Kibkom North Cyprus Forum

Could we start a thread on the requirements needed to fly back to the UK? Now that Turkey has been removed from the red list. Need to go back for a funeral and would like to fly Ercan to London.

We want more info too - want to see new grandchild, don't mind self isolating 5 days, but can't afford and don't want to go to a hotel. A friend is letting us use their guest house. We are triple vaccinated and also want to fly via Turkey

We are in the same position.

I wrote to the BRS for guidance. As far as I can gather you need a PCR test from here and have to self isolate for either 5 or 10days, the reason is that the UK only recognises vaccines given in the UK EU or the US. When you arrive in the UK you then have to get a PCR test after two days and 8th day may be wrong on that?

Me too. Been over 18 month since I've seen my family.

If you read my post further down under ‘Turkey Off Red’ that is basically what you will need to do. But it is important verify everything for your own circumstances, because things change regularly.
However the basics are travelling via Turkey you will be classed as unvaccinated fo UK government purposes.
You will need a PCR test within 3 days of travelling. You will also need to order two PCR test for when in the UK, (note you will not be allowed to travel without it) The two test are a two day test and an eight day test. You can opt for a five day release test after five days but that is additional cost.
The other form you need before you travel is a passenger location form.
THE two PCR test and the passenger location form need to be done online.
You will need to register online for the location form and this form will ask for information about your two ordered PCR test.
The cost of the PCR test can be costly from about £70.00 to £150.00. There is a authorised list on the Internet. The location form is free. When you arrive in the UK you do your two test which will have been posted to you on day two and day Eight.
YOU WILL NEED TO SELF ISOLATE AT THE ADDRESS GIVEN ON THE LOCATION FORM FOR 10 DAYS. I hope this information is useful.
Forgot to point out this information only applies from 4 AM on the 4th of October. And relates to ‘ England’ rather than UK. Different rules apply if flying into Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Thank you very much. that information is perfect, thank you for taking the trouble to reply.

The UK recognises vaccines from the EU, the US and 17 other countries. Turkey is not one of those countries at the moment. That’s the reason we are not classed as vaccinated for UK purposes. Apparently the Government is in talks with the UAE to verify their vaccines, useless for us I know , but UK government has stated it is willing to talk to other countries if they can prove the reliability of their vaccination program!

This is from 22 Sept 4am

- Double Vaccinated to UK from TRNC via Turkey:

• Within 72 Hour Negative PCR Test required prior to entry – children aged 10 and under do not need to take this test

• Complete the Passenger Locator Form prior to departure: https://provide-journey-contact-details ... erQuestion

• If you’re coming to England from an amber list country and have been fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the bodies listed in UK Gov guide you:
  • must take a COVID-19 pre-departure test
  • must take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 after you arrive in England – arrival day is day 0
  • do not have to quarantine when you arrive in England

The COVID-19 vaccines currently approved for use in the UK are:
Moderna vaccine
Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine
Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine
Janssen vaccine

If you are NOT vaccinated by UK Approved Vaccination Scheme:

If you’re coming to England from an amber list country and are not fully vaccinated with an authorised vaccine you must:

• quarantine on arrival at home or in the place you’re staying for 10 Days

• take a day 2 test after you arrive in England – on or before day 2

• take a day 8 test after you arrive in England – on or after day 8

The day you arrive is day 0.
If your day 2 test is positive you do not have to take the day 8 test.

Soner, if travelling from TRNC via Turkey you are classed as non vaccinated. In your first part ‘coming to England from amber and have been fully vaccinated with a vaccine’ approved’ means a vaccine from thu EU, US or one of 17 other countries, Turkey is not one of those countries.
In your second part you forgot to mention the passenger locator form and that the PCR test on day two and day eight need to be booked prior to departure.

Mr Chinnery wrote: ↑

Tue 21 Sep 2021 6:21 pm

Soner, if travelling from TRNC via Turkey you are classed as non vaccinated. In your first part ‘coming to England from amber and have been fully vaccinated with a vaccine’ approved’ means a vaccine from thu EU, US or one of 17 other countries, Turkey is not one of those countries.
In your second part you forgot to mention the passenger locator form and that the PCR test on day two and day eight need to be booked prior to departure.

Thank you for pointing this out. I have amended on Covid Help page: viewtopic.php?p=277052#p277052

Another thing to note is that your day 5/8 test has to be done on the appropriate day after the time you arrived in the UK. For example you arrive in UK at 20:50 on Monday, that is day 0, the optional day 5 test can't be performed before 20:50 on Saturday, results most likely received on Sunday or Monday and if negative then you can be released. The day 8 test can't be performed before 20:50 on the following Tuesday but regardless of when you receive the negative result you cannot leave self isolation until after 20:50 on the Thursday, day 10 (unless you did the optional day 5 test and had a negative result).
If you do the day 5 test you still have to do the day 8 test but there's no requirement to self isolate whilst waiting for the result.
We were called and visited during our self isolation period, thankfully we opted for the day 5 test and got the negative result back early afternoon on day 7.

As mentioned above, you have to book and pay for the tests to complete the passenger locator form, the booking reference is required on the form. We were also asked to show proof of purchase for the tests at check-in so it's a good idea to have that printed out too.

Check the gove.uk site for details I didn’t think it was actually changing until the 4th October hopefully then will be a lot clearer

Ace123 wrote: ↑

Wed 22 Sep 2021 5:24 am

Check the gove.uk site for details I didn’t think it was actually changing until the 4th October hopefully then will be a lot clearer

Turkey comes out of Red today. However, there will be further changes to UK requirements from 4th October. Hopefully, they will recognise vaccinations given in TRNC, well, at the least the Astra Zeneca...

Ace123,
My post above states the rules change on 4th of October. It won’t get any clearer then because the details from 4th October are already available.

come_on_aylin wrote: ↑

Tue 21 Sep 2021 8:11 pm

Another thing to note is that your day 5/8 test has to be done on the appropriate day after the time you arrived in the UK. For example you arrive in UK at 20:50 on Monday, that is day 0, the optional day 5 test can't be performed before 20:50 on Saturday, results most likely received on Sunday or Monday and if negative then you can be released. The day 8 test can't be performed before 20:50 on the following Tuesday but regardless of when you receive the negative result you cannot leave self isolation until after 20:50 on the Thursday, day 10 (unless you did the optional day 5 test and had a negative result).
If you do the day 5 test you still have to do the day 8 test but there's no requirement to self isolate whilst waiting for the result.
We were called and visited during our self isolation period, thankfully we opted for the day 5 test and got the negative result back early afternoon on day 7.

As mentioned above, you have to book and pay for the tests to complete the passenger locator form, the booking reference is required on the form. We were also asked to show proof of purchase for the tests at check-in so it's a good idea to have that printed out too.

Thank you for the detailed info, very useful and will help inform people returning to UK. I will add link to this on the Covid Help page.

Soner. Didn't the Astra Zeneca come to the North via the South and therefore technically from the EU? Therefore, presumably there will be an audit trail of those batches and their bar codes will match those on our vaccination cards, fingers crossed?

When we self isolate in family accommodation in England do other members of family n same house need to isolate as well?

judyvin wrote: ↑

Sat 25 Sep 2021 7:04 am

Soner. Didn't the Astra Zeneca come to the North via the South and therefore technically from the EU? Therefore, presumably there will be an audit trail of those batches and their bar codes will match those on our vaccination cards, fingers crossed?

Yes, but they do not recognise TRNC where doses were administered. Hoping someone in UK will have the guts to make this change, as it so so unfair for the ex-pats living here and wanting to visit family in the UK.

Soner I absolutely agree and I'm one of them!

But:

Two Arrested For Issuing Fake AdaPasses

Not that it’s unique to the TRNC

seasiderLefkosa wrote: ↑

Sat 25 Sep 2021 8:43 am

When we self isolate in family accommodation in England do other members of family n same house need to isolate as well?

All the info is here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-quar ... ou-need-to
In short the answer is no but my daughter did when we stayed at her flat because it only has one bathroom, so impossible to stay in separate rooms. However, according to the rules she didn't have to.