WITH the England-wide lockdown ending just days ago, people across the North-East and North Yorkshire may be eager to see friends and family currently not in the country. But what are the rules for people returning to the UK?
While the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is advising against all non-essential international travel, people may be coming back into the country after a work trip, backpacking or studying abroad.
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Most people coming to the UK from most other countries must quarantine for two weeks, even if they are British nationals. This leaves just enough time to quarantine before friends and families reunite in time for Christmas.
There are some exceptions for countries with established travel corridors as well as some business travellers, who will be exempt from tomorrow, December 5.
Regardless of where a person is travelling from, they must fill in a ‘passenger locator’ form, where they must give contact details and a UK address.
This form can be filled in up to 48 hours before entering the country and it is a criminal offence not to complete it.
However, those coming from the Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man do not have to isolate or fill in the form.
People keen to end their isolation early can do so via Test to Release for International Travel scheme – if they test negative.
The scheme starts on December 15 and allows people returning to England to take a Covid test and see if they can end their self-isolation early.
A full list of travel corridors:
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Aruba (arrivals before 4am November 28 need to self-isolate)
- Australia
- the Azores
- Bahrain
- Barbados
- Bermuda
- Bhutan (arrivals before 4am November 28 need to self-isolate)
- Bonaire/St Eustatius/Saba (arrivals before 4am November 28 need to self-isolate)
- British Antarctic Territory
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- British Virgin Islands
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- the Canary Islands
- Cayman Islands
- the Channel Islands
- Chile
- Cuba
- Dominica
- Falkland Islands
- Faroe Islands
- Federated States of Micronesia (arrivals before 4am November 28 need to self-isolate)
- Fiji
- Finland
- Gibraltar
- Greek islands: Corfu, Crete, Kos, Rhodes, Zakynthos
- Greenland
- Grenada
- Hong Kong
- Iceland
- Ireland
- the Isle of Man
- Israel and Jerusalem (arrivals before 4am November 21 need to self-isolate) (read about the UK position on Jerusalem)
- Japan
- Kiribati (arrivals before 4am November 28 need to self-isolate)
- Laos
- Macao (Macau)
- Madeira
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mauritius
- Mongolia (arrivals before 4am November 28 need to self-isolate)
- Montserrat
- Namibia (arrivals before 4am November 21 need to self-isolate)
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Northern Mariana Islands (arrivals before 4am November 21 need to self-isolate)
- Norway
- Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands
- Qatar
- Rwanda (arrivals before 4am November 21 need to self-isolate)
- Samoa (arrivals before 4am November 28 need to self-isolate)
- Seychelles
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands (arrivals before 4am November 28 need to self-isolate)
- South Korea
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
- Sri Lanka (arrivals before 4am November 21 need to self-isolate)
- St Barthélemy
- St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Lucia
- St Pierre and Miquelon
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste (arrivals before 4am November 28 need to self-isolate)
- Tonga (arrivals before 4am November 28 need to self-isolate)
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- United Arab Emirates
- Uruguay (arrivals before 4am November 28 need to self-isolate)
- US Virgin Islands (arrivals before 4am November 28 need to self-isolate)
- Vanuatu (arrivals before 4am November 28 need to self-isolate)
- Vietnam
