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Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced a significant easing of the rules for travellers arriving in England from Amber countries, who have been fully vaccinated in Europe or the USA:

We’re helping reunite people living in the US and European countries with their family and friends in the UK 👪

From 2nd August at 4am people from these countries will be able to come to the England from an amber country without having to quarantine if they’re fully vaxxed 💉

— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) July 28, 2021

The full details are as follows:

“The UK government has today (28 July 2021) announced that passengers arriving from amber countries who have been fully vaccinated in Europe (EU Member States, European Free Trade Association countries and the European microstate countries of Andorra, Monaco and Vatican City) and the USA will not have to quarantine when entering England, as part of a range of new measures designed to continue to drive forward the reopening of international travel, set out as part of the second Global Travel Taskforce checkpoint review.

From 4am 2 August 2021, passengers who are fully vaccinated in the EU with vaccines authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or in the USA with vaccines authorised by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or in the Swiss vaccination programme, will be able to travel to England without having to quarantine or take a day 8 test on arrival.

Amber arrivals who have been fully vaccinated in the USA and European countries will still be required to complete a pre-departure test before arrival into England, alongside a PCR test on or before day 2 after arrival.Separate rules will continue to apply for those arriving from France. Those vaccinated in the US will also need to provide proof of US residency. Passengers from all countries cannot travel to the UK unless they have completed a passenger locator form.”

Despite the above being quite clear, there does seem to be continued additional restrictions applied to travellers coming from France. At time of publication, the official Government regulation is,

“If you have been in France in the 10 days before you arrive in England, you must follow the standard amber list rules, even if you have been fully UK vaccinated. You must quarantine for 10 days and take both the day 2 and day 8 tests.”

Bottom line

This change will obviously be very welcome for many travellers and for the travel industry. However, there is still no news on when reciprocal arrangements will be offered by the USA and the relevant European countries.

It is also important to note that the new rules apply to people travelling to England – the other nations of the UK will be making their own announcements in due course.