COVID - Rules to travel to France

Published the 02/08/2022 in Useful Information

Any person aged 12 and over entering French territory must present a negative PCR or antigen test less than 24 or 48 hours old, depending on the country of origin. 

EXCEPTIONS
Fully vaccinated Individuals arriving from a Member State of the European Union, Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, the Holy See or Switzerland do not have to show a Covid-19 test.

Here is the map as of February 8, 2022

And here are the rules in force according to this color code :

• Green countries - no limitations to visits but test or vaccine needed.
• Orange countries - vaccinated travelers can come, no justification needed and no quarantine upon arrival but present a test PCR . People not vaccinated can come only if they have pressing grounds for travel, with tests and quarantine. 

Here are the details (in french, but we will update with the official english table as soon as it becomes available). 

FYI, the vaccines validated by the EMA are: BioNTech and Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen Pharmaceutica SA, following the EMA's positive evaluation of their safety and efficacy. This means that if you are vaccinated with another vaccine, it will not be accepted as valid on the French territory and you must refer to the same rules as non-vaccinated persons.

Vaccination  pass

• A vaccine certificate showing full vaccination,
• A certificate of recovery from COVID (from 11 days to 6 months prior),
• A certificate of medical reasons for not being vaccinated.
• you can also participate in activities with negative PCR test less than 24 hours old

Children under 12 years of age are not required to present a COVID certificate or vaccination pass.

Full vaccination means that you are vaccinated (with an EMA-approved vaccine or similar):

• Seven days after the second shot for two-shot vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca);
• Four weeks after the shot for one-shot vaccines (Johnson & Johnson);
• Seven days after the shot for vaccines administered to people who have already had COVID-19 (only one dose is necessary).

Since February 1st, 2022, in order to continue to be considered as fully vaccinated, persons aged eighteen or over wishing to enter the national territory must have received a dose of complementary messenger RNA vaccine no later than 9 months following the injection of the last required dose.

Passes can be digital (on the TousAntiCovid app) or in paper form (proof of vaccination or test result). They include a QR code that will be scanned on entry into the venue or event.

If you have been vaccinated in a European Union Member State, Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Faroe Islands, Georgia, the Holy See, Iceland, Israel, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Moldova, Monaco, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine or United Kingdom, your digital Covid certificate is valid in France

Citizens of other countries may apply for a health pass

Initially, this arrangement is open to non-European foreigner tourists already present in the national territory or arriving by 15 August 2021. Requests for an arrival after that date will be taken into account later.

How do I apply?

In pharmacies in France, for foreign nationals who are not students. They should present their passport and the paper version of the original vaccination certificate in a pharmacy offering the service (a list is available on the Ministry for Solidarity and Health website).

A temporary QR code can also be generated by a healthcare professional after obtaining a negative result on a RT-PCR or antigenic test valid for 24h. All RT-PCR and antigenic tests generate a proof, as soon as the result is entered by the healthcare professional, that can be printed live and that is also made available to the tested person via an email and an SMS to go and collect it on SI-DEP portal . In France, foreigners have to pay for their tests. They are available in laboratories, pharmacies or dedicated areas. The results of antigenic tests are generally known in about 15-20 minutes.