Fully vaccinated Indian students and other visitors flying to the United Kingdom will no longer need mandatory 10-day hotel quarantine as India has been moved from the country’s “red” to “amber” list.
Under Britain’s traffic light system for international travel, returning from amber list countries means 10-day quarantining at home or any place of one’s choice.
The change, announced by the Department for Transport, comes into effect from 4 a.m. local time on Sunday.
“The UAE, Qatar, India and Bahrain will be moved from the red list to the amber list. All changes come into effect Sun 8th August at 4 a.m.,” U.K. Transport Secretary tweeted.
“While it’s right we continue our cautious approach, it’s great news to open more destinations for people wanting to connect with families, friends and businesses across the globe, all thanks to our successful domestic vaccination programme,” he said.
Before you travel to England you must:
- You must take a COVID-19 test in the 3 days before you travel to England
- Book and pay for COVID-19 tests – to be taken after arrival in England
- Complete a passenger locator form
On arrival in England you must:
- quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days
- take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8
It may be possible to end quarantine early if an Indian national pays for a private COVID-19 test through the “Test to Release” scheme, in which one can choose to pay for a private Covid test on day five. If the result is negative (and the result of the day 2 test was negative or inconclusive), quarantine can end. The option can’t be taken unless the traveller has been in England for five full days.
This shift from red to amber status will directly impact thousands of Indian families, students looking to travel to the UK.
Also exempt are those “fully vaccinated in the U.K. or under the U.K. vaccine programme overseas; under 18 on the day you arrive in England and resident in the U.K. or in a country with a vaccination programme approved by the U.K. and part of a U.K.-approved vaccine trial”. Covishield, the India-manufactured Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, is likely to be covered under this exemption.
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