The UK government has confirmed a list of 60 countries that have been approved for travel and are to be excluded from the UK’s COVID-19 quarantine rules.
Under the exemption, people travelling from any of the countries on the travel corridor countries list will not have to self isolate for 14 days on arrival in the UK, unless they have visited or stopped in any other unapproved country or territory in the preceding 14 days.
The changes take effect from 10 July 2020.
The so-called air bridge (or air corridor) countries include both EU and long haul destinations deemed to be “low risk” due to low rates of COVID-19 infection.
Two key exclusions should be noted: both the US and Portugal remain subject to the quarantine requirement.
The rule change currently only applies to England.
UK air bridge countries
| Andorra | Jamaica |
| Antigua and Barbuda | Japan |
| Aruba | Liechtenstein |
| Australia | Lithuania |
| Austria | Luxembourg |
| Bahamas | Macau |
| Barbados | Malta |
| Belgium | Mauritius |
| Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba | Monaco |
| Croatia | Netherlands |
| Curaçao | New Caledonia |
| Cyprus | New Zealand |
| Czech Republic | Norway |
| Denmark | Poland |
| Dominica | Réunion |
| Faroe Islands | San Marino |
| Fiji | Serbia |
| Finland | Seychelles |
| France | South Korea |
| French Polynesia | Spain |
| Germany | St Barthélemy |
| Greece |
St Kitts and Nevis
|
| Greenland | St Lucia |
| Grenada |
St Pierre and Miquelon
|
| Guadeloupe | Switzerland |
| Hong Kong | Taiwan |
| Hungary |
Trinidad and Tobago
|
| Iceland | Turkey |
| Italy | Vatican City |
| Vietnam |
Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man were already exempt due to the common travel area rules. The 14 British Overseas Territories will also be classed as approved and not subject to quarantine requirement.
UK quarantine rules
Anyone travelling to the UK from countries not on the air corridor list will be required to quarantine for 14 days on arrival into the UK. This includes British nationals.
Travellers will also be required to complete a form providing contact details and information about their accommodation, to be used in the event they need to be contacted due to a risk of infection.
Need assistance?
Travellers are advised to check if travel or entry restrictions apply within their destination, such as local requirements to quarantine on arrival.
Please contact us if you have any concerns or questions relating to international travel or gaining entry into the UK.
Author
Founder and Managing Director Anne Morris is a fully qualified solicitor and trusted adviser to large corporates through to SMEs, providing strategic immigration and global mobility advice to support employers with UK operations to meet their workforce needs through corporate immigration.
She is a recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers as a legal expert and delivers Board-level advice on business migration and compliance risk management as well as overseeing the firm’s development of new client propositions and delivery of cost and time efficient processing of applications.
Anne is an active public speaker, immigration commentator, and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals
