indoor public places, like shops, bars and restaurants (unless you are sat at your table eating or drinking).

Masks and Social Distancing

• Wearing a mask is compulsory from the age of 11 in all ski lifts and in the waiting lines.
• Masks are recommended for children aged 6 to 11.
• Only surface lifts and conveyor belts may be exempted from wearing masks if they are used by only one user at a time.
• Skiers are required to wear a surgical mask or a category 1 fabric mask (AFNOR SPEC S76-001 certification).
• Concerning neck gaiters, only those that are filtering and certified will be allowed as an alternative to masks.Very practical for skiing and adapted to this protocol, approved neck gaiters can be put on and taken off in a few seconds.
• Skiers must respect distances between people or groups of people travelling together in the waiting lines.
• Protective measures must be applied throughout the ski area.
• Lift operators will make hand sanitizer available at relevant locations.
• Mask wearing regulations are also subject to changes by the regional Prefect.
• Wearing a mask is not required while skiing.

Travelling from Italy (Turin Airport) to France

Italy will accept the UK’s proof of COVID-19 recovery and vaccination record as the equivalent to a green pass. If you are travelling with a printed PDF proof of vaccination status, it must date from 1 November 2021 to ensure that the certificate can be scanned successfully. Your NHS appointment card from vaccination centres is not designed to be used as proof of vaccination and should not be used to demonstrate your vaccine status.

If you can demonstrate that you are fully vaccinated

If you travel from the UK and can demonstrate that you are fully vaccinated, you can enter Italy without needing to self-isolate if you also:

fill in the passenger locator form (EU PLF) before you enter Italy to get a QR code to show to your travel provider and Border Police. You can ask for paper form if you do not have an electronic device
show evidence of a negative PCR or antigen test, taken within 48 hours before entering Italy

If you are not vaccinated, exempt from vaccination or cannot demonstrate that you are fully vaccinated

If you are not fully vaccinated, to enter Italy from the UK you must:

fill in the passenger locator form (EU PLF) to get a QR code to show to your travel provider and Border Police. You can ask for paper form if you do not have an electronic device
show evidence of a negative PCR or antigen test, taken within 48 hours before entering Italy
notify the Prevention Department of the local health authority of your entry into Italy. See COVID-19 Numeri verdi regionali for the contact details of local Italian health authorities
travel to your final destination in Italy by private transport only
remain in self-isolation for 5 days
take another PCR or antigen test at the end of the 5 days’ self-isolation

Children

Children under 18 do not need to quarantine if they are travelling with a fully vaccinated parent and (for those over the age of 6) have a negative PCR or antigen test.

Children under the age of 6 are exempt from testing.

Updated 15/12/2021

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