UK travel corridors: Latest update to quarantine exemptions

The UK government has announced the latest updates to the travel corridors. Quarantine exceptions may vary across the UK nations.

Latest update on UK travel corridors - © Fred Goldstein - Shutterstock

All countries will be removed from the 'travel corridors' quarantine exception list at 4am on Monday 18 January 2021. Travellers arriving in the UK after this date need to quarantine and must show a negative COVID-19 test taken no more than 72 hours prior to departure.

Travellers can shorten the 10 day quarantine period to five days in England if they return a negative COVID-19 test after five days of quarantine as part of the 'Test to Release' scheme.

For more information visit our guide to low risk countries for the latest on FCO travel advice, local restrictions on arriving in countries around the world (including quarantine and required test results) and regional quarantine exceptions on arriving in the UK.

Update on 16 January 2021

The following regions will be removed from the 'travel corridors' quarantine exception list at 4am on Saturday 16 January 2021. Travellers arriving in the UK do need to quarantine after this date.

Aruba
Azores
Bonaire
Chile
Madeira
Qatar
Saba
Sint Eustatius

Full list of quarantine exceptions

England - Department for Transport
Northern Ireland - Nidirect
Scotland - Scottish Government
Wales - Welsh Government

Update on 12 January 2021

The following region will be removed from the 'travel corridors' quarantine exception list at 4am on Tuesday 12 January 2021 (Monday 11 January 2021 in Scotland). Travellers arriving in the UK do need to quarantine after this date.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Update on 9 January 2021

The following regions will be removed from the 'travel corridors' quarantine exception list at 4am on Saturday 9 January 2021. Travellers arriving in the UK do need to quarantine after this date.

Botswana
Israel
Mauritius
Seychelles

Update on 19 December 2020

The following regions will be removed from the 'travel corridors' quarantine exception list at 4am on Saturday 19 December 2020. Travellers arriving in the UK do need to quarantine after this date.

Namibia
Uruguay
US Virgin Islands

The Test to Release scheme for international travel starts on Tuesday 15 December. Travellers arriving in England who need to self-isolate can choose to pay for a COVID-19 test with a private test provider to reduce the self-isolation period.

Update on 12 December 2020

Travellers arriving in the UK after 4am on Saturday 12 December 2020 from the following countries do not need to quarantine.

Botswana
Saudi Arabia

The following regions will be removed from the 'travel corridors' quarantine exception list at 4am on Saturday 12 December 2020. Travellers arriving in the UK do need to quarantine after this date.

Canary Islands

The quarantine period of self-isolation for the UK is changing from 14 days to 10 days from 00:01 on Monday 14 December 2020.

Update on 28 November 2020

Travellers arriving in the UK after 4am on Saturday 28 November 2020 from the following countries do not need to quarantine.

Aruba
Bhutan
East Timor (Timor-Leste)
Federated States of Micronesia
Kiribati
Mongolia
Samoa
Solomon Islands
Tonga
Vanuatu

Scotland has also added the following countries to their 'travel corridors' quarantine exception list to come inline with the rest of the UK. Travellers arriving in Scotland after 4am on Saturday 28 November 2020 from the following countries do not need to quarantine.

Bonaire
Israel
Namibia
Northern Mariana Islands
Rwanda
Saba
Sint Eustatius
Sri Lanka
Uruguay

The following countries will be removed from the 'travel corridors' quarantine exception list at 4am on Saturday 28 November 2020. Travellers arriving in the UK do need to quarantine after this date.

Estonia
Latvia

The total ban on travel from Denmark ends at 4am on Saturday 28 November 2020, however travellers arriving in the UK from Denmark do need to quarantine.

Update on 21 November 2020

Travellers arriving in England, Wales and Northern Ireland after 4am on Saturday 21 November 2020 from the following countries do not need to quarantine.