Support migrant centric journalism today and donate
By Sanwar Ali:
From Friday 10 July 2020 quarantine requirements for over 70 Countries and British Overseas Territories ended. You will no longer need to self isolate for 14 days in the UK if you travel from one of these Countries, but you will need to provide an address in the UK. Unfortunately, many Countries are still on the quarantine list and so if you arrive from one of these Countries you will still need to self isolate for fourteen days.
Countries not on the list include the US, Canada, Portugal, Sweden, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Iran, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China. However, from a practical point of view travel to many of these Countries is difficult anyway. You may not even have the opportunity to travel to some of these Countries in the first place.
Possible quarantine at destination
If you are in the UK and wish to travel you should think very carefully before doing so. Even if there are no quarantine requirements when you come back from a particular Country there may be entry restrictions and quarantine requirements for a particular Country. For example for Australia only Australian citizens, residents and immediate family members can enter. For many Countries if you have a long term visa you can gain entry. However, you may still need to self-isolate on entry.
The over 70 countries and British Overseas Territories now exempted from quarantine measures are:
We have provided links below to the relevant pages for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office that provides further details for each destination.
- Akrotiri and Dhekelia
- Andorra
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Aruba
- Australia
- Austria
- The Bahamas
- Barbados
- Belgium
- Bermuda
- Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba
- British Antarctic Territory
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- British Virgin Islands
- Cayman Islands
- the Channel Islands
- Croatia
- Curaçao
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Dominica
- Falkland Islands
- Faroe Islands
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- French Polynesia
- Gibraltar
- Germany
- Greece
- Greenland
- Grenada
- Guadeloupe
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- the Isle of Man
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macao (Macau)
- Malta
- Mauritius
- Monaco
- Montserrat
- the Netherlands
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands
- Poland
- Reunion
- San Marino
- Seychelles
- South Korea
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
- Spain
- St Barthélemy
- St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Lucia
- St Pierre and Miquelon
- Switzerland
- Taiwan
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turkey
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Vatican City State
- Vietnam
Changes mean more freedom to travel
No quarantine on arrival in the UK makes travel much less inconvenient. However, it is likely to be a very long time indeed before things get back to normal (if ever). Because of what has happened far fewer people are willing to travel to attend business meetings. Also, there will still be people who are scared to travel. For those few who are rich enough there has been a significant increase in wealthy people travelling on leisure trips by private jet.
Will the coronavirus COVID-19 situation become worse again?
Actually globally it seems the coronavirus situation is still pretty bad. In Brazil, Iraq, India and the United States, hospitals are still having difficulty coping with the outbreak. From 31 December 2019 to 12 July 2020, 12,698,995 cases of COVID-19 have been reported globally, and there have 564924 deaths. While these statistics will not be entirely accurate the situation is not good. Perhaps things may only get back to normal once there is a reliable vaccine.
Workpermit.com can help with Tier 2 Visa Sponsor Licence and Tier 2 Visa
If you need help with a Tier 2 visa, or a Tier 2 Sponsor Licence, including help with complying with your Tier 2 Sponsor Licence obligations, workpermit.com can help.
For more information and advice on Tier 2 Sponsor Licences, UK immigration law and UK visa applications please contact us on 0344 991 9222 or at london@workpermit.com(link sends e-mail)
