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REPORT on 20Sep return to US from FRANCE via AMS: checks of COVID-related documentation

Posted by (State of Washington, USA) on

JFYI, this is our experience flying out of France and into US with required COVID-related documentation after a 4 week visit:

  1. COVID TEST RESULT, and
  2. US CDC “PASSENGER DISCLOSURE AND ATTESTATION TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” (US ATTESTATION) form.

Our return flight to the US was on Sep 20 (Mon). We therefore had our COVID antigen test done on Sep 18 (Sat) at a pharmacy in Honfleur, Normandy. From the time we entered the door of the pharmacy until we left with a hard copy of the results took 20 minutes; a soft copy was emailed to us shortly later the same day. Cost was about 25 Euro per person. (We also scanned the QR code of the results into our Pass Sanitaire on our cellphones, though strictly speaking it wasn't necessary as we are vaccinated.)

On Sep 20 we flew from France (CDG) via Amsterdam (AMS) to Seattle (SEA). The ticketing was through DELTA; the first leg was on KLM with the cross-Atlantic leg on DELTA. Below describes each "checkpoint" for this journey and the COVID-related check. (For the COVID TEST results, we showed the paper version.)

  1. Check-in with airline at CDG airport: The airline employee who checked us in and provided boarding passes examined our COVID TEST RESULTs.

  2. Boarding intra-EU flight from CDG to AMS: Did not need to show test results, but had to show proof of vaccination. We
    therefore showed our Pass Sanitaire (which had our vaccination status).

  3. Passing through Immigration at AMS when transferring from EU to international terminal: did NOT show anything related to COVID status.

  4. At the AMS departure gate for SEA, there were two checkpoints. First, AMS Terminal Security examined our US ATTESTATION form; passengers who did not have one were provided copies to fill out.

  5. The second check at the AMS departure gate was done by the airline boarding agent, who examined and collected the US
    ATTESTATION     form.

  6. Upon arrival in the US, US Immigration examined our COVID TEST RESULTs. (I think we also had to be ready to show it at US Customs, but might be misremembering.)

To summarize, the COVID TEST RESULTs were examined 2-3 times but not collected, and the US ATTESTATION form was examined 2 times and collected.

Posted by
14648 posts

Thanks so much for taking the time to post the details! You must have just gotten home, lol!!

Posted by
180 posts

"PASSENGER DISCLOSURE AND ATTESTATION TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” (US ATTESTATION) form."
What is this form? Time to hit the Google search as I haven't heard about this.

Edit, I found the form and will print out a couple for me and my Son. Thanks for the report.

Posted by
10111 posts

Your airline should have it. Delta sent it to me when I was flying to the States in May. Or Google it on the CDC site.

Posted by
498 posts

Where does one get the US ATTESTATION form? I never heard of it. Is that the CDC CARD? Or the 72 hour prior PCR test? I’ll be flying from Lisbon to Amsterdam to then catch a flight back to US.

Posted by
14648 posts

@Denny - it is not the CDC card or the negative Covid test (whether antigen or PCR). It’s a form stating you understand your obligation to have a negative Covid test or to have recovered from Covid. It’s a CDC form and will be on your airline website.

Go to your airline website and type attestation into the search box.

Here is the link for Delta and they ask you print this out if you are leaving from AMS or CDG. I printed several copies before I left home.
https://www.delta.com/us/en/travel-planning-center/know-before-you-go/attestation

Posted by
51 posts

Our experience flying from CDG to Atlanta yesterday (nonstop direct) on Air France:

  1. Went to pharmacy in Paris 70 hours before departure, got Antigen test result back (negative) in 15 mn. My wife had gotten a head cold, by the way.

  2. Passed through CDG security.. they asked for Pass Sanitaire, Antigen test, boarding pass, and passports. Through security in 5 minutes max.

  3. Signed the attestation at gate which reuires you to print your name and sign a form that states you got a negative test. They collected it at the gate, checked the passports and the boarding pass, and on to the plane.

  4. Arrival in US: nobody checked ANYTHING except the passports. No questions about covid at all. Just like before covid. Where did you go, for how long, and welcome back to the US. They have gotten rid of the passport machines, by the way and I think global entry was also down.

We had a great month in France. As long as your have your Pass Sanitaire, everything is fine and everone is happy. And the return is the same. Planes were half to 2/3 empty. Great time to travel.

We also drive into Germany and went through most of western Switzerland (Basel, Berne, Geneve) to go from Colmar to Lac D'Annecy. Germany had no one at the border and the swiss asked us for nothing expect a 40 Euro charge to use their highways. The French waved us back in at the other end.

Posted by
44 posts

We returned yesterday (12 Oct.) from a week-long stay in Paris. Flew Icelandair with a connection through KEF to IAD. When we checked in at CDG, we had to present our passports, a COVID test result from within the past 72 hours (US requirement), and a bar code showing we had pre-registered as “transfer passengers” without COVID symptoms (Iceland requirement). We did not need to show our Passes Sanitaires to enter the terminal or board the plane.

Going through Security at CDG, we only needed to present our passports and boarding passes.

During the CDG to KEK flight, the cabin crew passed out a double-sided printed form with the exactly same questions we answered when we did the online preregistration. We presented the printed form at Passport Control at KEF and when I asked if the form was redundant given the online form submission and barcode dance we went through to check in for our originating flight, the security guy just laughed and shrugged.

When we landed at Dulles, we used the Global Entry kiosk to scan our passports and get the very dark printout of our headshots. NO ONE checked temperatures, asked us any questions about our health, or asked to see COVID test results.

By the way, we ordered the Abbott Labs Binax kits online (not the ones sold in US pharmacies, this one is approved by the CDC for re-entry into the US) and downloaded the NAVICA app to our phones before we left the States. Two nights before our scheduled departure, we set up our iPad in the apartment we rented, opened a bottle of wine, and logged into the website. It took us a total of 25 minutes each to do the self-test on the webcam with a live test proctor walking us through the instructions and monitoring the test kit while we waited for the kit to register the results. Within five minutes of completing the test, we had a digital copy of our negative test results in the NAVICA app. When we got to check-in at CDG, we just opened the app on our phones and showed the screen to the guy checking us in. Much easier than spending our daylight hours standing around a pharmacy and less expensive, too.

UPDATE; Last evening (48 hours after our return from France) I received an email from my state's Department of Health, stating that they had been notified by the CDC that I had just returned from "an area where COVID-19 is present" and while there have been no reports that any passengers on any of my flights had COVID-19, I needed to get tested within 5 days of my return and report my results to the state health department. No problem, since there are state-run testing sites all over town. But here is the irony: I live in South Carolina a.k.a., "COVID-deniers Central" where fewer than 50% of the eligible population has been vaccinated and only a handful of people wear masks in public. SMDH

Posted by
51 posts

JoJo, there appears to be inconsistency as far as whether the PS is requested by aairport personnel. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. It's up to the person that day.

However, I would not recommend a trip to France in December without a Pass Sanitaire. Every single hotel, restaurant, train, museum.... basically anything you need to enjoy France and get around France... requires the PS. They are increasingly no longer accepting the CDC cards - that has already started on trains. And you do not want to be into a 72 hr PCR test dynamic because that gets pricey and it doesnlt work if you are moving around every 2 days.

So apply for the PS well in advance and resubmit as necessary. With any luck, and as long as Europe does not get slammed by a Delta wave, the PS requirement will be relaxed or dropped in November. An added wrinkle is that France and Europe have started booster shots... so any existing PS may need to be updated for boosters, or a new application submitted. Hard to project what the reality will be by December.

Posted by
992 posts

With any luck, and as long as Europe does not get slammed by a Delta wave, the PS requirement will be relaxed or dropped in November.

Per this article, France has just announced the intention to extend the PS past Nov 15, seeking legislative approval to extend it to July 2022...so my only other hope for a December trip is that the pass issuance glitches clear up very soon, but I am not holding my breath...https://uk.news.yahoo.com/macron-covid-health-pass-success-170127442.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKSQfhSM0yB96YJpchm-Vr98xjXL_s_QzDYsi3u5KX9ctCga9puJmIrtdc-XOpbpuHMl7wdk7cXFWmL4epAJllWeRgWCyhjrPeJ0M-1SV-OaDoKCppcWY6t0DLo2pPlhFkmKq4G47Tu4f0RmKUpanel25brItXcPPws4oqJTttry

Posted by
33749 posts

lots of people on here have reported success with receiving the pass if they are persistent and apply at the right time. With all the time until December I expect you can be, too.

Posted by
11 posts

We followed instructions on this site and got the pass sanitare without a problem. The majority of restaurants and the TGV trains as well as our hotel asked for it. Easy as could be.

We returned on October 8th. Border staff at CDG also asked for our pass sanitare. The pass actually has a toggle one for activity and the other for border crossings. Could not have been easier.

There are tents all over Paris so getting a covid test is also super easy.

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