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The 21 essential reasons non-EU travellers can enter France
Visiting a sick relative in France or travelling to a second home is not on the list for Britons living in the UK

France’s Prime Minister Jean Castex announced last night (January 29) that the country’s borders are to be closed to travel from non-European Union countries from Sunday with no entry into or exit from France except for a "compelling reason".
No lockdown for France but crackdown on curfew breaches
The reasons allowed for travel from the UK and other non-EU countries are provided by France’s Ministry of Interior on its website.
These include returning home - this applies to Britons covered by the Withdrawal Agreement and others with a carte de séjour and / or long-term visas as well as French nationals and their families.
Additionally, certain transport workers including Channel Tunnel staff, students, diplomats or people transiting in France for a period of less than 24 hours.
The list does not allow for Britons living in the UK to enter France to visit a sick relative or for second-home owners to enter to maintain their property.
See a full list of reasons at the end of this article or by visiting the Ministry of Interior’s website here.
Read more about all the forms needed for travel in and out of France here
Anyone travelling to France from a non-EU country must complete a travel certificate attesting to their “essential” reason for entering the country, called an attestation de déplacement international.
There are different certificates for those travelling from the UK and those travelling from other non-EU countries.
On the Ministry of Interior’s website you will find a certificate for travel from the UK under option 3 and travel from other non-EU countries under option 4.
Certificates can be downloaded in French or in English.
Alongside the attestation de déplacement, travellers from the UK to France must now have with them:
- A sworn statement certifying the absence of Covid-19 symptoms and absence of any contact with a confirmed case of Covid-19;
- A sworn statement to take an antigenic test or possibly undergo screening upon arrival;
- A sworn statement to self-isolate for seven days, if necessary, in one of the facilities designated by the French authorities, along with a sworn statement to undergo a virology screening (PCR) test at the end of the isolation period.
- For those aged 11 years and above, a virology screening test (PCR) carried out less than 72 hours before boarding, showing no Covid-19 contamination;
Reasons people in the UK can enter France. They are:
*Updated February 4, 2021.