Travel to England from another country during coronavirus (COVID-19)
Check what COVID-19 tests you need to take and the quarantine rules for travel to England.
Applies to England
Red list update, Friday 26 November 2021
South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe will move onto the red list at 12.00 midday Friday 26 November. A temporary flight ban will be in place and all travellers who have been in these countries must quarantine and take tests.
This page tells you what you must do before you travel to England and after you arrive.
What you must do depends on whether you qualify as fully vaccinated under the rules for travel to England.
There are different rules if you have been in a red list country or territory in the 10 days before you arrive in England. Red list rules apply whether you are fully vaccinated or not.
If you are fully vaccinated
This is what you need to do if you qualify under the fully vaccinated rules for travel to England.
Before you travel to England – fully vaccinated
Before you travel to England you must:
- book and pay for a COVID-19 test – to be taken before the end of day 2 in England
- complete a passenger locator form – to be completed in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
You can choose a lateral flow test or a PCR test. You cannot use an NHS test for this. You must use a private test provider.
You will need to enter your COVID-19 test booking reference number on your passenger locator form.
If you will be in England for less than 2 days you still need to book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test.
When you arrive in England – fully vaccinated
After you arrive in England you must take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2. The day you arrive is day 0.
This is the lateral flow or PCR test that you booked before travel.
If the test result is negative, you do not need to self-isolate.
Lateral flow test – positive result
If you booked a lateral flow test and the result is positive, you must take a free PCR test to confirm the result. You must self-isolate until you get the result.
If the PCR test result is positive, or inconclusive, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day you took the lateral flow test is day 0.
Lateral flow test – result unclear
If you booked a lateral flow test and the result is unclear, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day you took the test is day 0.
You can choose to take another private test. If the result is negative, you can stop self-isolating.
PCR test – positive result
If you booked a PCR test and the result is positive, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day of the test is day 0.
PCR test – result unclear
If you booked a PCR test and the result is unclear, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day you took the test is day 0.
You can choose to take another private test. If the result is negative, you can stop self-isolating.
Check if you qualify as fully vaccinated
To qualify under the fully vaccinated rules for travel to England, you must have proof of full vaccination with a full course of an approved vaccine.
You must have had your final dose of the vaccine at least 14 days before you arrive in England. The day you had your final dose does not count as one of the 14 days.
The proof of vaccination must have been issued by either:
- the UK vaccination programme
- the United Nations vaccine programme for staff and volunteers
- an overseas vaccination programme with an approved proof of vaccination for travel to the UK
Other groups that can follow fully vaccinated rules
Even if you are not fully vaccinated, the fully vaccinated rules apply if you are:
- under 18
and-residentseeinTravellingthewithUKchildrenorinathiscountryorterritorywhichhasapprovedproofofvaccinationguidance - taking part in an approved COVID-19 vaccine trial in the UK or the USA (US residents only for USA trials), or a phase 2 or 3 vaccine trial that is regulated by the EMA or SRA
- unable to have a COVID-19 vaccination for a medical reason which has been approved by a clinician under the medical exemptions process, and you are resident in England
Proving your vaccination status
If you are fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme, you can prove your vaccination status using either:
- NHS COVID Pass for England and Wales
- NHS Scotland COVID Status app
- COVIDCert NI in Northern Ireland
Paper certificates are also available.
There are different ways to prove your vaccination status if you were vaccinated outside of the UK.
Check what proof is required for the country or territory where you were vaccinated.
If you cannot prove that you qualify under the fully vaccinated rules, you must follow the rules for people who are not fully vaccinated.
Red list countries
There are different rules if you have been in a red list country in the 10 days before you arrive in England.
Check which countries and territories are on the red list and read the red list rules.
If you are not fully vaccinated
This is what you need to do if you do not qualify under the fully vaccinated rules for travel to England.
Check this section of this guidance to see if you qualify as fully vaccinated.
Before you travel to England – not fully vaccinated
Before you travel to England you must:
- take a COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 3 days before you travel to England
- book and pay for day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 PCR tests – to be taken after arrival in England
- complete a passenger locator form – to be completed in the 48 hours before you arrive in England
Read more about taking a COVID-19 test before you travel to England.
When you arrive in England – not fully vaccinated
After you arrive in England you must:
- quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 full days
- take your COVID-19 PCR tests – you must book these tests before you travel
You must take the first test on or before day 2 and the second test on or after day 8. The day you arrive is day 0.
If you are in England for less than 10 days, you need to quarantine for the time you are here. You need to book day 2 and day 8 PCR tests. You only need to take the tests if you are still in England on those days.
If the test result is positive
If your day 2 test is positive, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day you took the test is day 0.
You do not need to take the day 8 test if your day 2 test is positive. If your day 2 test is negative, you must take your day 8 test.
If your day 8 test is positive, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day you took the day 8 test is day 0.
If the test result is negative
If your day 2 test is negative, you must continue to quarantine.
You must take your day 8 test on or after day 8.
If your day 8 test is negative, you can stop quarantine on whichever is later:
- day 10 – day 0 is the day you arrived in England
- when you receive the day 8 test result
Example
If you receive your day 8 negative test result back on day 9, you must continue to quarantine until the end of day 10.
If you receive your day 8 negative test result back on day 12, you must quarantine until the end of day 12.
If the test result is unclear
If the result of your day 2 test is unclear, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day you took the test is day 0.
If the result of your day 8 test is negative, you can stop self-isolating on whichever is later:
- day 10 - day 0 is the day you arrived in England
- the day you received the negative day 8 test result
If your day 8 test is unclear, you must self-isolate for 10 full days. The day you took the day 8 test is day 0.
You can choose to take another private test. If that test result is a negative result, you can stop self-isolating on whichever is later:
- day 10 - day 0 is the day you arrive in England
- the day you received the negative replacement test result from the additional test
Test to Release scheme
If you need to quarantine, you may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release scheme.
Red list countries
There are different rules if you have been in a red list country in the 10 days before you arrive in England.
Check which countries and territories are on the red list and read the red list rules.
Travelling with children
Children aged 17 and under do not have to quarantine on arrival in England. This applies whether they are vaccinated or not.
Children aged 4 and under do not have to take any COVID-19 travel tests.
5 to 17 year olds:
- do not have to take a COVID-19 test before travel to England
- must take a test on arrival in England - before the end of day 2 at the latest (arrival day is day 0)
You should also check the rules in the country you are travelling from as they may require children to take a test at the start of your journey to England.
There are different rules for children who have been in a red list country or territory in the 10 days before they arrive in England.
Medical and work-related exemptions
Some people cannot be fully vaccinated for medical reasons.
Read more about medical exemptions from vaccination.
There are also medical exemptions from:
Some people are exempt from some or all of the requirements because of the job they do.
Transiting through England
Read separate guidance if you are transiting through England as part of an international journey.
Ireland, the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man
If you’re travelling to England from within the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, you do not need to:
- complete a passenger locator form
- take any COVID-19 tests
- quarantine on arrival in England
This only applies if you have not been outside of the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man in the 10 days before the day you arrive in England. If you have, you must follow the international travel rules in the place where you arrive.
Red list countries and territories
There are different rules if you have been in a red list country or territory in the 10 days before you arrive in England. If you need to follow red list rules, you must do so if you are fully vaccinated or not.
Check which countries and territories are on the red list and read the red list rules.
Travel abroad from England
Read guidance about what you need to do to travel abroad from England.
Last updated
-
Travel to England rules for children no longer depend on their place of residence.
-
From 4am 22 November 2021, all children aged 17 and under will not have to quarantine on arrival in England.
Update history
2023-04-05 00:15
You do not need to take any COVID-19 tests to travel to England from mainland China.
2023-03-17 14:00
Updated rules for people travelling from mainland China announced.
2023-01-05 11:13
New rules for travel from China come into force today.
2023-01-03 22:06
More information about COVID-19 testing requirements for travel from mainland China to England.
2022-12-30 22:04
From 5 January, people flying from mainland China to England will be asked to take a COVID-19 pre-departure test.
2022-03-18 04:00
When you arrive in England from abroad you do not need to take any COVID-19 tests or fill in a UK passenger locator form.
2022-03-14 18:19
If you will arrive in England after 4am, Friday 18 March, you do not need to take any COVID-19 tests or fill in a UK passenger locator form.
2022-03-05 19:41
If you began your journey in Russia, you do not need to complete a passenger locator form, or take a COVID-19 test before travel to England or on arrival.
2022-03-02 18:07
If you began your journey in Ukraine, you do not need to complete a passenger locator form, or take a COVID-19 test before travel to England or on arrival.
2022-02-28 09:00
From 9am Monday 28 February, you can fill in the UK passenger locator form up to 3 days before you arrive in England.
2022-02-24 00:15
From 24 February, there is no legal requirement to self-isolate if you get a positive day 2 test result.
2022-02-11 04:00
You do not need to take any COVID-19 travel tests or self-isolate on arrival in England if you qualify as fully vaccinated.
2022-01-24 18:04
2022-01-09 04:00
You can now choose a lateral flow test or a PCR test as your post arrival test.
2022-01-07 04:00
From 4am 7 January you do not have to quarantine on arrival in England if you qualify as fully vaccinated for travel to England.
2022-01-05 17:49
Changes to rules for fully vaccinated people travelling to England from 4am 7 January 2022.
2021-12-24 14:00
People who qualify as fully vaccinated for travel to England can now end self-isolation after 7 days with 2 negative lateral flow tests.
2021-12-20 15:09
Further information about quarantine rules for children aged 4 and under.
2021-12-07 04:00
People aged 12 years and over must COVID-19 test before they travel to England from abroad.
2021-12-04 20:24
From 4am, Tuesday 7 December all people aged 12 years and over must also take a PCR or LFD COVID-19 test before they travel to England from abroad.
2021-11-30 04:00
People who qualify as fully vaccinated must quarantine and take a PCR test before the end of day 2 after they arrive in England. Lateral flow tests will not be accepted.
2021-11-28 16:51
From 4am 30 November 2021, fully vaccinated people must self-isolate and take a PCR test before the end of day 2 after they arrive in England. They may leave self-isolation if their PCR result is negative. Lateral flow tests will not be accepted.
2021-11-25 23:02
South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe will move onto the red list at 12.00 midday Friday 26 November. A temporary flight ban will be in place and all travellers who have been in these countries must quarantine and take tests.
2021-11-22 04:00
Travel to England rules for children no longer depend on their place of residence.
2021-11-18 17:03
Clarification about unclear or inconclusive test results.
2021-11-08 17:02
From 4am 22 November 2021, all children aged 17 and under will not have to quarantine on arrival in England.
2021-10-22 04:00
People who qualify as fully vaccinated for travel to England can book a lateral flow test for use from 24 October instead of a PCR test.
2021-10-15 15:49
From 22 October, if you qualify as fully vaccinated for travel to England, you will be able to book an antigen lateral flow device (LFD) test instead of a PCR for your 'on arrival' test.
2021-10-04 04:00
Rule changes for international travel to England for people who qualify as fully vaccinated.