Travellers require permit to enter Guernsey

Failure to secure a permit before travel could result in a £10,000 fine

Guernsey Airport (Getty Images)

Guernsey has updated its travel rules to require all those entering the island to have a permit.

This permit is legally required as of 14 January, including for Guernsey residents who are returning from the UK.

It’s part of a ban on all non-essential travel, with only certain reasons permissible for entering the Bailiwick of Guernsey, which includes Guernsey, Alderney and Sark.

Exceptions are limited to:

• Critical workers
• For compassionate purposes, including supporting a dependent relative
• Medical treatment
• Accompanying a child or vulnerable person
• Essential business activity which cannot be done remotely
• Meeting legal obligations like attending court proceedings
• Attending or returning to education
• Returning residents who travelled off the island before 12 January
• Moving to the bailiwick where a house has already been purchased and the process of moving has begun
• Beginning a job already secured with a local employer or where the work is essential

Those who try to enter without a permit could be charged and fined up to £10,000.

If approved, travellers should receive their permit within 72 hours.

Previously, travellers needed to take a Covid-19 test on day 13 after their arrival, but are now required to take a test at the border as well in order to leave self-isolation after 14 days.

Those who decline to take a test must quarantine for three weeks.

“Those who must travel for critical or essential reasons need to work with us to protect the bailiwick from Covid-19,” said the Civil Contingencies Authority (CCA) chairman Peter Ferbrache, adding that the Channel Island was taking a “belt and braces” approach to keep residents safe.

States chief executive Paul Whitfield said that, while the process would be as simple as possible, “it won't be a soft approach, we will be strict in ensuring any journey that clearly isn't essential is declined.”