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France lifts ban on travel to and from UK

France has announced the end of the strict rules that banned most types of travel to and from the UK.

Published: 13 January 2022 10:21 CET
France lifts ban on travel to and from UK
The France/UK border is reopening. Photo: Eric Piermont/AFP

France on Thursday announced the relaxation of strict travel restrictions that amounted to a ban on almost all travel between France and the UK.

Since December, people have only been able to travel to or from France to the UK if they fitted one of the very narrow criteria for motif impérieux (essential travel) – this ruled out tourism, family visits, visits from second-home owners, trips for compassionate reasons and – until last week – work travel.

However these restrictions will be lifted and fully-vaccinated travellers will no longer need to provide the essential nature of their trip. Vaccinated arrivals from the UK will no longer need to quarantine.

All travellers aged 12 and over will, however, need to show a negative Covid test taken within the previous 24 hours.

The rules will come into effect on Friday, January 14th.

Announcing the changes, prime minister Jean Castex said: “In view of the predominance of the Omicron variant in both France and the United Kingdom, the government has decided to ease the specific health border control measures that were decided in December for vaccinated travelers from the United Kingdom.

“These measures were taken at a time when the epidemic was progressing spectacularly in the United Kingdom, while France was still relatively unaffected by the Omicron wave.

“The widespread spread of the variant in both countries has led the Government to decide on the following adjustments.”

 

Following the removal of the extra restrictions, the UK will be placed on France’s ‘red list’ for travel.

This means;

Vaccinated travellers – fully vaccinated people can travel to France for any reason and do not need to provide a reason for their journey.

All passengers ager over 12 do, however, have to provide at the border a negative Covid test, taken within the previous 24 hours. This can be an antigen or PCR test, but not an NHS home test kit.

UK lateral flow tests that are self-administered at home and verified by a provider can be accepted as long as they provide a certificate for travel with all the correct information that can be verified by border police and transport companies. It’s advised that travellers check with their test provider to ensure they provide a full certificate of results.

All travellers aged 12 and over also need to fill in a declaration that they do not have Covid symptoms and have not recently been in contact with an infected person – find the form here.

Once in France, there is no need to self-isolate or take any more tests.

‘Fully vaccinated’ is defined as having two doses of AstraZeneca, Pfizer or Moderna or a single dose of Janssen. A booster shot is not necessary to be considered as fully vaccinated (although you may need one in order to use the French health pass).

Unvaccinated travellers – unvaccinated travellers can only travel if they trip fits one of the ‘essential reasons’  for travel. You can find those HERE – they do not allow for tourism, family visits or visits from second-home owners.

Those who do meet the criteria for travel must provide a negative test taken within 24 hours of departure.

In addition to the declaration form mentioned above, they must also fill out an attestation detailing their reason for travel – that can be found HERE under red list countries.

Unvaccinated people must quarantine for ten days upon arrival in France. You must declare in advance the address where you will be staying via an online portal. Police officers can come and check the quarantine address and if you break the quarantine rules, you could receive a hefty fine.  

Under 12s – the rules on vaccination and testing refer to all travellers aged 12 and over. Under 12s do not need to provide proof of vaccination, provided they are travelling with a fully vaccinated adult. They are also not required to test.

Once in France, under 12s can visit venues such as cafés and cinemas without a health pass, but all children aged 12 years and two months or older will need a pass to access health pass venues, even if they are attending with family. 

 

Member comments

    1. We returned to France (Dover-Calais) on the 5th January with LFT results from the drive-through test centre at Stansted the previous day. Our test results were accepted.

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EU

How would a ‘youth mobility scheme’ between the UK and EU really work?

The EU and the UK could enter into a 'youth mobility' scheme allowing young people to move countries to work, study and live. Here's what we know about the proposal.

Published: 18 April 2024 17:09 CEST
How would a 'youth mobility scheme' between the UK and EU really work?

Across the 27 countries of the EU, people of all ages can move countries to work, study, spend a long visit or chase the possibility of love – and all this is possible thanks to EU freedom of movement.

That freedom no longer extends to the UK. As a result of Brexit, a UK national who wants to move to an EU country, or an EU citizen who wants to move to the UK, will need a visa in order to do so.

However, a new ‘mobility scheme’ could re-create some elements of freedom of movement, if the EU and UK can come to an agreement.

The European Commission on Thursday announced proposals for a ‘youth mobility scheme’.

Who would benefit?

First things first, it’s only for the youngsters, older people will have to continue with the time-consuming and often expensive process of getting a visa for study, work or visiting.

The Commission’s proposal is for a scheme that covers people aged 18 to 30. 

Their reasoning is: “The withdrawal of the UK from the EU has resulted in decreased mobility between the EU and the UK. This situation has particularly affected the opportunities for young people to experience life on the other side of the Channel and to benefit from youth, cultural, educational, research and training exchanges.

“The proposal seeks to address in an innovative way the main barriers to mobility for young people experienced today and create a right for young people to travel from the EU to the UK and vice-versa more easily and for a longer period of time.”

How would it work?

We’re still at an early stage, but the proposal is to allow extended stays – for young people to be able to spend up to four years in the EU or UK – under a special type of visa or residency permit. It does not, therefore, replicate the paperwork-free travel of the pre-Brexit era.

The Commission states that travel should not be ‘purpose bound’ to allow young people to undertake a variety of activities while they are abroad.

Under the visa system, people must travel to a country for a specific purpose which has been arranged before they leave – ie in order to study they need a student visa which requires proof of enrolment on a course, or if they intend to work they need a working visa which often requires sponsorship from an employer.

The proposal would allow young people to spend their time in a variety of ways – perhaps some time working, a period of study and then some time travelling or just relaxing.

It would also not be subject to national or Bloc-wide quotas.

It seems that some kind of visa or residency permit would still be required – but it would be issued for up to four years and could be used for a variety of activities.

Fees for this should not be “excessive” – and the UK’s health surcharge would not apply to people travelling under this scheme.

Are there conditions?

Other than the age qualification, the proposal is that young people would have to meet other criteria, including having comprehensive health insurance, plus financial criteria to ensure that they will be able to support themselves while abroad.

The visa/residency permit could be rejected on the ground of threats to public policy, public security or public health.

Will this happen soon?

Slow down – what’s happened today is that the European Commission has made a recommendation to open negotiations.

This now needs to be discussed in the Council of Europe.

If the Council agrees then, and only then, will the EU open negotiations with the UK on the subject. The scheme could then only become a reality if the EU and UK come to an agreement on the terms of the scheme, and then refine the fine details.

Basically we’re talking years if it happens at all, and there’s plenty of steps along the way that could derail the whole process.

Don’t start packing just yet.

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