Starting the week of January 11, 2021, all international travelers arriving in England, including U.K. nationals, will be required to present a negative COVID-19 test taken up to 72 hours before travel. Travelers will be subject to an immediate fine of £500 if they fail to comply with the new regulations on pre-departure testing. All passengers arriving from countries not on the government’s travel corridor list will still be required to self-isolate for 10 days, regardless of their negative COVID-19 test result.

Travelers will also still be required to fill in a passenger locator form and will be subject to national lockdown restrictions. A limited number of exemptions may apply to hauliers, children under 11 and crews. The rules are not expected to apply to travelers from the Common Travel Area with Ireland or to those traveling from unnamed countries deemed to not have the capacity to provide the tests. All the exemptions will be set out on the gov.uk website.

We recommend that companies with travelers arriving from next week onwards ensure that their employees receive appropriate communications and support so that there are no hurdles on entry to the country or fines incurred.