Immigration update: France | Inbound travel limitations
Inbound travel limitations
Limitation of entry into France for travellers from countries with Covid-19 variant and high level of cases.
Starting from the 10th of May 2021, new countries have been added to the list of countries in which the presence of a variants of interest is observed.
Countries concerned by the higher level of measures are:
Argentina
Brazil
Bangladesh
Chile
India
Nepal
Pakistan
South Africa
Sri Lanka
United Arab Emirates
Turkey
3 types of restrictions have been put in place for those countries.
+ Reduced list of compelling reasons to enter France
List of compelling reasons authorizing to travel toward France is reduced to the following situations:
– French citizen, their spouse (married, civil union or cohabiting partner) and their children;
– Citizen of the European Union or equivalent, their spouse (married, civil union or cohabiting partner) and their children, whose main residence is in France;
– Citizen of a third country who is a holder of a valid French or European residence permit or long-stay visa, who has their main residence in France (valid only if the travel abroad took place prior to 31 January 2021 or was justified by a compelling reason);
– Citizen of a third country holding a long-stay visa issued for the purpose of family reunion or reunification of refugee families, beneficiaries of subsidiary protection and stateless person;
– Land, sea and air transport sector workers or transport service providers, including drivers of vehicles carrying goods intended for use in the territory, as well as those who are only in transit, or travelling as passengers returning to their home base or for training purposes;
– Foreign citizen working in a diplomatic or consular mission, or an international organization with headquarters or an office in France, as well as their partner and their children;
– Traveler in transit in the international zone for less than 24 hours.
+ Higher testing conditions
Before departure
Travelers need to provide a negative result to a test done less than 72 hours before the flight.
Two options are available:
1. Presentation of a negative result to a PCR test taken less than 36 hours before boarding.
2. Presentation of a negative result to a PCR test taken less than 72 hours before boarding and an antigenic test conducted less than 24 hours before boarding which is negative for infection by Covid-19.
Upon arrival in France
An antigenic or screening test upon arrival in Metropolitan France is mandatory.
+ Quarantine or isolation measures
Quarantine or isolation of 10 days instead of the usual 7 days is applicable to people coming from those countries.
Place of quarantine needs to be determined before departure and proof of stay in said place needs to be provided to cross the border.
As a consequence travellers from those countries will have to present before boarding the following documents:
– Negative result to a Covid-19 test as described above;
– Sworn statement of absence of Covid-19 symptoms and of absence of knowledge of having been in contact with a confirmed case within the last 14 days;
– Sworn statement indicating information about the quarantine and compelling reason to travel;
– Supporting document for the place of quarantine.
Official sworn statements:
https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L-actu-du-Ministere/Certificate-of-international-travel
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000043411934
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000043411844
https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000043486765
Who will be affected?
Travelers from Argentina, Brazil, Bangladesh, Chile, India, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates and Turkey to France.
If you have any queries, please feel free to contact:
Aurelie Vasseur
Immigration Manager
Aurelie.vasseur@staging.santaferelo.com
Sarah Laalayli
Immigration Specialist
Sarah.laalayli@staging.santaferelo.com
To read more immigration updates, click here
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