Note: Last update of this article occurred on December 31st.
1. Can I travel to the UK?
After 1 January 2021, EU citizens can continue to travel to the United Kingdom for vacation or short stays of maximum 6 months without having to apply for a visa. The British Home Office made an announcement about that. Please note that this does not, in principle, apply to visits for work or study in the United Kingdom, for which a visa will be required. The British Home Office also made an announcement.
EU citizens can still travel to the UK with either a valid identity card or a valid passport. From 1 October 2021, the British government will only accept a valid passport for short stays in the UK.
The European Health Insurance Card will no longer be valid for travel after 31/12/2020. Therefore, we advise you to contact your health insurance fund first. Emergency hospitalization in the UK can, under certain conditions, be taken care of by your health insurance fund. Nonetheless, we also recommend you to take out private travel insurance.
Individuals already legally residing in the United Kingdom before the end of the transition period will be able to travel in and out of the country when in possession of a valid identity card or passport. For non-EU family members, a valid passport is required. See question 1 and question 2. With a โpre-settled statusโ or โsettled statusโ you will have the right to enter and leave the United Kingdom provided you are in possession of a valid identity card or passport until 31 December 2025.
2. UK Tier system
The UK Government set out a local restriction tier system that came into place from Wednesday 2 December, including what you can and cannot do in each tier. Please check here to see what the regulations in each tier are and which tier is in place where you are travelling.
Quarantine: UK’s borders are open but quarantine measures have been put in place based on the country from which travellers arrive (see traveller corridor exempt list).
You will need to self-isolate if you visited or made a transit stop in a country or territory that is not on the travel corridor exempt list in the 10 days before you arrive (this applies to arrivals, by train, ferry, coach, air or any other route.)
3. Quarantine and the Test to Release for International Travel scheme for England
The Test to Release for International Travel scheme is for people who need to self-isolate on arrival in England. Under the scheme you can choose to pay for a private COVID-19 test. If the result is negative, you can stop self-isolating. The earliest you can take the test is 5 full days after you left a place not on the travel corridor list. The scheme is voluntary and applies to those self-isolating in England only.
If you do not want to opt into the Test to Release scheme, you will need to self-isolate until 10 full days have passed since were last in a place not on the travel corridors list.
4. Quarantine: Countries exempt
You DO NOT have to self-isolate when you arrive in the UK, if you are travelling from one of the countries or territories listed below because these countries and territories are either:
- covered by the travel corridor exemption
- within the common travel area – Ireland, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man
- British overseas territories
Travel corridor exempt list
- ๐ฆ๐ฎ Anguilla
- ๐ฆ๐ฌ Antigua and Barbuda
- ๐ฆ๐ผ Aruba
- ๐ฆ๐บ Australia
- ๐ต๐น The Azores
- ๐ง๐ญ Bahrain
- ๐ง๐ง Barbados
- ๐ง๐ฒ Bermuda
- ๐ง๐นBhutan
- Bonaire/St Eustatius/Saba
- ๐ง๐ผ Botswana (arrivals before 4am 12 December need to self-isolate)
- ๐ฆ๐ถ British Antarctic Territory
- ๐ฎ๐ด British Indian Ocean Territory
- ๐ป๐ฌ British Virgin Islands
- ๐ง๐ณ Brunei
- ๐ฐ๐ญ Cambodia
- ๐ฐ๐พ Cayman Islands
- ๐ฏ๐ช ๐ฌ๐ฌ the Channel Islands
- ๐จ๐ฑ Chile
- ๐จ๐บ Cuba
- ๐ฉ๐ฒ Dominica
- ๐ซ๐ฐ Falkland Islands
- ๐ซ๐ด Faroe Islands
- ๐ซ๐ฒFederated States of Micronesia
- ๐ซ๐ฏ Fiji
- ๐ซ๐ฎ Finland
- ๐ฌ๐ฎ Gibraltar
- ๐ฌ๐ท Greek islands: Corfu, Crete, Kos, Rhodes, Zakynthos
- ๐ฌ๐ฑ Greenland
- ๐ฌ๐ฉ Grenada
- ๐ญ๐ฐ Hong Kong
- ๐ฎ๐ธ Iceland
- ๐ฎ๐ช Ireland
- ๐ฎ๐ฒ the Isle of Man
- ๐ฎ๐ฑIsrael and Jerusalem
- ๐ฏ๐ต Japan
- ๐ฐ๐ฎKiribati
- ๐ฑ๐ฆ Laos
- ๐ฒ๐ด Macao (Macau)
- ๐ต๐น Madeira (Portugal)
- ๐ฒ๐พ Malaysia
- ๐ฒ๐ป Maldives
- ๐ฒ๐บ Mauritius
- ๐ฒ๐ธ Montserrat
- ๐ณ๐จ New Caledonia
- ๐ณ๐ฟ New Zealand
- ๐ฒ๐ตNorthern Mariana Islands
- ๐ณ๐ด Norway
- ๐ต๐ณ Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands
- ๐ถ๐ฆ Qatar
- ๐ท๐ผRwanda
- ๐ผ๐ธSamoa
- ๐ธ๐ฆSaudi Arabia (arrivals before 4am 12 December need to self-isolate)
- ๐ธ๐จ Seychelles
- ๐ธ๐ฌ Singapore
- ๐ธ๐งSolomon Islands
- ๐ฐ๐ท South Korea
- ๐ฌ๐ธ South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
- ๐ฑ๐ฐSri Lanka
- ๐ง๐ฑ St Barthรฉlemy
- ๐ฌ๐ง St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
- ๐ฐ๐ณ St Kitts and Nevis
- ๐ฑ๐จ St Lucia
- ๐ต๐ฒ St Pierre and Miquelon
- ๐ป๐จ St Vincent and the Grenadines
- ๐น๐ผ Taiwan
- ๐น๐ญ Thailand
- ๐น๐จ Turks and Caicos Islands
- ๐ฆ๐ช United Arab Emirates
- ๐ป๐บVanuatu
- ๐ป๐ณ Vietnam
5. Territories removed from the travel corridor list
Namibia, Uruguay and US Virgin Islands were removed from the exempt list at 4am Saturday 19 December. If you arrive in England from Namibia, Uruguay or US Virgin Islands after 4am Saturday 19 December, you will need to self-isolate. If you arrived in England from Namibia, Uruguay or US Virgin Islands before 4am Saturday 19 December, you may not need to self-isolate. Read the rules about when you need to self-isolate and for how long.
The Canary Islands were removed from the exempt list at 4am Saturday 12 December. If you arrive in England from the Canary Islands after 4am Saturday 12 December, you will need to self-isolate. If you arrived in England from the Canary Islands before 4am Saturday 12 December, you may not need to self-isolate. Read the rules about when you need to self-isolate and for how long.
6. Territories added to the travel corridor list
Botswana and Saudi Arabia were added to the exempt list at 4am Saturday 12 December. If you arrive in England from Botswana or Saudi Arabia after 4am Saturday 12 December, you may not need to self-isolate. Read the rules about when you need to self-isolate and for how long. If you arrived in England from Botswana or Saudi Arabia before 4am Saturday 12 December, you will need to self-isolate.
The list may change over time. The most recent version can be found here
7. Passenger locator form
You should complete the form before you enter the UK.
You must show proof of a completed passenger locator form at the UK border. This applies to people entering the UK from all countries, territories and regions. It applies to UK residents and visitors. You can complete it any time in the 48 hour period before you are due to arrive in the UK.
Make sure you leave yourself enough time to complete it. If you do not complete the form before you arrive in the UK, it might take you longer to enter the UK. The form is an online form. You will need an internet connection and details of your journey to complete it. Failure to complete the form is a criminal offence.
People on domestic flights and people arriving from Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands donโt have to complete the form. There are also a small number of people who donโt have to complete the form because of the jobs they do.
8. Transit stops
A transit stop is a stop where passengers can get on or off. It can apply to coaches, ferries, trains or flights. Your ticket should show if a stop is a transit stop.
If your journey involves a transit stop in a country not on the list, you will need to self-isolate when you arrive in England if:
- new passengers get on
- you or other passengers get off the transport you are on and mix with other people, then get on again
You donโt need to self-isolate beyond normal timescales if, during your transit stop in a non-exempt country:
- no new passengers get on
- no-one on-board gets off and mixes with people outside
- passengers get off but do not get back on
9. Private vehicles
You donโt need to self-isolate if you travel through a non-exempt country and you donโt stop in the country.
If you do make a stop, you donโt need to self-isolate if:
- no new people get into the vehicle
- no-one in the vehicle gets out, mixes with other people, and gets in again
You do need to self-isolate if you make a stop and:
- new people get into the vehicle, or
- someone gets out of the vehicle, mixes with other people and gets in again