LONDON, 10 May 2021: On the back of a successful vaccine rollout, the UK will reopen leisure travel to green light countries, starting 17 May with no quarantine or restrictions when UK travellers return home.
Red and amber listed countries are still off-limits to all but essential travel with strict quarantine or stay home measures applying when UK travellers return to their homeland.
The three colour-coded lists, green, amber and red, were issued by the UK’s Department for Transport on 7 May. Leisure travel is allowed only to the green list countries. In Asia, only Brunei and Singapore figure on the green list.
Green list countries and territories effective from 17 May
If you travel to England from a country or territory on the green list starting 0400, 17 May, you must only have been in or travelled through a green list country during the previous 10 days.
On arrival in England
- You must take a Covid-19 test on or before day two after you arrive.
- You do not need to quarantine unless the test result is positive.
- You must self-isolate if NHS Test & Trace informs you that you travelled to England with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.
If you have been in a country or territory on the red or amber lists in the last 10 days, before you arrive back in England, you must follow the rules that apply to those two colour coded lists.
Green list
- Australia
- Brunei
- Falkland Islands
- Faroe Islands
- Gibraltar
- Iceland
- Israel
- New Zealand
- Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira)
- Singapore
- South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
- St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha
Red list countries and territories
If you have been in a country or territory on the red list in the last 10 days you will only be allowed to enter the UK if you are a British or Irish National or you have residence rights in the UK. You should not travel to red list countries or territories for leisure purposes.
On arrival in England, you must:
Quarantine in a managed hotel, including 2 Covid-19 tests
Red list countries in Asia
- Bangladesh
- India
- Maldives (Currently on the amber list. Will move to the red list on Wednesday 12 May. If you arrive in England after then, you will need to follow the red list rules.)
- Nepal (Currently on the amber list. Will move to the red list Wednesday 12 May. If you arrive in England after then, you will need to follow the red list rules.)
- Pakistan
- Philippines
Amber list countries and territories
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 two and on or after day eight.
You may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private Covid-19 test through the ‘Test to Release’ scheme.
Amber list countries in Asia
- Bhutan
- Cambodia
- China
- Hong Kong
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Laos
- Macau
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- North Korea
- Papua New Guinea
- South Korea
- Sri Lanka
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Timor-Leste
- Vietnam
(Source: UK Department of Transport)
