Changes to international travel rules

From 4am Monday 4 October 2021, the rules for international travel to England will change from the red, amber, green traffic light system to a single red list of countries and simplified travel measures for arrivals from the rest of the world. The rules for travel from countries and territories not on the red list will depend on your vaccination status.

If you arrive in England before 4 October, you must follow the current rules. This means you must book and take any COVID-19 tests you need and follow the quarantine rules that are in place at the time you arrive in England.

Travel from the rest of the world if you are fully vaccinated

From 4am Monday 4 October, you will qualify as fully vaccinated if you are vaccinated either:

• under an approved vaccination programme in the UK, Europe, USA or UK vaccine programme overseas
• with a full course of the Oxford/AstraZeneca, Pfizer BioNTech, Moderna or Janssen vaccines from a relevant public health body in Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahrain, Brunei, Canada, Dominica, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan or the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Formulations of the 4 listed vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda, qualify as approved vaccines.

You must have had a complete course of an approved vaccine at least 14 days before you arrive in England.

Where 2 doses of a vaccine are required for a full course, you will be able to:

• mix 2 different types of vaccine, for example Oxford/AstraZeneca and Moderna
• have the 2 vaccinations under 2 different approved programmes, for example Australia and Japan, UK and USA, EU and Canada

Until 4 October, mixed vaccines are only permitted if you are vaccinated under the UK, Europe, USA or UK overseas vaccination programme.

The rules for fully vaccinated people will also apply if you are either:

• under 18 and resident in the UK or one of the listed countries or territories with approved vaccination programmes
• taking part in an approved COVID-19 vaccine trial in the UK or USA – in due course, we expect to extend this to other countries

If you qualify as fully vaccinated you will have to:

• book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test – to be taken after arrival in England
• complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
• take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after you arrive in England

Under the new rules, you will not need to:

• take a pre-departure test
• take a day 8 COVID-19 test
• quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days after you arrive in England

You must be able to prove that you have been fully vaccinated (plus 14 days) with a document (digital or paper-based) from a national or state-level public health body that includes, as a minimum:

• forename and surname(s)
• date of birth
• vaccine brand and manufacturer
• date of vaccination for every dose
• country or territory of vaccination and/or certificate issuer

If your document from a public health body does not include all of these, you must follow the non-vaccinated rules. If not, you may be denied boarding.

If you are fully vaccinated in the USA, you will need to show a CDC card showing you’ve had a full course of an FDA-approved vaccine in the USA. You’ll also need to prove that you are a resident of the USA.

If you are fully vaccinated in Europe, you will need to show an EU Digital COVID Certificate (EU DCC), showing you’ve had a full course of an EMA or Swissmedic-approved vaccine.

If you are fully vaccinated, but do not qualify under these fully vaccinated rules, you must follow the non-vaccinated rules.

Travel from the rest of the world if you are not fully vaccinated

From 4am Monday 4 October, you must follow these rules if you:

• do not qualify under the fully vaccinated rules
• are partially vaccinated
• are not vaccinated

Before you travel to England you must:

• take a pre-departure COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 3 days before you travel to England
• book and pay for day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 tests – to be taken after arrival in England
• complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England

After you arrive in England you must:

• quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days
• take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8

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

Travel from red list countries

From 4am Monday 4 October, you must follow these rules if you are:

• fully vaccinated
• partially vaccinated
• not vaccinated

If you have been in a country or territory on the red list in the last 10 days, you will only be allowed to enter the UK if you are a British or Irish national or you have residence rights in the UK.

Before you travel to England, you must:

• take a pre-departure COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 3 days before you travel to England
• book a quarantine hotel package, including 2 COVID-19 tests
• complete your passenger locator form – any time in the 48 hours before you arrive in England

When you arrive in England, you must quarantine in a managed hotel, including 2 COVID-19 tests.

The red list will be reviewed every 3 weeks and whenever concerning evidence means we may need to act faster to protect public health.