[COVID] List of compelling reasons for traveling outside the EU
While everyone expected a new lockdown, Prime Minister Jean Castex only announced a few new measures.
One of these measures has a major impact for travelers: the closure of French borders with countries outside the European Union.
Starting this Sunday at midnight, travel between France and outside the European Union is banned, whether entering or leaving France, unless there are “compelling reasons”.
Specifically, from now on, if you need to make such a trip, you must have in your possession:
- A certificate justifying the compelling reason for your trip
- Supporting documents for your compelling reason
This new measure has only been in effect for a few hours, so we’ll have feedback in a few days on how it’s actually enforced (we’ve seen in recent months that there can be huge gaps between official announcements and on-the-ground reality).
But here’s what we can already say.
The travel certificate
Another certificate! This one is called “Certificate of travel from mainland France to a country outside the European area”.
You can download it from the website of the Ministry of the Interior.
The certificate is very simple, and you must select one of these compelling reasons:
- Compelling health reason
- Compelling family reason
- Compelling professional reason that cannot be postponed
- Return to country of residence or origin
Details of compelling reasons and supporting documents
On your certificate, you must specify your compelling reason and prepare the corresponding supporting documents.
The list may seem quite long, but the cases are still very specific and clearly… vacations or leisure trips are not included.
How will checks be carried out?
We’ll have testimonials in the coming days, but it seems that there will be two types of checks:
- A check by the airline during check-in. I imagine this check will be systematic since they are used to this type of controls. Airlines already check that you have a valid visa for a given country. They check that you have enough blank pages in your passport (for countries that require a minimum number of pages), that you have an onward ticket (for countries that want to make sure you plan to leave), etc. It’s not difficult to set up, just an extra check. However, airlines will only verify that you have the certificate and the supporting document; it is not their role to judge the relevance or reality of the compelling reason. If you cannot present these documents, you may be denied boarding.
- A check by the border police. If the police have doubts, they may seek to verify your supporting documents. I think these checks will be much more random.
What about returning to France if I’m currently outside the European Union?
From this Sunday, to return to France you will need to:
- Present the certificate and supporting document
- Present a negative PCR test less than 72 hours old
- Commit to a 7-day self-isolation.
If you left for vacation, the compelling reason will be “Return to primary residence when the trip started before January 31, 2021” and you must be able to prove that you left before January 31.
Can I cheat by providing fake supporting documents?
Probably: the airline check will likely be a simple formality, and the border police checks random. They don’t have the time or means to investigate the reality of your compelling reason anyway.
Cheating will still be risky though, since:
- Checks will happen both on departure and return. You might win the first time and lose the second, not be able to board, and be stuck in a foreign country.
- With non-EU travel now banned except for compelling reasons, there’s a good chance that flight offerings will shrink in the coming weeks. You’re not safe from your return flight being canceled. It’ll then be hard to come complain and contact the embassy to ask for repatriation; you won’t be able to say you weren’t warned!
Another point far from trivial: if after a year of pandemic, everyone is fed up with restrictions, their goal is to try to slow down the epidemic. Since PCR tests don’t guarantee you’re not carrying the virus, by traveling you could contribute to spreading the virus and especially bring in new variants…
Everyone does what they want, but it seems irresponsible to me today to try to cheat to absolutely leave under these conditions. Unless you don’t plan to return to France for several months. With EU borders still open, take advantage to change your plans and explore our beautiful continent (even if it is true that it’s cold right now…).
What about Reunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guiana, …?
Overseas territories and departments are subject to the same restrictions as a non-EU country: only travel justified by a compelling reason is allowed.
