Test requirements

• Valid until 4th April 2023: Passengers aged 12 years and older travelling directly or indirectly from China, Hong Kong, or Macau to England must hold a negative lateral flow or PCR test result obtained within 2 days prior to departure. Passengers must hold the printed or digital certificate issued in English, French, or Spanish, and it must include the passenger's name which must match the travel document, their date of birth or age, the test result, the date the test sample was collected or received by the test provider, the name of the test provider and their contact details, and confirmation of the type of test taken. NHS-provided tests are not accepted.
• This does not apply to passengers holding evidence of one of the following:
• Passengers who started their journey in another country and only transit ‘airside’ through mainland China before arriving in the United Kingdom. However please note that passengers who transit ‘landside’ (pass through border control) in China are required to hold a test result;
• Crew members and civil aviation inspectors;
• Passengers transporting material which consists of, or includes, human cells or blood and which is to be used for the provision of healthcare by a healthcare provider;
• Crown servants or government contractors travelling to undertake essential government work, including the functioning of a diplomatic mission or consular post, or of a military or other official posting, provided the relevant department certified the passenger cannot provide a pre-departure test;
• Passengers travelling to undertake essential or emergency work which is necessary to facilitate essential government work, provided the relevant department certified the passenger cannot provide a pre-departure test;
• Passengers who hold relevant immunities and privileges in the United Kingdom, provided they hold written confirmation from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) that they are exempt from pre-departure test;
• Officers and servants of an international organisation, passengers employed by an international organisation as experts or on a mission, representatives to an international organisation and members of their official staff, provided they hold written confirmation from the FCDO that they are exempt from pre-departure test due to their work;
• Representatives of a foreign country or territory required to undertake relevant work relating to essential maintenance and repair of an information technology or security system necessary for the functioning of a mission or consular post in the UK which represents the relevant foreign country, or the holding of an election or referendum in accordance with the laws or regulations of a foreign country or territory, provided they hold written confirmation from the FCDO that they are exempt from pre-departure test due to their work;
• Representative of the government of a British Overseas Territory, provided they hold written confirmation from the FCDO that they are exempt from pre-departure test due to the work;
• Members of the democratic opposition, a political party, or persons who undertake activities in a foreign country or territory that support government policy related to national security, the promotion and protection of human rights, the mitigation of, or adaptation to, climate change, the maintenance of international peace and security, or the maintaining or enhancing of biodiversity, provided they have been invited by the FCDO Secretary of State and they hold written confirmation from the FCDO that they are exempt from pre-departure test due to the business they are conducting;
• Passengers travelling for the State Government; or
• Passengers with a reasonable excuse for not holding the pre-departure test, including accompanying passengers, provided they either:
• Are medically unfit and hold proof issued in English or accompanied by a certified English translation, signed by a medical practitioner entitled to practise the country or territory in which that practitioner was based;
• Have a disability or require urgent medical treatment and the obtaining of a pre-departure test was not reasonably practicable; or
• Have contracted coronavirus and required emergency medical treatment.