LIGHTENED HEALTH CONTROL MEASURES AT THE BORDERS WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM

Faced with the predominance of the Omicron variant both in France and in the United Kingdom, the Government has chosen to ease the specific health control measures at the borders which had been decided last December for vaccinated travelers from the United Kingdom. . These measures were taken as the epidemic progressed dramatically in the United Kingdom, France still remaining relatively unscathed in the face of the Omicron wave. The widespread distribution of the variant today in both countries has led the Government to decide on the following adjustments.

The rules that apply from Friday January 14, 2022 for travel between the UK and France are as follows

• All travelers, vaccinated or not, must initially present a negative test (PCR or antigen test) of less than 24 hours.
• For vaccinated travelers, there is no longer any obligation to justify a compelling reason for coming to France, nor any obligation to respect a period of isolation upon arrival on national territory. As such, the need to register, prior to travel, on the "passenger eOS" digital platform has been lifted. Arrival screenings may be conducted at the places of arrival. If the result is positive, the traveler will be placed in isolation.
• For unvaccinated travelers, travel from the United Kingdom is authorized subject to being able to justify an overriding reason valid for “red” countries .

Unvaccinated travelers from the United Kingdom must continue to register, before their departure, on the digital passenger eOS platform  , allowing in particular to enter the address of their stay in France.

They must, on their arrival in France, observe a strict quarantine period of 10 days at this place; this quarantine will be controlled by the security forces.

Moreover, vaccinated travelers no longer have to prove a compelling reason for leaving French territory for the United Kingdom. Travel by unvaccinated travelers is authorized provided they can justify an overriding reason valid for "red" countries. In all cases, travelers wishing to travel to the United Kingdom are advised to inquire before their departure about the conditions of entry into their country of destination.

To deal with the virus and contain the introduction of its variants, border control measures are temporarily needed, both on entering and leaving the country.

Therefore, each time the border is crossed, the traveller will need to comply with the three different regulations which all apply:

• The mobility rules: these set out the permitted reasons for travelling that allow entry into France given the current situation where the borders are closed. These permitted reasons are now strictly limited to compelling ones;
• The health control measures: tests prior to and/or on arrival, the absence of symptoms, not having been in contact with a confirmed case, seven-day isolation period (seven-day quarantine), etc.
• The usual rules govern the right to stay: all foreign travellers must present a valid passport at the border, as well as the usually required documents: in case of a short stay (less than 90 days), proof of resources and accommodation, and a short-stay visa if their nationality so requires; in case of plans to settle in France, a long-stay visa; in case of residency in France, a residence permit)

The nature of these measures for a given traveller in fact depends on several specific criteria:

• The journey involves entering or leaving France;
• The country the person is travelling from or to: France or other country of the European Area, other third countries including the United Kingdom;
• The traveller’s nationality or country of residence;
• The traveller’s age (over or under 12 years old).

Effective from 9 June, the movement of travellers between France and foreign countries will resume under terms and conditions that will vary according to the health status of these countries and the vaccination status of travellers.

Accordingly, countries have been classified based on health indicators. The lists of countries may be updated as the epidemic situation evolves.

The countries have therefore been classified as follows:

“Green list”countries and territories: Countries or territories where no active circulation of the virus is observed and no variant of concern is identified. These are the countries in the European area, plus Bahrain, Hong Kong, Japan, Kuwait, New Zealand, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Vanuatu.

“Orange list”countries: Countries where active circulation of the virus is observed in controlled proportions, without spread of any variants of concern. These are all countries not included in the “green” and “red” list countries.

Countries subject to specific measures : The United Kingdom constitutes a special category of countries with active circulation of a variant, due to the specific measures applying to travel to and from this country since December 20, 2021.

“Red list”countries: Countries where active circulation of the virus is observed with the presence of variants of concern. These include the following countries: Afghanistan, Belarus, Democratic Republic of Congo, Georgia, Nigeria, Mauritius, Montenegro, Pakistan, Suriname, Tanzania, Turkey, United States.

“Scarlet list”countries: Countries where there is very active circulation of the virus and discovery of a variant that may pose a risk of increased transmissibility or immune escape. To date, there are no countries classified as "scarlet red".