Citizens Advice Salford
The latest advice on covid restrictions if you’re thinking about traveling abroad:
The Government may change the regulations at short notice. You are advised to monitor the position closely if you are going abroad. Don’t forget that the government of the country or countries you are travelling to may also change their regulations at short notice.
The risk posed by individual countries and territories is continuously monitored and the green, amber, and red lists are reviewed every 3 weeks. The rules for each country depend on the ‘traffic light’ category it has been placed in.
Countries and territories can be moved between lists if conditions change. Sign up for an email alert to be notified when this changes, as well as information about the individual countries ‘colour’, this is all available on the Government website at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-amber-and-green-list-rules-for-entering-england?mc_cid=8b7f14b763&mc_eid=5f54a6c128.
The rules are as applied to England.
What you must do when you arrive in England from abroad depends on where you have been in the 10 days before you arrive.
The Government has listed countries and territories as red, amber, or green and what you must do if you have been in those countries or territories depends on that rating.
Before you travel abroad you should follow these steps:
- Check the rules and advice for the country or territory you’re going to.
- Find out what you need to do when you return to England.
- Book any tests or quarantine hotel packages you need.
- Check the rules for the country you’re going to.
Check foreign travel advice to find out whether:
- the UK government advises against all but essential travel to the places you want to travel to;
- the country or territory you want to go to will allow people from England to enter;
- you need to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to enter, or quarantine when you arrive.
Foreign travel advice includes rules and warnings based on both COVID and security reasons. It also includes rules for travelling with children during the pandemic.
You should check the rules for all countries or territories you will visit or travel through.
- Find out what you need to do when you return.
Countries and territories are listed as either red, amber, or green. The rules for testing and quarantine when you return to England are different for each list.
Check the red, amber, and green list and the rules for the country or territory you’re visiting.
The rules you must follow depend on which countries or territories you’ve been in or travelled through in the 10 days before you arrive in England, as well as the one you’re travelling from.
For example, if you travel from an amber list country but have been in a red list country in the 10 days before you arrive in England, you must follow the rules for red list countries.
You should not travel to countries or territories on the red list.
- Book any COVID-19 tests or quarantine hotel packages you need for your return.
Returning from a green or amber list country or territory:
Find a coronavirus (COVID-19) travel test provider to book the tests you need if you’ve been in a country or territory on the green or amber list in the 10 days before you arrive in England.
If you have been in an amber list country or territory, you may be able to end quarantine early if you arrange and pay for a private COVID-19 test as part of the Test to Release scheme.
Find out how the Test to Release scheme works. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-test-to-release-for-international-travel
Check the rules on testing and quarantine for amber countries if you have been fully vaccinated under the UK, EU, Swiss or USA vaccination programmes.
Returning from a red list country or territory:
Book a quarantine hotel package if you’ve been in a country or territory on the red list in the 10 days before you arrive in England.
When to book:
You can book any COVID-19 tests or quarantine packages you need for your return to England before you go abroad or while you’re abroad.
Make sure you leave enough time for any testing kits to be delivered to your address in England.
Countries and territories can move between lists at any time if the COVID-19 situation changes. Sign up for an email alert to let you know if this happens.
Check foreign travel advice while you’re away.
You may want to check foreign travel advice to find out any local restrictions you need to follow.
You can sign up for email alerts to tell you if travel advice changes while you’re away.
Before you return
Follow these steps:
- Take a COVID-19 test. Normally this will be in the country you’re in. (To board your transport to England, you need proof of a negative result from a test taken in the 3 days before the service departs.)
- Complete a passenger locator form. (You can do this any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England.)
- Find out the COVID-19 test you must get and how to show proof of a negative result.
You will need to find a test provider in the country you’re in.
After you return
The rules for testing and quarantine when you arrive back in England depend on which countries or territories you have been in or travelled through in the 10 days before you arrive.
Check the red, amber, and green list and the rules for the countries or territories you’ve been in.
Travelling with children
There are different age limits for children for the different COVID-19 travel tests:
- test to enter another country – check foreign travel advice for the country
- test before travel back to England – children aged 10 and under do not need to take a test
- day 2 and day 8 tests after arrival in England – children aged 4 and under do not need to take a test
- Test to Release test – children of all ages must take the test if adults in household are taking part in the scheme
Read more about testing and quarantine for children at the UK Government website listed above.
Ireland, the UK, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man:
If you’re travelling to England from within the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man, you do not need to:
- complete a passenger locator form
- take any COVID-19 tests
- quarantine on arrival in England
- You must not have been outside of the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man in the 10 days before you arrive in England.
Check the rules on travel from England if you are: travelling to Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of man, Jersey, or Guernsey (The Common Travel Area) by looking at each of their government’s own regulations. Links to which are on the UK Government website at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-amber-and-green-list-rules-for-entering-england?mc_cid=8b7f14b763&mc_eid=5f54a6c128.
You may be exempt from some or all of the travel and entry rules because of your job – check a list of jobs that qualify for travel exemptions, for medical or compassionate reasons. These are all listed on the UK Government website, link as above.
Tom Togher
August 5, 2021.