France VTL: No more pre-departure COVID-19 testing for fully vaccinated travellers

France has scrapped its pre-departure COVID-19 test requirement for fully-vaccinated travellers, regardless of origin or travel history.

Previously, travellers from outside the EU were required to present a negative COVID-19 ART or PCR test administered within 48 hours of departure. This requirement came into effect in December 2021, due to the new Omicron variant. 

France drops pre-departure test requirement

From 12 February 2022, fully vaccinated travellers to France are no longer required to present a negative pre-departure COVID-19 test.

“Proof of vaccination will be sufficient to come to France whatever country you are coming from, just as it was before the spread of the Omicron variant”

-French Government

The vaccination requirement is waived for travellers aged 11 or below who are travelling with fully vaccinated parents or guardians. 

France recognises vaccines on the European Medicines Agency (EMA) list, namely:

• Pfizer/BioNTech (Comirnaty)
• AstraZeneca EU (Vaxzevria)
• Moderna (Spikevax)
• Johnson & Johnson (Janssen)
• AstraZeneca – Covishield (Serum Institute of India) [not on EMA list]
• Novavax (Nuvaxovid)

Note that Sinovac and Sinopharm are not on the EMA list. If you’ve received the full regime of either of these vaccines, you must receive a further dose of an mRNA vaccine to be considered fully vaccinated. 

Singapore vaccination certificates are now EUDCC compatible, and will be recognised in France. 

France does not currently require a booster dose for travellers entering the country. However, you will require a booster to obtain/maintain a vaccine pass. Boosters must be taken according to the following timeline:

• Within seven months, if your booster dose was received before 15 February 2022
• Within four months, if your booster dose was received from 15 February 2022

In other words, if you’re already fully vaccinated as of today, then seven months is the timeframe to get your booster. 

As before, travellers will need to provide a sworn statement (the link on the Ministry of Interior’s website is currently broken, but you can find a PDF form for Amber list countries [i.e. Singapore] here) attesting that they have no symptoms of COVID-19 infection and that they are not aware of any contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the 14 days prior to travel.

While these changes have already been reflected on the French Ministry of Interior’s website, they have yet to appear on Singapore Airlines’ travel advisory page, nor on IATA Timatic. Until the latter is updated, you may run into issues at check-in with agents who insist on enforcing the previous rules. 

France VTL testing cost

With the latest rules, here’s an illustration of how much a round-trip traveller from Singapore to France will incur in testing costs.

As a reminder, Singapore has simplified its post-arrival testing regime for VTL travellers. From 24 January 2022, there is no longer any need for supervised ART swabs on Days 3 & 7, or to report the results of self-administered ARTs. Travellers will only need to swab themselves during the Day 2-7 period on days they intend to leave their accommodation. 

Recently recovered?

If you’re fully vaccinated and have recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection, you will not be required to undergo pre-departure testing or testing on arrival in Singapore, and will be exempt from SHN regardless of whether you return on a VTL or non-VTL flight. 

This is provided you can present either of the following documents:

• a positive COVID-19 PCR or professionally-administered ART result dated between 7-90 days before date of departure to Singapore or
• a discharge memo 

Either document must:

• state the traveller’s name and at least one other personal identifier (e.g. date of birth, passport number)
• state the date of infection or discharge date, which must be within 7-90 days before the date of departure for Singapore
• be issued by a relevant state authority or licensed medical professional

For more details, refer to the article below.

Big news: No more SHN, testing or “14-day stranding” for recently-recovered vaccinated travellers to Singapore

VTL flights from France

There is no restriction on the flights that travellers may take to France, but if your trip is <14 days, you’ll want to make sure you either fly non-stop, or only transit in Category I or VTL countries en route (since a 14-day travel history that includes non-Category I/non-VTL countries will disqualify you from taking a VTL flight back to Singapore). 

However, travellers will need to take a VTL flight from France to Singapore if they wish to avoid a 7-day SHN on arrival.

VTL flights from France to Singapore are currently operated by Singapore Airlines and Air France, as per the following schedule.

Schedules will change after 26 March 2022, so refer to the Singapore Airlines or Air France website for the latest information. 

As a reminder, here’s the requirements for VTL travel to Singapore. 

Which VTL countries have eliminated pre-departure testing?

The following VTL countries no longer require fully-vaccinated travellers from Singapore to take a pre-departure test:

• Denmark
• France
• Germany
• India
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• United Kingdom

For the full list of countries and their respective requirements, refer to The MileLion’s Complete VTL Guide.

If you need to find a pre-departure test in Singapore, the article below provides the cheapest options available. 

Cheapest pre-departure COVID-19 ART and PCR tests in Singapore

Conclusion

France has scrapped its pre-departure COVID-19 test requirement, which means outbound travel from Singapore will be completely testing free.

Travellers returning to Singapore will still need to do a pre-departure and on-arrival test (unless they’re fully vaccinated and recently recovered), but hopefully this will be eased in time to come as well- we already know an ART trial is underway for arriving passengers.