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TRAVEL: Italy added to UK’s Covid-19 quarantine list as new cases rise

Travellers to the UK from Italy will have to quarantine from Sunday under new rules.

Published: 15 October 2020 18:10 CEST

TRAVEL: Italy added to UK's Covid-19 quarantine list as new cases rise

Travellers at Rome's Fiumicino airport. File photo: AFP

Passengers arriving in Britain from Italy will have to self-isolate for 14 days from this weekend, the UK government said on Thursday as it updated its coronavirus travel list.

The quarantine requirement for travellers from Italy, San Marino and the Vatican State applies across the UK from 4:00 am (0300 GMT) on Sunday,

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said.

TRAVEL CORRIDOR UPDATE: We are REMOVING ITALY, Vatican City state & San Marino from the #TravelCorridor list.

However, note that the implementation date is moved to 4am on SUNDAY 18 October & applies UK wide, if you arrive from these destinations you will need to self-isolate.

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) October 15, 2020

But those coming to England from the Greek island of Crete will no longer have to self-isolate, according to the new list.

Italy joined other major tourist destinations on the list, including France and Spain, as a second wave of coronavirus sweeps Europe and triggers stricter

halth measures.

“Data has indicated the weekly cases and test positivity are increasing in Italy and so ministers have taken the decision to remove the destinations

(from the safe list),” the transport ministry said in a statement.

On October 7th, Italy made it mandatory for all arrivals from the UK to undergo testing for Covid-19 due to the UK's current infection rate.

Italy on Thursday reported a new record high daily number of new coronavirus cases, with 8,804 recorded within 24 hours.

The number of deaths doubled, from 42 on Wednesday to 84 on Thursday.

The number of coronavirus patients in intensive care in Italy rose by 47 to a total of 586.

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Are Italy's British residents still getting their passports stamped?

In the months after the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement was finalised, many UK citizens in Italy with permanent Italian residency reported having their passports wrongly stamped on leaving and entering Italy.

Italy is one of a handful of “declaratory” countries in the EU where getting a post-Brexit residency card was optional, rather than compulsory, though UK authorities advised obtaining the card as “evidence of your rights”.

The lack of clarity caused widespread confusion, with many Italian officials wrongly insisting that the carta di soggiorno elettronica was the only valid proof of pre-Brexit Italian residency.

The issue has been largely resolved for British citizens who finally gave in and applied for the document, with most cardholders saying they no longer have issues with their passports being stamped at the country’s major airports.

However, some UK nationals say they’re still wrongly having their passports stamped at smaller airports in Italy, especially when travelling alongside large groups of Brits who aren’t resident in Italy.

And others report routinely having their passport stamped when entering the Schengen zone via a different EU member state to that of Italy – for example, when travelling by car from the UK via France.

READ ALSO: What’s the deal with passport stamping in Italy?

UK national David Prince commented in response to a recent article on passport stamping that a border official had stamped his passport on arriving in Calais, despite his presenting an Italian residency permit.

“When I asked why he simply said “Article 50,” Prince said, “which I knew was rubbish but I couldn’t be bothered to argue.”

According to European Commission rules in place since 2022, Schengen border agents have been told that they shouldn’t stamp the passports of anyone with a valid EU residence permit – but there’s no EU law stopping them from doing so.

Even if your passport is stamped, it doesn’t carry any official weight.

“The Commission recommends – notably as regards beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement – that Member State border guards refrain from stamping,” the rules say.

“In any case, should stamping nevertheless take place, such stamp cannot affect the length of the authorised long-term stay.”

READ ALSO: Can I use my Italian carta d’identità for travel?

If you arrive at any Schengen border, it’s advisable to hand over your passport already opened to the photo page, with your residency card on top, and say that you’re resident in Italy.

If you’re at an Italian border checkpoint, you might want to say ‘sono residente in Italia’ – I’m an Italian resident – and be prepared to answer questions about your reasons for being in Italy.

One additional source of confusion for some residents has been the difference between a carta d’identità and a carta di soggiorno.

The carta di soggiorno elettronica is the post-Brexit residency card which proves your status as a legal resident in Italy, wheres a carta d’identità is simply your Italian ID card.

The ID card is valid for ten years, but that doesn’t automatically give you the right to stay in Italy for all that time. Some non-EU citizens on certain visas might have a ten-year ID card, but a one-year Italian residency permit.

For that reason, your Italian ID card isn’t considered proof of your right to be in the country; as a British citizen resident in Italy and covered under the Withdrawal Agreement, you’ll need to show your carta di soggiorno elettronica to a border agent to stand the best chance of avoiding having your passport stamped.

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