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Coronavirus (COVID-19): international travel and quarantine
Overview
Overview
Arriving in Scotland from abroad
These travel rules apply to everyone arriving in Scotland from abroad. They do not cover travel rules for people arriving in another country from Scotland.
As well as Scotland’s travel rules, you must also check the latest COVID-19 travel rules for any other country you plan to travel to.
If you do not live in the UK, you should check your own government’s rules about travelling abroad and returning home before booking travel.
Travel to Scotland from within the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man or Channel Islands
These travel rules only apply if you’ve been outside the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man or Channel Islands in the 10 days before you arrive in Scotland.
If you’re fully vaccinated
If you’re fully vaccinated, you do not need to isolate when you arrive in Scotland, but there are 2 things you must do before you travel:
1. Make sure that you're able to prove you're fully vaccinated
If you're aged 18 or over, you must be carrying proof that you're fully vaccinated when travelling to Scotland. Your proof needs to show that it's at least 14 days since you had your final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
If you’ve been vaccinated in Scotland, you can download the NHS Scotland Vaccine Status app. You'll be able to use the NHS Scotland Vaccine Status app to prove your vaccine details. If you cannot download the app, you can get a paper record of your vaccinations from NHS Inform.
If you've been vaccinated outside Scotland
If you’ve been vaccinated in the EU, or another country using the European Digital Covid Certificate, you can use the European Digital COVID certificate as proof of your vaccine status.
If you’ve been vaccinated in the US, you can use a CDC Card, New York Excelsior Pass Plus, California Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record or Washington State WA Verify Pass as proof of your vaccine status.
If you were not vaccinated in Scotland, the US or a country covered by the European Digital Covid certificate, check GOV.UK for what proof you’ll need from other countries.
If you're not able to prove you've been vaccinated, or the vaccine you've had is not approved in the UK, you should follow the travel rules for someone who is not fully vaccinated.
If you receive a void or inconclusive PCR test result, you are asked, as a matter of guidance, to self-isolate for 10 days or until you take another private PCR test and the result is negative.
Exemptions
If you’re part of a current COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial, or you have been in the past, you may count as fully vaccinated. This covers phase 2 and phase 3 trials in a World Health Organisation Stringent Regulatory Authority country or trials given by the European Medicines Agency. If you count as fully vaccinated because of a clinical trial, you must be able to provide proof that you are or were part of a clinical trial when travelling to Scotland.
at least 14 days before you arrive in Scotland -.the day you have your second dose does not count as one of the 14 days
If you’ve only had one dose, you must follow the rules for someone who has not been fully vaccinated.
Formulations of these vaccines, such as AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda, also count as approved vaccines.
You can also:
mix 2 different types of an approved vaccine, for example Oxford/AstraZeneca and Moderna
have your 2 vaccinations under 2 different approved programmes, such as in Australia and Japan, the UK and USA or France and Canada
If you live in Scotland or England and you're unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons - you must provide an NHS COVID Pass, secure medical exemption certificate or Department of Health and Social Care confirmation letter as proof.
If you’ve had the Janssen vaccine – single dose vaccine
You must have had your single dose of the Janssen vaccine:
If you've not been vaccinated with an approved vaccine, you'll need to follow the rules for someone who is not fully vaccinated if you're travelling to Scotland.
Children under 18
All children under 18 are counted as ‘fully vaccinated’ when they arrive in Scotland. This applies:
even if they have not had a COVID-19 vaccine
no matter which country or territory they normally live in
Children aged under 18 do not need to self-isolate or take a COVID-19 test before or after arriving in Scotland.
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000
The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
First published:26 Nov 2021Last updated:11 Feb 2022 - show all updates
Updated with changes to fully vaccinated travel rules, non-fully vaccinated travel rules and travel exemptions.
Added announcement of upcoming changes for all travellers from 4am, 11 February.
Updated with latest rules for fully vaccinated travellers, including choice of day 2 lateral flow tests rather than PCR.
Updated to include changes to rules for fully vaccinated travellers.
Updated to include upcoming changes to rules for fully vaccinated travellers.
Updated to remove all countries from Scotland's red list.
Added announcement all countries to be removed from red list.
Removed lines that said children (under 18) do not need to isolate.
Updated to reflect pre-departure test extension to everybody aged 12 and over.
Nigeria added to red list.
Updated to reflect 2 announcements: Nigeria to move to red list and extension of pre-departure testing requirements.
Updated to reflect PCR testing requirement.
Added upcoming rule changes for fully vaccinated travellers.
Added more detail for hotel booking process for arrivals from red list countries.
Added information that 6 African countries will be added to red list from 26 November.
Link to foreign travel advice on overview page amended to point to https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice.
Amended overview page to make clear who the guide is for and better links between pre-arrival tests and fully vaccinated rules.
Changes to sectoral exemptions page transport categories - aircraft pilots/crew, ship inspectors, bus/coach drivers, goods vehicles drivers. Also information about clinical trials added to not fully vaccinated page.
Changes made to Overview page.
Changes made to Overview page.
Changes to Overview, Testing for people travelling to Scotland and Managed and self-isolation: what you must do.
Revised guide layout to make the information clearer and separated out red list rules into its own page.
Added Ethiopia section to Testing rules for travelling to Scotland page.
Minor changes made to not fully vaccinated over 18's information on Red/non-red countries page.
Red and non-red list rules page updated.
Updated text about getting help to pay for hotel quarantine/testing packages.
Updated the guide to reflect that no countries are on the red list.
Updated to reflect option of booking lateral flow tests for fully vaccinated travellers and 11 to 17 year olds entering Scotland.
Minor change to 'What fully vaccinated means' on Red/non-red countries.
Amended text on Red, amber and green list countries.
Text updates to Red and non-red list rules.
Revised red list and accepted vaccines for 'fully vaccinated' status.
Linked to news release announcing changes to the red list from 11 October.
Update to reflect changes that came into effect today. Green and amber lists no longer in use, changes to pre-departure testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers.
Minor updates to links and bullet point re. amber countries.
Amendment to text on amber countries section for 'if you're not fully vaccinated' to clarify when 10 day period starts.
Revisions to red, amber and green list countries effective from 4am on 19 July 2021.
Added news release to Overview and Red, amber and green list countries.
Revised red list to show upcoming changes.
Exemptions page updated - sections on clinical trials and studies and specialist technical work in sub-sea telecommunications infrastructure, goods, waste, power infrastructure or space infrastructure updated to include testing information update.
Link updated on testing for people travelling to Scotland page.
Updated to reflect that private providers are now eligible to supply testing kits.
Added Luxembourg to amber list.
Changes to Overview and Red, amber and green list countries.
Changes to Overview, Red, amber and green list countries and Testing for people travelling to Scotland.
Altered the layout of the red, amber, green list page so that green is at the top. Amended the text in the amber section to make the vaccination content clearer.
Updated email on Managed isolation: what you must do
Amended pricing for testing.
Updated Managed and self isolation: what you must do
Changes to Overview, Red amber and green list countries, Sectoral exemptions and Managed isolation: what you must do pages.
Changes to Overview, Red amber and green list countries and Managed isolation: what you must do pages.
Changes to overview page and amber countries page reflecting latest changes in respect of vaccinations and travel.
Changes to overview page and amber countries page reflecting latest changes in respect of vaccinations and travel.
Changes to Overview and Red, green and amber list countries and Testing for people travelling to Scotland.
Changes to Overview and Red, green and amber list countries.
Compassionate exemptions on medical grounds section added to sector exemptions page - exemptions: arriving from all countries.
Word "quarantine" replaced replaced with “self-isolate at home or the place you are staying” in references to arrivals from France.
Revisions to red, amber and green list countries effective from 4am on 19 July 2021.
Amended to highlight that 19 July double NHS vaccination rules will not apply to people returning from France.
Updated to reflect changes coming into force on 19 July 2021, in particular overview, all lists and details and isolating in a hotel
Changed sectoral exemptions for seafarers.
Amended sectoral exemptions for defence personnel.
Amended sectoral exemptions for seamen.
Amended red, amber and green lists to reflect changes coming into effect at 4am.
Amended the amber list to show changes coming into effect on 30 June 2021.
Added link to news release - expanded travel green list for Scotland - dated 24 June, following latest review.
Updated offshore oil and gas work in sectoral exemptions page to reflect current situation.
Added information notice to Red list countries and areas section.
Updated elite sportspeople in sectoral exemptions page to reflect current situation.
Amendment to sectoral exemptions page for those returning from amber countries. Removed: 'you do not need to book a managed isolation package' as these sectors do not need to self isolate.
Overview and red, amber and green counties pages updated to reflected latest situation.
Added details in the sectoral exemptions chapter, seafarers section on cruise ship detail.
Changes made to 'getting help paying for your hotel quarantine section' email and telephone numbers on the managed and self isolation page.
Link to CTM booking portal amended.
Boarding school pupils and children under 18 travelling without an adult information updated.
Updated seamen, masters of ships, ship inspectors or surveyors of ships information.
Updated to reflect regulation changes on 17 May 2021.
Added information on the red, amber and green list countries that will come into effect on 17 May 2021.
Nepal, Maldives and Turkey added to list of acute risk countries.
Changes made to links for seasonal migrant workers. Also minor amendments made to what you must do and sectoral exemptions pages to add links to ctm portal and north hotels.
Made sectoral exemptions page testing criteria clearer.
Information on getting help to pay for your hotel quarantine updated.
Line added to information note on sectoral exemptions page about booking of testing packages.
Sectoral exemptions amended because the existing exemption for ‘transporting human cells or blood’ will be extended to arrivals from all countries effective from 4am on Friday 23 April.
India added to list of acute risk countries as of 4am on Friday 23 April.
Added Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan and Philippines to list of acute risk countries as of 4am on Friday 9 April.
Added information box and link and updated seamen section in sectoral exemptions, update to covid testing in travelling to England in managed and self-isolation page.
Clarification of testing for children aged 11 or over in the boarding schools section.
Updates to the boarding schools/children under 18 section in sectoral exemptions.
sectoral exemptions (seamen) section updated.
Addition of boarding school pupils and children under 18 travelling without an adult to sectoral exemptions page
Updated phone number in managed and self isolation section.
Update to section on seamen, masters of ships, ship inspectors or surveyors of ships in sectoral exemptions.
Updated the text relating exemptions to aircraft pilots or crew and seamen etc in relation to travel from acute risk countries
Removed Mauritius and Portugal from acute risk countries and added: Ethiopia, Oman, Qatar and Somalia.
Revised layout to make it clearer.
Added information about previous positive test results to testing for people travelling to Scotland section.
Removed Falkland Islands from list of acute list countries.
Added Myanmar to list of exemptions in testing for people travelling to Scotland section.
Added links to supplementary agricultural advice.
Change made to introductory paragraph of managed isolation guidance page.
All pages updated and new content added on managed isolation.
Link added to booking portal from key facts page.
Sectoral exemptions page updated.
Key facts and what you must do pages updated.
Added new section on arrival from Burundi, Rwanda and the UAE.
List of country exemptions removed.
Added suspended information to film and tv sectoral exemption.
List of exempt countries removed following the suspension of travel corridors.
Country exemptions page and key facts page updated to reflect the fact that the travel corridors have been suspended until further notice.
Added new section on testing for people travelling to Scotland.
Updated travel information for Brazil, Aruba, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, Saba and Qatar
Key facts page amended to include information about requirement to have a valid negative COVID-19 test result, taken no more than three days before the scheduled time of departure.
Added information re United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Added information on arrivals from Dubai to the exemptions page.
Updates on travel advice for: Israel and Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Israel
Caution note added to key facts page regarding travel restrictions from the UK.
Updated country exemptions page to reference arrivals from Namibia, Uruguay and US Virgin Islands.
Updated to reflect change in self-isolation period from 14 to 10 days.
Updated to reflect changes including addition of Botswana and Saudi Arabia and removal of Canary Islands from 04:00o on 12/12/21.
Updated country exemptions page to reflect latest position.
Various changes to the list of country exemptions.
Updated exemptions page to reflect recent changes
Changes to various country exemptions.
Changes to travel rules covering Denmark.
Removed Denmark from list of exempt countries.
Updated travel information for Germany and Sweden.
Updated travel information for Cyprus and Lithuania.
Regulations page updated
Updated travel information for the Canary Islands, Denmark, the Maldives and Mykonos, and Liechtenstein.
Updated travel information for Greece and Italy.
Updated travel information for Madeira and Azores; Poland, Turkey and the Caribbean islands of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba
Updated travel information for Curacao, Denmark, Iceland and Slovakia.
Updated travel information for Singapore, Thailand, Slovenia and Guatemala.
Updates to Overview and Regulations pages.
Updated travel information for Sweden, Hungary and La Reunion
Updated travel information for Portugal and French Polynesia.
Updated travel information for Greece.
Added Cuba, removed Czech Republic and Jamaica.
Changed number of exempt UK overseas territories from 14 to 13 and added note to Portugal.
Removed Austria, Croatia, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago and added Portugal.
Add notes for Austria, Croatia, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago and Portugal.
Country exemptions: removed France, The Netherlands, Aruba, Turks and Caicos, Malta and Monaco
Country exemptions: removed Andorra, The Bahamas and Belgium from list.
Country exemptions: added info re Andorra, The Bahamas and Belgium.
Removed Luxembourg from the exemptions list.
Self isolation advice changed from 7 to 10 days
Added Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia and St Vincent and the Grenadines to the exemptions list.
Removed Spain to the exemptions list.
Added Spain to the exemptions list.
Added in links to the sectoral exemptions page to guidance for seasonal workers and elite sports.
Changes to exemptions and sectoral exemptions pages to reflect the 'travel corridor'.
Revised with country and sector specific information updates.
Added link to news item detailing countries where rules do not apply
