danielflyer

I’m an American living in Germany with a residence permit. As a third country resident I know I can enter and exit the EU, but also know that Reunion is not part of the Shengen region. I plan to travel there on Monday via ORY.

Should I expect any issues boarding my flight? I checked IATA and it said I’m good to go, but am also unsure what to expect.

Should I be concerned?

Billy Mumphrey

It's not in Schengen but still an overseas department of France, so I would assume an EU residence permit and negative COVID test (from within 72 hours) would be sufficient. Did you check the Reunion government's website to be sure?

mlin32

You should have no issues, as you're still in France and it's not somewhere like Guyane or Guadeloupe where they have more stringent Covid 19 restrictions right now.

Often1

Reunion is neither in the EU nor Schengen. It is, for travel purposes separate. A 30-second check of TIMATIC shows that an individual travelin on a US passport from Germany to Reunion with a transit in France is not admissible to Reunion unless certain conditions are met. Rather than cutting & pasting the entire lengthy TIMATIC readout, best for OP to check it himself and determine whether he falls within an exception. He would be denied boarding at his German origination otherwise.

danielflyer

This was my assumption as well- just got my covid test. I looked for this information and was not able to find an official website with entry requirements beyond a few pages about visas for certain countries.

danielflyer

Could you show me the TIMATIC URL you used to find this? I queried two Timatic sites (United and Korean Air) and received an all-clear, but would very much like to have this information. The readout would also be helpful.

I also checked Air France's TravelDoc website. This site states that I am cleared to board the flight as well.

I actually booked two separate flights (TXL -> CDG, ORY -> RUN) on different airlines and would definitely like to know before I reach Paris if I will run into issues.

Billy Mumphrey

I would rely more on the Reunion government website and any information you can get by contacting their consulate/immigration/police than TIMATIC. There are so many rules and exceptions today that I don't find TIMATIC that reliable. For example, TIMATIC said my documents weren't sufficient to travel from the US to Europe this summer (UK citizen and US resident traveling to Sweden via AMS), but I had no issues actually flying. If the flight is very soon and you already have your COVID test results, just show up and see what happens. If you're going to have issues, it will most likely be at the check-in counter.

KLouis

Reunion is an integral part of France, thus they have no own consulate anywhere in the world, and their immigration and police authorities are the French ones!

SteveCanary

I found the following link from Reunion official health agency (ARS): https://www.lareunion.ars.sante.fr/m...-du-18-juillet ("Formalitιs administratives avant le dιpart" paragraph)
I don't know if it's really up to date but it seems you need:
- Negative PCR test 72 before departure (this is definitely sure)
- Sworn statement ensuring you don't have any COVID symptom (you can download it from the above link, it's in french and english).
- Fill-in a contact-tracing form on a dedicated site (link in the above ARS link as well)

They also incitate to get a new PCR test from 2 to 4 days after arrival.

Note: The sworn statement is supposed to be mandatory when arriving into France mainland as well but coming from Spain or Portugal I've never been asked for it...

IstKong

Though it is an integral part of France, they have some differences regarding their immigration policy like visa exemptions for Chinese citizens if travelling with a travel agencies. Same with French Guyana, also integral part of France, but where Brazilians needs a visa when it's not the case for travels to metropolitan France (before Covid of course, now things have changed for everyone...).

Same law and police authorities indeed, but passport will be checked by border force in ORY and at the oversea territory airport so it's not the exact same thing as travelling within metropolitan France and Corsica. (because only Corsica and Metropolitan France are in the Schengen Area).

But regarding the OP situation, given he has a valid german residence permit in his passport, I think that with a COVID test he will be completely fine.

Often1

Here is the readout from TIMATIC as of today for a US national, resident in Germany, destined for Reunion with a transit in France. It is what the check-in agent will see at the German origin and presumably at the French transit. TIMATIC data is gathered from each relevant location's foreign ministry or equivalent. The key to TIMATIC is to read it through to the very end before making any decisions. Depending on how a country chooses to provide its data, it may be written in the form of: "You are admissible, but the following factors might make you inadmissible...." OR "you are inadmissible, but the following factors make you admissible...."Information as of 26SEP20 / 1322 UTC
National USA (US) /Residence Germany (DE)
Embarkation Germany (DE) /Transit France (FR)
Destination Reunion (RE)
ALSO CHECK DESTINATION INFORMATION BELOW
France (FR)


Visa required, except for Passengers with a residence permit
issued by Germany.
Visa required, except for Passengers with a D visa issued by
Germany.
Warning:
- A completed International Travel Certificate must be
presented prior to boarding and to immigration upon arrival
or when transiting France. The certificate can be obtained
at consulates or at
https://www.interieur.gouv.fr
.
- Passengers transiting through two airports in the Schengen
Area must comply with entry regulations of the first
Schengen Member State.

France (FR)

Vaccinations not required.
Reunion (RE)

Passport required.
- Passports and other documents accepted for entry must be
valid for the period of intended stay.
Admission and Transit Restrictions:
- Passengers are not allowed to enter.

Visa required, except for Passengers with a residence permit
issued by Germany for a maximum stay of 90 days.
Visa required, except for Passengers with a D visa issued by
Germany for a maximum stay of 90 days.
Additional Information:
- Only Schengen visas endorsed: "also valid for Reunion" are
accepted.
Warning:
- A completed International Travel Certificate must be
presented prior to boarding and to immigration upon arrival
or when transiting Reunion. The certificate can be obtained
at consulates or at
https://www.interieur.gouv.fr
.
- Passengers must have a medical certificate with a negative
Coronavirus (COVID-19) test result issued at most 72 hours
before arrival.
- This does not apply to passengers younger than 11 years.
- Passengers are subject to quarantine for 7 days.
- Passengers must complete a declaration on honor to state
that they do not have symptoms of Coronavirus (COVID-19).
- Visitors not holding return/onward tickets
co
uld be refused entry.
- Brexit: The United Kingdom stopped being member of the
European Union (EU) and of the European Economic Area (EEA).
Regulations related to the EU and the EEA apply to the
United Kingdom until 31 December 2020.
Reunion (RE)

Vaccination against yellow fever required if arriving within 6
days after leaving or transiting countries with risk of yellow
fever transmission
.

Exempt from Yellow Fever vaccination:
- Children under 1 year of age.
- Passengers transiting countries with risk of yellow fever
transmission if not leaving the transit areas.

CHECK
- CHECK LATEST NEWS AND UPDATES ON TRAVEL
INFORMATION

danielflyer

Thanks, this is very helpful! This is also the data I found. I have a German residence permit so it looks like I should be admissable as long as I have all the required paperwork.

I also see, "Passengers are not allowed to enter." I ran two TIMATIC queries as a German and French national. The same message also appeared for these. So this part seems to be outdated information that will show up for every traveler on the flight.

fifty_two

Hello

i think i can tell you about this topic better than anyone here , as i had same story with guests from other non european countries

its rather complicated as you are not flying from directly from USA or another non-schengen country (which would be clear) but better is to apply for a visa to french overseas territory

You have a schengen visa , but not all types of schengen visa allow to visit french overseas islands , and as your schengen visa is not issued by france , its hard to know cause its not easy topic

This is what "Only Schengen visas endorsed: "also valid for Reunion" are accepted" means , so i recommend to apply

As not all custom + checkin agents (even border police ) are always aware of the rules for this specific case and what is needed, your best option is to go to french embassy to apply for a specific visa for overseas territories.

Yes , there are exceptions but the reason is to avoid useless headache and discussions at airport , having different people during your journey telling you different stories and the risk of denial of boarding (regardless of what timatic is saying)

then once you have your visa , you can think about covid test , which should be done less than 72 hours before taking off of your flight from ORY (and not the beginning of your journey)

Hope its clear

SteveCanary

This might be difficult before monday...

As a US citizen living in Germany, I don't think you need a specific visa for Reunion if you're coming from Schengen and are not going to Reunion directly from a non-Schengen country.
You can check your own situation here: https://www.service-public.fr/partic...sdroits/F10610

Goldorak

To OP, no one can give you the ultimate answer as rules are very unclear. I would tend to say that you are good to go being a permanent resident of Germany. But, if I were you,I would bring any document evidencing that you indeed live in Germany (phone bill, electricity bill, etc) and anything that can prove that you were in Europe for the last 2 weeks.