COVID-19: UK Removes All Travel Restrictions

•High commission debunks claims of temporary suspension of priority visa

Chinedu Eze and Ugo Aliogo

The United Kingdom has announced that it would remove the remaining COVID-19 international travel restrictions for all passengers from 4am on Friday 18 March.

The UK government which disclosed this on its website, noted that it would remove the remaining restrictions on international travel for all passengers ahead of the Easter holidays. The statement quoted Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, to have said these.

“As one of the first major economies to remove all its remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions, this is a landmark moment for passengers and the travel and aviation sector.

“From 4am Friday 18 March, all COVID-19 travel restrictions will be lifted, including the passenger locator form (PLF) for arrivals into UK, as well as all tests for passengers who do not qualify as vaccinated.

“This change, therefore, removes the need for unvaccinated passengers to take a pre-departure test and a day 2 arrival test,” the statement said.

The statement said this step reflects the decisions taken by the government, as set out in the Living with COVID plan and the success of the UK’s vaccine and booster rollout, with 86 per cent of the population having received a second dose and 67 per cent of the population with a booster or third dose.

 Shapps was quoted to have said: “The UK is leading the world in removing all remaining COVID-19 travel restrictions, and today’s (March 14) announcement is a testament to the hard work everyone in this country has put in place to roll out the vaccine and protect each other.

“I said we wouldn’t keep travel measures in place for any longer than necessary, which we’re delivering on today – providing more welcome news and greater freedom for travellers ahead of the Easter holidays.

“I look forward to continuing to work with the travel sector and partners around the world to keep international travel moving.”

Also, Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “As we learn to live with COVID-19, we’re taking further steps to open up international travel once again ahead of the Easter holidays.

“We will continue monitoring and tracking potential new variants and keep a reserve of measures that can be rapidly deployed if needed to keep us safe.

“We can remove these final restrictions thanks to the incredible success of our vaccination programme, which has seen more than 8 out of 10 adults across the UK boosted.”

UK said to ensure the protection of public health, the government would maintain a range of contingency measures in reserve, which would enable it to take swift and proportionate action to delay any future harmful variants of COVID-19 entering the UK should the need arise.

It also stated that in future, the government’s default approach would be to use the least stringent measures, if appropriate, to minimise the impact on travel as far as possible – given the high personal, economic and international costs border measures can have – and the contingency measures would only be implemented in extreme circumstances.

It added that given the current state of the pandemic and a move towards global travel volumes returning to normal, the remaining managed hotel quarantine capacity would be fully stood down from the end of March.

The Chief Executive of Airlines UK, Tim Alderslade said: “Today’s announcement sends a clear message to the world – the UK travel sector is back. With travellers returning to the UK no longer burdened by unnecessary forms and testing requirements, we can now look forward to the return to pre-COVID normality throughout the travel experience.

“We’re grateful for the timing of the announcement as we prepare to welcome back passengers this Easter and summer, for which we know there is huge pent-up demand, and for the UK’s leadership in being the first major aviation market to remove all remaining restrictions. The time to return to the skies – to enjoy all that makes aviation and international travel great, for families and businesses – is now.”

Meanwhile, the British High Commission has debunked claims of a temporary suspension of study, work, and family visa applications for Nigerians.

The High Commission in a statement said: “Following the statement issued by the Commission in Nigeria on 15 March that temporary suspension of priority visas for student work and family applications, we are aware of reporting circulating in the Nigerian media and online that the UK has suspended student, work and family visas for Nigerian applicants.”

The statement pointed out that the news circulating in the media was not true, adding that it was still possible to apply for any category of UK visa in the usual way on gov.uk and their Visa Applications Centers (VAC) in Nigeria.

It noted that the VACs remains open, saying customers are welcome to apply for a standard visa of any category in the usual manner, this includes student, family, work and visit visas.

According to the statement, “Due to a reprioritisation of resources in response to the humanitarian crisis arising from the invasion of Ukraine, the UK has temporarily suspended its priority visa service.

“As our 15 March statement, made clear, this temporary suspension only applies to the UKVI’s expedited, added-value ‘Priority’ and ‘Super Priority’ visa services.  This suspension is to enable the UK’s global visa operation to prioritise applications for the new Ukraine Family Scheme.”