COVID Restrictions to entry in France
 

Restrictions to entry in France evolve rapidly.
I think that it would be a good idea to have a thread updating the information. Most of the updates are in French, so an English-language summary could be useful
Below is my interpretation and comments as of 29 August.

There are two types of restrictions. The first one is who is allowed to enter. The second one is the health requirements (PCR test, quarantine)

1. WHO IS ALLOWED TO ENTER

Good sources are:
https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/co...als-in-france/ (last update 20 August)
TIMATIC https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/world.php (click on France).
For itineraries, involving transit you can look at:
https://airfrance.traveldoc.aero/
Or
https://www.united.com/web/en-us/app...aspx?i=TIMATIC

There are two sets of criteria based on either where you arrive fromor nationality/residence. The primary one is where you arrive from. To enter you need to qualify for one or the other.

In summary, passengers are allowed into France if:

A. Arriving from Member States of the European Union, Andorra, Australia, Canada, Georgia, the Holy See, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Rwanda, San Marino, South Korea, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, the United Kingdom and Uruguay. That is EU+ and ten non-European countries. The list of non-European countries is periodically updated.

B. If you are arriving from another country, you can only enter France if your journey meets one of the following criteria for exceptions:

- If you are a French national (you may be accompanied by your spouse and children);

- If you are a European Union citizen or a national of Andorra, the Holy See, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, and your main residence is in France or you are crossing France to reach your country of nationality or residence (you may be accompanied by your spouse and children);

- If you hold a valid French or European residence permit or long-stay visa and your main residence is in France or you are crossing France to reach your residence in the European space;

- If you are transiting for less than 24 hours in an international zone;

In addition, there is a list of exemptions. Note that there is an apparent discrepancy with TIMATIC regarding EU+ nationals arriving from “another country”. Basically, the wording from the French Government is loose. You could be a Belgian national arriving by air from USA at CDG and reach Belgium by train. In terms of enforcement, I assume that any EU+ national would therefore be allowed to enter France without further control.

2. HEALTH REQUIREMENTS

These are changing very rapidly. Here is a list as of 26 August.

People arriving from the list of countries listed in 1.A do not have special test/quarantine requirements, except for a possible “voluntary’ two-week quarantine from the UK. Voluntary means no enforcement and “optional.”

For people arriving from “another country”, depending on your point of departure and if you are aged over 11 years, you will be subject to a test prior to boarding or upon arrival:

A. Bahrain, Panama, United Arab Emirates or United States of America: you will have to present a negative PCR test result, carried out less than 72 hours before departure, prior to boarding. You will not be able to board without this document.

B. Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, India, Israel, Kirghizstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Madagascar, Maldives, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Peru, Qatar, Serbia, South Africa or Turkey: you will have to either present a negative PCR test result, carried out less than 72 hours before departure, or submit to such a test at the airport upon arrival in France.

C. For countries not on the above lists, you are encouraged to undertake a PCR test prior to travel or in the airport upon arrival. If not, you will be asked to comply with a two-week quarantine at your place of residence or in a suitable accommodation facility.

In all cases, the usual travel restrictions apply (visas, duration of stay, etc.).



3. Enforcement and personal comments

The regulation is clearly focused on country of origin. For example, someone holding a US or Hong Kong or Lebanese (with visa) passport and who spent a day in UK is allowed. New visas are not issued but old ones remain valid, and many nationals do not need a visa. Most EU+ countries do not allow people to fly from those countries, but the UK does (also Croatia). The question is whether you can simply transit in LHR on the same ticket. In theory, the airline (say BA) should check that you satisfy French entry requirements. But there is nothing preventing you from doing it on two separate tickets. Many experiences show that all you have to show at the immigration police is your boarding pass of the EU+ flight.

Execution (enforcement) tend to be inconsistent. The French border police find the regulations very complex, changing frequently and that it is not their job to do health requirement control. Many experienced that, whatever form you were supposed to fill, they don’t even look at it. But they check that you have valid travel documents (passport and visa), as in the good old days. A major onus of enforcements falls on airlines at boarding time. Voluntary quarantine is not checked.

Note that the EU only provides "recommendation". As each EU country applies different restrictions, these recommendations are useless and one should look in details at restrictions for each country.Information on many websites is sometimes inconsistent an not up to date. French consulates abroad sometimes have their own uneducated interpretations.Posting here updates for our FT members outside of France could be useful.

When I entered France at CDG arriving from SFO as a Czech Republic national there were literally 0 questions asked about the purpose of my trip (stayed overnight and flew to France). Just showed EU passport + Covid-19 negative PCR test from less than 72hrs and that was it.

Hello, I'm hoping someone can help me.... we have to go to France next week (UK residents flying from UK), for some paperwork. I understand we can travel as coming from UK, but we are supposed to bring a déclaration sur l’honneur.

However, when I go to the website the form 21-09-2020-attestation-de-deplacement-vers-la-france-metropolitaine-anglais.docx has a first page where you have to declare your reason for travel. However the options don't apply as we are coming from UK. Can anyone help? Do we just fill out the second part of the form where you declare you are covid-free?

Thank you in advance!

You are exempted from presenting this attestation as you arrive from UK.
I never heard of anyone having to present the sworn statement about covid symptoms. But you can always fill it.

Thank you so much!

My wife just entered France from the US (IAD-CDG non-stop) and she said it was pretty easy. They gave the COVID test results a cursory glance at check-in, and when entering immigration at CDG there was a sign that said "Washington flight", directing those passengers away from the main immigration line and towards a number of desks where they looked at the COVID results more carefully and put a gold star on the back of her passport. The agent in the booth just glanced at the star without asking any questions or even opening the passport. And nobody asked for the declaration she filled out in advance. Hardest part is just getting your test results to come back within 72 hours.

Arriving from the USA into France a Negative PCR or Antigen tests are now accepted.

When I travelled by ferry from the UK to France this summer, the ferry company did collect sworn statements about being free of covid symptoms at check-in (and would not let you check in without your filling it in and signing it if you had not done it before). I have not experienced that with flights. IIRC, when checking online with AF, you have to click on a message confirming that you are symptom free to be able to continue checking-in but that is all.

I have a corollary question given yesterday’s announcements.
Are there restrictions/paperwork needed to leave France for intercontinental travel? (Specifically the exit part as obviously you need to be allowed to enter on the other end)
i’m seeing on AdP’s website that travel is to be limited to imperious and business travel only.
Were there restrictions like this last time around?

Yes restrictions were similar, i.e. "do not travel, you're not allowed to leave France." There are no details so far on this for this new phase, I'm guessing we'll know more tonight once we see details on the measures taken by the government. If you are a French citizen, you'll probably need an "attestation" with a good reason to travel in case of control by the police. AFAIK, there was no control at the airport itself last time. If you are a non-French citizen, I don't think you'll face any issue, just say you're traveling to your home country.

If you are French citizen or resident, they'll be no issue to come back, though there are obviously flight disruptions around the corner.

Thanks for your reply. So last time around controls were only on the way to the airport not by the border patrol?

Trying to get relatives out of there and need to figure out if I need to go full “last helicopter out of Saigon” this weekend or if they can have a few more days to prepare

Brunos gave the right answers, except that there was definitely police controls last spring (Brunos was maybe just "lucky" when he went through). For Schengen at 2F, controls were immediately after the security check-point. They were checking the forms and may eventually ask for additional documents (e.g. for a business travel, a letter from the employer or the inviting company).
For non-French nationals, no problem to leave France, they likely won't even look at the form.
For French nationals, not allowed to travel out of France unless you fall into the exemptions. As said by Brunos, no problem to return to France.

Really? How could that be justified? I can see the logic of restricting inter-regional travel to avoid spreading the disease between regions but what is the rationale to ban travel outside the country? If the destination is within the EU, I would have thought that this would be an obstacle to free movement that could not be justified on public health grounds.

Strictly speaking, there is a legal lacuna: you are entitled to enter France. However, once you are within France, you'll need to travel between the airport and your destination (typically your place of residence/domicile) and, for any movement within the country you should in principle have your "attestation de déplacement dérogatoire" and "return from travel abroad" is not one of the exceptions listed on the attestation nor, I suspect, in the relevant legal texts (unlike what happened for curfew derogations, where there was an explicit recognition that a train or air ticket was enough to justify a derogation). One would hope that police officers would exercise common sense and draw the implications of the entitlement to return to France in terms of intra-France movement but I can't say that I would be ready to bet a very large sum on this...

So, if I follow you, you would see a logic of not being allowed to go more than 1 km away from your home but being allowed to travel to another EU country ? :confused:
It's a lockdown. People are not supposed to go further than 1km from their home (wherever you go somewhere in France or in another country), unless this is for work (and on something that cannot be accomplished remotely in home office mode), family problem, medical treatment, etc.
They don't want people to travel anywhere.

I agree with your reasoning but I think Macron saying that EU borders will 'stay open' was a terrible wording mistake that can very easily be misinterpreted.