UK Eases Travel Restrictions for India from Today

Fully-vaccinated Indians are no longer required to follow compulsory 10-day hotel quarantine on arrival at Britain.

Fully-vaccinated Indian passengers are no longer required to follow the compulsory 10-day hotel quarantine on arrival at Britain. Image used for representational purposes.

(Photo by Zou Zheng/Xinhua/IANS)

In a welcome move, the United Kingdom on Sunday, 8 August, eased travel restrictions for India by moving it from its "red" to "amber" list, PTI reported.

Now, fully-vaccinated Indian passengers are no longer required to follow the compulsory 10-day hotel quarantine on arrival at Britain.

Upon arrival, Indians, who have been vaccinated from their home land, are required to isolate themselves at home or their designated location mentioned on the compulsory locator form, confirmed the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Although, Indian passengers will no longer have to follow the requirement of compulsory 10-day self isolation at a government-approved facility, at an extra cost of 1,750 pounds per head, only passengers vaccinated in the UK or Europe will be able to exemt themselves from the home quarantine.

"We recognise there are a large variety of COVID-19 vaccines being administered worldwide and work is ongoing to determine which non-UK vaccines and certification solutions to recognise."

DHSC source told PTI

Dismissing speculations over whether Serum Institute of India's Covishield would be considered as being approved by UK, the government has also clarified that the Indian made version of Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine, that is approved by the UK's Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) called Vaxzevria, is the only vaccine recognised under exemption rules now.

As per the legal rules for countries on the amber list of UK's traffic light system, passengers ought to take a COVID test, three days before departure. The should also pre-book two COVID tests, to be taken on arrival at England. They are also required to fill a passenger locator form after arrival.

Upon arrival at England, travellers should quarantine themselves for 10 days at home or at a place that they have confirmed as their location. They must also take a COVID test on or before day two and on or after eight days of their quarantine.

Passengers under the age of 18 and people who have been fully vaccinated in UK are exempted from home quarantine. So are those who have got both their vaccine shots from the EU and US.

Travellers who have been vaccinated in the UK or under the UK vaccine programme overseas, those who are under 18 years of age, residents in the UK or in a country with a vaccination programme approved by the UK, and part of a UK-approved vaccine trial, are also exempted from home quarantine rules.

As of now, apart from a limited number of flights between India and UK, that are operating under a bilateral agreement between the UK and Indian government, all the other regular scheduled international flights continue to remain suspended.

Ever since the UK announced its decision of moving India off its 'red list', airlines have been witnessing a massive surge in bookings. For the move has been immensely welcomed by the Indian diaspora in UK, who are hoping to visit their native country during the summer break.

Since April end, when the Delta variant was at its peak, India has been on UK's Red List. And hence, there has essentially been a travel ban from India to the UK, except for returning British residents who had to self isolate in a government sanctioned hotel at an additional cost.

To "better reflect the increased costs involved", the UK government has also announced that the cost for solo passengers from countries, still on the 'red list' staying at a quarantine hotel will increase from 12 August, from 1,750 pounds to 2,285 pounds. Also, the charge for an additional adult, sharing a room is set to increase from 650 pounds to 1,430 pounds.