Travel Guidance - returning to the UK

Rules for entering the UK differ depending on whether you have been fully vaccinated or not. Under 18s will follow guidance for fully vaccinated travellers.

This advice is based on what you need to do when returning home from your holiday. For destination advice before you go on holiday, you should refer to the FCDO Destination Index.

Here’s what you need to know.

Unless your country of arrival moves to the Red List, you will follow these rules for returning home.

For fully vaccinated travellers, you must follow the below guidance:

• You must complete a Passenger Locator Form within 48 hours of arriving in the UK
• You are no longer required to take a Day 2 test.
• You are no longer required to take a pre-departure test before you travel to the UK.
• You will qualify as “fully-vaccinated” if you have had a complete course of an approved vaccine at least 14 days before you arrive in the UK. The day you had your final dose does not count as one of the 14 days. The vaccine must have been administered under either the UK vaccination programme or an approved overseas vaccination programme in a listed country.

For under-18s:

• Under 18s will follow the same guidance for fully vaccinated travellers

If you are not vaccinated:

• You must take a pre-departure test within 72 hours of arriving back to the UK. This can be a lateral flow but must meet UK guidance.
• Book and pay for a Day 2 PCR test which should be taken after you arrive in the UK.
• You must complete a Passenger Locator Form within 48 hours of arriving in the UK
• You will be required to enter your pre-booked Day 2 PCR test booking reference number on your Passenger Locator Form
• You are no longer required to self-isolate on return

The above guidance highlights what you need to do when returning from each country – it does not determine entry requirements for outbound travel. Remember that inbound and outbound travel guidance is also subject to change at any time and you should sign up to receive alerts about your destination from the FCDO website.

The guidance was introduced by the UK Government and currently applies across the United Kingdom however devolved nations reserve the right to amend their guidance for arrivals.