France Bans Unvaccinated From the US

The United States is currently on France’s green list, but this changes on Sunday, 12 September as the US will move to France’s orange list along with Israel.

France has become the latest European country to remove the United States from its safe travel list, following EU recommendations due to increasing COVID infection cases in the US.

Under the green list rules, everyone can travel for any reason, but unvaccinated people must be able to show a negative Covid test.

Orange rules, however, are much stricter.

Entry to France From Orange List Country

Fully vaccinated travellers can travel to France for any reason and do not need a COVID test. Vaccination can be proven at the border with a CDC vaccination certificate, and travellers also need to present a declaration stating that they do not have COVID symptoms and have not been in contact with any COVID patients

On the other hand, unvaccinated travellers can only travel if they meet the criteria for ‘essential travel’ this includes French citizens and residents returning home, students beginning academic studies in France and essential work trips, but does not include tourism, family visits or visits to second homes.

Unvaccinated travellers who qualify under the rules of the essential reasons must also present a negative COVID test taken less than 72 hours before entry to France, as well as a declaration that they do not have COVID symptoms and have not been in contact with any COVID patients.

Unvaccinated travellers are also required to quarantine for seven days on arrival. The quarantine can be done at a private home or a hotel and is not the subject of police checks.

To count as fully vaccinated, travellers must:

Have received a vaccine that is approved by the European Medicines Agency – Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson (known as Janssen in France). The Indian-produced Covishield vaccine is now accepted by France.
Be at least two weeks after the second injection for double-dose vaccines or for two weeks after a single dose for those people who had previously had COVID-19
Be at least four weeks after the injection for people who had the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

France Health Passport

Once in France, a health passport is required for access to venues including bars, cafés, tourist sites and long-distance train travel.

The US CDC vaccine card is not accepted so travellers from the US needs a French QR code is required. The French government has made it easier to convert your vaccine certificate to a French health pass.

To know how to get a French health pass, see our blog post.

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