Travelling to and from UK during COVID-19 Pandemic

If you’re coming to England from an amber list country and have been fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the bodies listed in this guide you:

• must take a COVID-19 pre-departure test

• must take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after you arrive in England – arrival day is day 0

• do not have to quarantine

1 - Approved vaccines

You must have been fully vaccinated under one of the following programmes:

UK vaccination programme, approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

UK vaccine programme overseas, approved by the MHRA

an approved vaccination programme in Europe or the USA – not all are recognised in England

2 - Recognised vaccines for Europe

You must have been fully vaccinated in:

an EU country

Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the Vatican City

If you were vaccinated in a different European country it will not be recognised in England.

The vaccine must have been authorised by:

the European Medicines Agency (EMA)

Swissmedic for Switzerland

3 - Recognised vaccines for the USA

Residents in the USA must have been fully vaccinated with a vaccine authorised by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

If you’re coming to England from an amber list country and are not fully vaccinated with an authorised vaccine you must:

• quarantine on arrival at home or in the place you’re staying

• take a day 2 test after you arrive in England – on or before day 2

• take a day 8 test after you arrive in England – on or after day 8

The day you arrive is day 0.

If your day 2 test is positive you do not have to take the day 8 test.

You do not need to take a COVID-19 test or quarantine on arrival in England if you are travelling within the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, (the Common Travel Area), and you have not been outside of the Common Travel Area in the previous 10 days.

If you develop coronavirus symptoms when you're travelling to England, you should tell one of the crew on your plane, boat, train or bus. They'll let staff in the airport, port or station know, so they can tell you what you should do next when you arrive.

If you’re coming to England from an amber list country and have been fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the bodies listed in this guide you:

• must take a COVID-19 pre-departure test

• must take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after you arrive in England – arrival day is day 0

• do not have to quarantine

You can enter England from other parts of the UK, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. This is known as the Common Travel Area. However, there may be restrictions in place in the area you intend to travel from which prevent you from travelling. For example, if you are in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, there may be restrictions on movement which means you cannot travel to England.

You should check the restrictions in place where you intend to travel from before making arrangements to travel. If you do travel to England, you must follow the restrictions on what you can and cannot do until you arrive in England.

You’ll need to show your travel operator and border control proof you’ve been fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine.

You’ll also need to confirm that you’ve been fully vaccinated and can show suitable proof on your passenger locator form.

If you cannot (or prefer not to) show proof that you’ve been fully vaccinated you must follow the rules for those who are not fully vaccinated.

There are no restrictions on travel within England.

You should check the rules at your destination if you're planning to travel to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, or to Ireland or the Channel Islands as there may be restrictions in place.

All UK residents who have taken part or are taking part in clinical trials and have travelled to amber listed countries will not need to quarantine when returning to the UK.

You will need to show that your travel is part of your job, for example a letter from your employer, a consignment note or your operator's licence.

If you’re travelling to or from the Netherlands by air you must complete a health screening form and have it ready to show on request during your journey, whether you are at the departure airport, on the aircraft or at the arrival airport. This form is not required if travelling to the Netherlands by road or ferry.

You may be refused permission to travel based on your declaration.

On arrival in the Netherlands your declaration will be checked by public health and security authorities.

If you have not been fully vaccinated, you should continue to follow the entry requirements of the country you are travelling to, such as proof of a negative COVID-19 test on arrival. You should carefully research the requirements of your destination country before travelling.

You can show the vaccination records contained within your NHS COVID Pass as proof of your COVID-19 status when travelling abroad.

In addition to your NHS COVID Pass, you will need to follow additional rules when travelling abroad.