Bonjour! France instates new rules for entry to the country

The French government has issued new entry requirements for all travellers wishing to visit France.

As of 1 February 2022, France has a new definition of the term ‘fully vaccinated’. In order to be considered fully vaccinated, travellers to France that over the age of 18 must have certification proving that they received a booster dose with an RNA vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) if nine months has passed since the last dose of vaccine in the primary series.

TravelNews reports that this is applicable for travel to metropolitan France, Corsica and France’s Overseas Territories, which includes Réunion, Mayotte and other island territories belonging to France.

The booster dose of vaccine can either be a third dose for two-dose vaccine recipients, or a second dose for recipients of the one-dose Janssen or for travellers who have been infected by COVID-19.

Visitors who don’t meet these criteria will be considered unvaccinated and must then follow the requirements for unvaccinated people entering the country, which include the requirement to be quarantined for 10 days while supervised by security forces in France. It is also important to note that unvaccinated travellers and those who are outside the 270-day (nine month) limit and have not had the booster, will only be able to enter the country for compelling reasons.

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France opens borders to SA nationals

Last month, January 2022, saw France ease its entry restrictions on South African nationals.

The French Consulate in Cape Town had announced that South Africa had been removed from their scarlet list, which is a list of nations banned from entering the country.

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