France lifts its last Covid border rules

Paris

The French government lifted all remaining Covid-19-related border restrictions on 1 August, enabling all travellers to enter the country without proof of vaccination or negative tests

Travellers will also no longer be required to fill any additional forms prior to arrival, such as providing a justification or ‘compelling reason’ for travel, or presenting a ‘sworn statement’ of non-contamination.

Prior to the change, all travellers over the age of 12 were required to provide either a negative Covid test result, or proof of full vaccination. If more than nine months had passed since the traveller’s most recent vaccination, a booster was required to qualify as ‘fully vaccinated’.

France has been a notable exception to a growing trend across Europe to abolish pandemic-era border restrictions, becoming the 27th European Union or Schengen-affiliated country to have returned to pre-Covid levels of regulation.

Other countries which have already removed their Covid border rules include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland. The UK has also dropped its own Covid border rules.

Further afield, New Zealand abolished its own Covid border rules the same day.