Can I go to France from UK without Covid test if I am EU citizen?
No one in the UK can currently enter France without proof of a negative Covid-19 test. We explain.
People in countries on France's amber list will have to present proof of a negative Covid-19 test in order to enter France, whether they are vaccinated or notViacheslav Lopatin / Shutterstock
Reader question: Last week in the Daily Mail a statement said citizens of an EU country, residing in the UK, could enter France without a PCR test. I have been trying to verify this but without success. I am an Irish passport holder living in London.
This is not correct.
France has listed the UK as an amber country in its new traffic-light travel system. This means that people there who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can enter France without an essential reason but they still need to present proof of a negative Covid-19 test.
This can be a rapid antigen test taken within 48 hours of departure or a PCR test taken within 72 hours of departure.
People in the UK who are not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 can only visit France if they have an essential reason.
One of the essential reasons is the following:
“You are a European Union (or EEA/Swiss) national and you have your main residence in France; or you are transiting through France to your main residence in another EU (or EEA or Switzerland) country; or you are transiting through France to the country of which you are a national. Your partner and children are included.”
So, an EU national in the UK who is not fully vaccinated against Covid-19 would be allowed to enter France if they are passing through the country to reach their home country, for example, but they would still be required to present proof of a negative Covid-19 test.
An Irish person is unlikely to be able to convince border agents that they are passing through France from the UK in order to reach Ireland - and even if they did it would only be an in-transit visit.
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So, in this case our reader would need to be fully vaccinated in order to enter France, and in that case still present proof of a negative Covid-19 test.
People who are fully vaccinated and living in green-listed countries, such as all EU countries, Australia, New Zealand and Japan, can enter France without the need for a Covid-19 test.
