COVID-19 : Can I enter France ?
Public health measures are applicable to all travellers leaving or entering France. Moreover, restrictions on access to French territory are in place, depending on travellers’ country of departure.
The conditions for entering France will depend on your country of departure and your vaccination status.
In all cases, the usual travel restrictions apply (visas, duration of stay, etc.).
Whatever your place of departure, if you show symptoms of COVID-19 upon arrival in France, you will be quarantined or placed and kept in isolation by the prefect.
Other rules apply to travel to and from French overseas territories.
More information on the website of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.
If you are vaccinated
If you are vaccinated : you can travel to France with no restrictions linked to health conditions.
The measures applicable to vaccinated adults also apply to any minors accompanying them, whether they are vaccinated or not. You can therefore travel with your underage children, whether they are vaccinated or not, and they will not need to self-isolate. Unvaccinated children aged 12 and over will need to present a negative test result as described below.
Travel documents if you are vaccinated
Only vaccines authorized by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) will be accepted, i.e. Pfizer (Comirnaty), Moderna, AstraZeneca (Vaxzevria), Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) and AstraZeneca (Covishield).
- proof of vaccination. It will only be valid if it proves that you are fully vaccinated, i.e. :
- 4 weeks if you received a one-dose injection (Johnson&Johnson) ;
- 7 days after the second injection for two-dose vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca) ;
- 7 days after the injection if you have recovered from COVID-19 (in this case, only one dose is necessary) ;
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- 7 days after a booster ARNm dose (Moderna or Pfizer) after two shots of a vaccine on the WHO’s health emergencies list (Sinovac/Coronavac or Sinopharm/BBIB-PVeroCells)
- a sworn declaration, that can be downloaded on the Interior Ministry’s website stating that
- you have no symptoms of COVID-19 infection ;
- to your knowledge, you have not been in contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the 14 days prior to your journey
If you are not vaccinated
A list of countries of departure has been drawn up on the basis of the health indicators. The lists of countries can be altered based on changes in the epidemic situation.
Specific rules apply to road hauliers.
If you are not vaccinated and you arrive from a “green” country
Countries/territories on the “green” list : countries in the European space (European Union, Andorra, the Holy See, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino and Switzerland), and Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Comoros Islands, Hong Kong, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, New Zealand, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Korea, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Vanuatu.
Upon boarding, each traveller aged 12 and over must present a negative PCR or antigenic test taken less than 72 hours before the flight. If you are travelling from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Latvia or Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland your test must be taken less than 24 hours before the flight.
If you have previously contracted COVID-19, instead of a negative test result you may present a certificate of recovery dated more than 11 days and less than 6 months prior to the date of arrival. A certificate of recovery is a document issued to persons who have contracted COVID-19, upon presentation of a positive RT-PCR or antigenic test.
This will not apply to :
- trips by residents of cross-border areas (border within a 30 km radius of your residence, and for a duration of less than 24 hours).
- work-related trips, the urgent or frequent nature of which makes them incompatible with these tests ;
- trips by hauliers carrying out their work.
To avail of the exemptions above, you must have a document proving the reasons for your trip.
If you are not vaccinated and you arrive from an “orange” country
Countries/territories on the “orange” list : every country/territory in the world, except those on the green list and red list.
You can only travel to France if you have pressing grounds for travel. The list of pressing grounds is set out in the certificate of international travel drawn up by the Ministry of the Interior.
Upon boarding, each traveller aged 12 and over must present a negative PCR test taken less than 72 hours before the flight or a negative antigenic test taken less than 48 hours before the flight. If you are arriving from the United Kingdom, the PCR or antigenic test must have been taken less than 24 hours before boarding.
If you have previously contracted COVID-19, instead of a negative test result you may present a certificate of recovery dated more than 11 days and less than 6 months prior to the date of arrival. A certificate of recovery is a document issued to persons who have contracted COVID-19, upon presentation of a positive RT-PCR or antigenic test.
You may be subject to a random test when you arrive in France.
You must pledge to self-isolate for 7 days.
If you are not vaccinated and you arrive from a “red” country
Countries/territories on the “red” list : Afghanistan, Belarus, Botswana, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Eswatini, Georgia, Lesotho, Moldova, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, Suriname, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine and Zimbabwe.
You can only travel to France if you have pressing grounds for travel. The list of pressing grounds is set out in the certificate of international travel drawn up by the Ministry of the Interior.
Upon boarding, each traveller aged 12 and over must present a negative PCR or antigenic test taken less than 48 hours before the flight.
If you have previously contracted COVID-19, instead of a negative test result you may present a certificate of recovery dated more than 11 days and less than 6 months prior to the date of arrival. A certificate of recovery is a document issued to persons who have contracted COVID-19, upon presentation of a positive RT-PCR or antigenic test.
You will be tested when you arrive in France.
You will be subject to a mandatory 10-day quarantine supervised by security forces.
Travel documents if you are not vaccinated
Depending on your circumstances, you must complete and carry some of the following documents in order to board :
- a sworn declaration that can be downloaded on the Interior Ministry’s website stating that :
- you have no symptoms of COVID-19 infection ;
- to your knowledge, you have not been in contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the 14 days prior to your journey ;
- (if you are aged 12 years or older) you agree to submit to a virological RTSARS-CoV-2PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 upon arrival in France ;
- (where applicable) you must pledge to self-isolate for 7 days ;
- (for non-vaccinated travellers arriving from a “red” country) you are aware that you will have to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival in France.
- (for non-vaccinated travellers arriving from “orange” or “red” countries) an exempted international travel certificate for Metropolitan France, that can be downloaded on the Interior Ministry’s website. You must present this certificate to travel companies before using your travel ticket, as well as to border control authorities (for travel by air, sea and land, including by rail) ;
- (for non-vaccinated travellers arriving from a “red” country) proof of location of self-isolation, and where appropriate, access details for inspectors to carry out checks.
If you fail to produce these documents, you will be denied boarding and will have to leave the boarding area.