If your head is spinning because you can’t keep up with entry requirements for various countries, know you’re not alone. It’s almost impossible to keep up. I’ve written about different websites (Sherpa and Airheart), both of which do a nice job of breaking it down for travelers. But in addition, you really always want to double check with the source, like the country’s official government website.

Since the United Kingdom is one of the most popular countries for Americans, Canadians, Australians (and pretty much everyone else!) to travel to, it’s important to know England’s official requirements before you go. Here’s what you need to know:

Keep in mind: Rules are always changing, which is why a lot of Brits are ticked off at the moment. That’s because Portugal used to be on the green or ‘safe’ list for Britons, meaning they could vacation there to get some much-needed sun, without having to quarantine upon their return. But at 4am on Tuesday, June 8, Portugal will be moved to the UK’s amber list, which is the same list that the United States and Canada are on (as of June 4). If you arrive in England after then, you will need to follow the amber list rules below:

Amber list rules:

Before you travel to England you must:
-Take a COVID-19 test
-Took and pay for day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 travel 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
-Read about quarantine and taking COVID-19 tests.
-Children aged 4 and under do not need to take the day 2 or day 8 test.
-You may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release scheme.

Note: You must follow these rules even if you have been vaccinated.

The future: My friend and travel guru, Peter Greenberg, is convinced that once President Joe Biden goes to the G7 in England next week, the U.K. will announce that Americans will be moved to the green list most likely effective July 1. Here’s his Facebook Live and he mentions this at the 35:31 mark. This would be great news because the green list means…

Before travel to England you must:
-Take a COVID-19
-Test book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 test – to be taken after arrival in England
-Complete a passenger locator form

On arrival in England
-You must take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after you arrive.
-Children aged 4 and under do not need to take this test.
-You do not need to quarantine unless the test result is positive.
-You must quarantine if NHS Test & Trace informs you that you travelled to England with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Let’s just hope COVID-19 cases continue to go down, that there are no more outbreaks and England moves everyone to the green list so we can start to normalize our travel patterns.

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