Immigration Corner | New coronavirus protocols for entering the UK

Dear Mr Bassie,

I realise that there have been some very recent changes concerning travelling to the United Kingdom (UK) due to the coronavirus. Could you please inform me of what are the recently introduced protocols with respect to this? Hopefully, you can advise me.

– T.B.

Dear T.B.,

Persons will need to complete a passenger locator form before they arrive in the UK because of coronavirus (COVID-19). Those persons may also need to self-isolate for up to 14 days when they arrive, depending on where they have travelled from.

Persons’ passports or identity cards will be checked on arrival at a UK port or airport to make sure that they are allowed to enter the country. The documents should be valid for the whole of the stay. Please note that persons may also need a visa to arrive into or travel through the UK, depending on their nationality. Prior to leaving for the UK, persons should check what documents they will need to enter the UK.

Persons will need to provide their contact details because of the coronavirus. They will need to provide their journey and contact details in the 48 hours before arriving in the UK, and they must do this by completing the online passenger locator form. Persons will need to show proof that they have completed the form when they arrive at the UK border. Please note that everyone over 18 years old must complete their own form.

Persons from an EEA country or Switzerland can enter the UK with either a valid passport or national identity card issued by an EEA country. Persons who are not from an EEA country must have a valid passport to enter the UK and it should be valid for the entire stay. Persons may also need a visa, depending on which country they are from.

Before boarding the carrier, for example, airline or transport provider, they will check the passport and other travel documents. They will send this information electronically to Border Force. Persons can ask to see the information about you that has been sent by carriers and those persons will have to pay a £10 fee.

Persons will need to show proof that they have completed a passenger locator form when they arrive at the UK border. The government will use the form to contact those persons if someone they have travelled with develops COVID-19 symptoms.

Upon submitting the form, persons will receive a confirmation email with a document attached. At the border control, they must show either a printed copy of the document or a downloaded copy of the document on their phone. Border Force officers will scan the QR code at the top of this document to check that the form has successfully been completed.

Please note that persons who are refused entry will be told in writing:

• Why thy have been refused entry to the UK;

• If they can appeal against the decision;

• When they will be removed from the UK.

Persons will usually have to leave the UK immediately. However, persons may be allowed into the UK temporarily, usually for up to a week, but their passports will be taken from them and they must report to immigration officers at set times.

SELF-ISOLATING UPON ARRIVAL IN THE UK

United Kingdom national restrictions will begin in England from November 5. Further information about the new restrictions and what persons can and cannot do can be accessed online.

Persons need to self-isolate in the place they are staying for the first 14 days after arrival, unless they have only visited an exempt country, territory or region. This is because of COVID-19.

Persons may be fined up to £10,000 if they do not self-isolate, and they can be prosecuted if they do not pay the fine on time.

The government will use the details provide in the passenger locator form to check if they are self-isolating. Please note that there are different self-isolation rules and penalties if travelling to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Persons do not need to self-isolate in England if they are travelling from:

• A country, territory or region on the ‘travel corridors’ list;

• Ireland;

• the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man.

Those persons must have spent the last 14 days in one of these places, or the UK.

PERSONS WHO VISIT OR STOP SOMEWHERE THAT IS NOT EXEMPT

Persons will need to self-isolate when they arrive in England if they visit somewhere that is not exempt in the 14 days before they arrive. They will need to self-isolate for up to 14 days – the exact number of days depends on when they left the non-exempt country, territory or region.

For example, persons who spend two days in an exempt country after leaving the non-exempt country and before travelling to England, those persons will only need to self-isolate for 12 days when they arrive in England.

Visiting includes making a ‘transit stop’ as part of the coach, ferry, train or plane journey, where passengers can get on or off.

If persons make a transit stop in a non-exempt country, territory or region, they will only need to self-isolate if either new passengers get on, or if those persons or other passengers get off and back on again. Please note: persons will need to self-isolate for 14 days from the date they left the non-exempt country, territory or region.

Please be aware that if persons are travelling as part of their job they might not need to self-isolate. Those persons are advised to read the guidance online concerning who does not need to self-isolate.

I hope this helps.

John S. Bassie is a barrister/attorney-at-law who practises law in Jamaica. He is a justice of the peace, a Supreme Court-appointed mediator, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a chartered arbitrator and a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (UK). Email: lawbassie@yahoo.com