Documents & Covid Tests Needed, for Europe, USA & Asia
Irish Mirror
More and more continents have been announcing changes to their travel rules as vaccination rates reach new heights and infection severity weakens.
Irish passengers who are vaccinated and boostered against Covid-19 no longer have to produce a negative antigen or PCR before arrival home, however, some countries will still expect the double verification before arrival.
So wherever you plan to escape to this spring or summer for a bit of sunshine, here’s what we know so far about everything you will need across Europe, the US and Asia.
Europe
All EU member states have agreed to facilitate travel for vaccinated passengers as long as they are within the new expiry terms. People will be allowed to travel freely in the EU if they have had their first course of vaccination a maximum of 270 days ago, or if they have received a booster shot - which has no time limit.
Those who have recovered from Covid-19 in the last 180 days, and passengers who have had a PCR test 72 hours before arriving or an antigen test 24 hours before, are also allowed in.
One exception will be countries in the highest “red” category of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control colour-coded risk map - at which point, additional measures such as testing could be needed for all passengers.
Each traveller will also have to fill out a locator form which is local to their destination and can usually find them on the official tourism website for the country of arrival.
Asia
Irish holidaymakers will be able to travel to Thailand, Bali, and the Philippines this month. The easing of rules in all three countries will mainly benefit those who have been fully vaccinated, or have their booster shot. For those headed to Bali, Reuters reports that from Friday, February 4, international visitors who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 will still be required to do between five and seven days of quarantine on arrival.
However, this will be the first time Irish passengers can enter Bali without a full quarantine period.
Meanwhile, Thailand resumed its 'Test & Go' quarantine waiver for vaccinated arrivals on February 1 in response to the easing of Covid-19 infections.
This will see all passengers required to take an extra PCR test on the fifth day of arriving and they must wait for the test result at their hotel or face legal action.
Visitors will have to spend one night in a certified hotel while they wait for the result of their first PCR test taken on arrival.
The Philippines will grant entry to visitors vaccinated against Covid-19 from February 10.
Therefore, citizens of 150 countries on the Philippines’ visa-free entry list - which includes Ireland - will be allowed to enter.
Quarantine requirements will be removed for foreign tourists from this date, Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said in a statement, but they must be vaccinated and have tested negative for Covid-19.
United States
The United States still has some strict travel measures in place for passengers arriving in from Ireland.
According to the existing advice, fully vaccinated people can enter the US if they provide proof of vaccination status and a negative Covid-19 test prior to boarding an airplane to the US. The negative Covid-19 result must be from a test taken no more than 1 day before travel to the US. This applies to all air passengers, regardless of citizenship.
Documentation showing you have recovered from the virus in the past 90 days can be shown as an alternative to the negative Covid test. At this point, all air passengers aged 2 or older, regardless of citizenship or vaccination status, must show a negative test result taken no more than 1 day before travel.
They can also show documentation of recovery from illness in the past 90 days, before boarding a flight to the United States.
For those who are not fully vaccinated against the virus, they can only travel to the US if they either meet the US government’s criteria for an exception or receive a waiver from the CDC to travel to the US.