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AMERICANS IN FRANCE

Covid-19: Everything you need to know about travel between France and the USA

The majority of Covid-related restrictions between France and the USA have now been lifted, so if you have a trip planned, here's what you need to know.

Published: 8 November 2021 09:52 CET
Updated: 10 June 2022 16:48 CEST
Covid-19: Everything you need to know about travel between France and the USA
The US has reopened its borders to vaccinated travellers. Photo: Kenzo Tribaullard/AFP

America has reopened travel from Europe for all purposes, including tourism, and the USA is on France’s ‘green list’ for travel – meaning that tourism between the two countries is now once again a viable option.

From France to the US

Non-US citizens are able to travel from France for any reason – including holidays –  but only if they are fully vaccinated.

A negative test had been required for all arrivals – vaccinated or not – but this rule will be lifted from Sunday, June 12th.

The US counts as vaccinated those who are:

  • Vaccinated with a WHO approved vaccine (Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson or AstraZeneca)
  • 14 days after the final dose
  • The US does not give mixed dose vaccines (eg one AstraZeneca and one Pfizer) but it will accept this combination as fully vaccinated.
  • However it will not accept a single vaccine dose after catching Covid

US citizens, permanent residents and those travelling to the US on an immigrant visa are not required to show proof of vaccination.

Find the full details here.

From the US to France

The US is now on France’s ‘green list’ for travel, which has the lightest level of restrictions.

If you are fully vaccinated – you need only to provide proof of vaccination, a negative Covid test is not needed. The health declaration is also no longer needed. CDC vaccine certificates are accepted at the border as proof of vaccination.

France counts as fully vaccinated those who:

  • Are vaccinated with a WHO-approved vaccine (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson)
  • Are 7 days after their final dose, or 28 days in the case of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccines
  • OR Have had a single vaccine dose after previously recovering from Covid. Travellers must be 7 days after their dose
  • Have had a booster shot if more than 9 months has passed since the final dose of your vaccine. If you have had a booster shot there is no need for a second one, even if more than 9 months has passed since your booster
  • Mixed dose vaccines are accepted 

If you are not vaccinated – you need to show a negative Covid test on boarding, taken within 72 hours if a PCR test or 48 hours if an antigen test. Travellers must also fill in a declaration stating that they do not have Covid symptoms and have not been in contact with Covid patients – find the form here.

Once in France there is no need to quarantine. 

In France

France has lifted many of its health rules, but masks are still required when entering any healthcare facility.

Masks are no longer required on public transport or in shops or bars, although private businesses have the right to require customers to wear one as a condition of entry.

There are no exemptions to the mask rule and failure to comply can lead to a €135 fine.

The vaccine pass is no longer required, unless you are visiting an establishment with high-risk residents such as a nursing home.

Member comments

  2. going to USA via UK. Leave France on Monday by car and fly from Heathrow Wednesday. Looks like i need a day 2 test and an antigen test at least 3 days before flight. Can i get antigen test in France on monday or do i need to pay for one in uk. Don’t understand why can’t just book 1 test for arrival and departure

  3. larry maloney
    CORRECTION/Amplification … If you enter the USA via the boarder between Mexico and USA there are NO requirements of any kind.

  4. “If you are fully vaccinated the test must be taken within 72 hours of travel, non-vaccinated people must have a test taken within 24 hours of travel.”

    This is incorrect – every traveler to the US 2+ years of age needs a negative test taken one day prior to boarding, regardless of vaccination status.

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For members

TRAVEL NEWS

Reader question: How do the EU’s new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

As European travellers prepare for the introduction of enhanced passport checks known as the Entry & Exit System (EES), many readers have asked us what this means for the '90-day rule' for non-EU citizens.

Published: 1 May 2024 07:18 CEST
Reader question: How do the EU's new EES passport checks affect the 90-day rule?

From the start date to the situation for dual nationals and non-EU residents living in the EU, it’s fair to say that readers of The Local have a lot of questions about the EU’s new biometric passport check system known as EES.

You can find our full Q&A on how the new system will work HERE, or leave us your questions HERE.

And one of the most commonly-asked questions was what the new system changes with regards to the 90-day rule – the rule that allows citizens of certain non-EU countries (including the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to spend up to 90 days in every 180 in the EU without needing a visa.

And the short answer is – nothing. The key thing to remember about EES is that it doesn’t actually change any rules on immigration, visas etc.

Therefore the 90-day rule continues as it is – but what EES does change is the enforcement of the rule.

90 days 

The 90-day rule applies to citizens of a select group of non-EU countries;

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, El Salvador, Georgia, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Kosovo, Macau, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Taiwan, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Vatican City and Venezuela.

Citizens of these countries can spend up to 90 days in every 180 within the EU or Schengen zone without needing a visa or residency permit.

People who are citizens of neither the EU/Schengen zone nor the above listed countries need a visa even for short trips into the EU – eg an Indian or Chinese tourist coming for a two-week holiday would require a visa. 

In total, beneficiaries of the 90-day rule can spend up to six months in the EU, but not all in one go. They must limit their visits so that in any 180-day (six month) period they have spent less than 90 days (three months) in the Bloc.

READ ALSO How does the 90-day rule work?

The 90 days are calculated according to a rolling calendar so that at any point in the year you must be able to count backwards to the last 180 days, and show that you have spent less than 90 of them in the EU/Schengen zone.

You can find full details on how to count your days HERE.

If you wish to spend more than 90 days at a time you will have to leave the EU and apply for a visa for a longer stay. Applications must be done from your home country, or via the consulate of your home country if you are living abroad.

Under EES 90-day rule beneficiaries will still be able to travel visa free (although ETIAS will introduce extra changes, more on that below).

EES does not change either the rule or how the days are calculated, but what it does change is the enforcement.

Enforcement

One of the stated aims of the new system is to tighten up enforcement of ‘over-stayers’ – that is people who have either overstayed the time allowed on their visa or over-stayed their visa-free 90 day period.

At present border officials keep track of your time within the Bloc via manually stamping passports with the date of each entry and exit to the Bloc. These stamps can then be examined and the days counted up to ensure that you have not over-stayed.

The system works up to a point – stamps are frequently not checked, sometimes border guards incorrectly stamp a passport or forget to stamp it as you leave the EU, and the stamps themselves are not always easy to read.

What EES does is computerise this, so that each time your passport is scanned as you enter or leave the EU/Schengen zone, the number of days you have spent in the Bloc is automatically tallied – and over-stayers will be flagged.

For people who stick to the limits the system should – if it works correctly – actually be better, as it will replace the sometimes haphazard manual stamping system.

But it will make it virtually impossible to over-stay your 90-day limit without being detected.

The penalties for overstaying remain as they are now – a fine, a warning or a ban on re-entering the EU for a specified period. The penalties are at the discretion of each EU member state and will vary depending on your personal circumstances (eg how long you over-stayed for and whether you were working or claiming benefits during that time).

ETIAS 

It’s worth mentioning ETIAS at this point, even though it is a completely separate system to EES, because it will have a bigger impact on travel for many people.

ETIAS is a different EU rule change, due to be introduced some time after EES has gone live (probably in 2025, but the timetable for ETIAS is still somewhat unclear).

It will have a big impact on beneficiaries of the 90-day rule, effectively ending the days of paperwork-free travel for them.

Under ETIAS, beneficiaries of the 90-rule will need to apply online for a visa waiver before they travel. Technically this is a visa waiver rather than a visa, but it still spells the end of an era when 90-day beneficiaries can travel without doing any kind of immigration paperwork.

If you have travelled to the US in recent years you will find the ETIAS system very similar to the ESTA visa waiver – you apply online in advance, fill in a form and answer some questions and are sent your visa waiver within a couple of days.

ETIAS will cost €7 (with an exemption for under 18s and over 70s) and will last for three years.

Find full details HERE. 

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