Help requested from anyone from the US who has been to Italy in the last month please.

CDC card serves as your “Green Pass”

No fee for the DPL
Your airlines should have that available for you
Complete online just before you leave

You will need a negative test for re entry to US
Easy to get in Italy
Scroll thru forums -many have done this and have advice on where and when to get
Rome is easy, most pharmacies walk in or appt 22 euros

Also note the requirements now are good thru 10/25
Keep an eye out as things may change

http://www.italia.it/en/useful-info/covid-19-updates-information-for-tourists.html

https://infocovid.viaggiaresicuri.it/returningtoitaly.html

EU DPL manual
https://app.euplf.eu/#/

https://www.salute.gov.it/portale/nuovocoronavirus/dettaglioContenutiNuovoCoronavirus.jsp?lingua=english&id=5412&area=nuovoCoronavirus&menu=vuoto

I'm visiting next month, there are a couple threads on here that outline most of what would answer your questions but for my research I understand that:

To get in: Fully vaccinated for greater than 14 days. You'll use your CDC card as your key to just about everything. Mine is white, I had no idea blue ones existed. You'll also need a negative covid test taken within 72 hrs of arrival. Most folks say this is only checked upon boarding the flight to Europe, but some folks have reported its used elsewhere.

• CDC card (American equivalent of Green Pass which is just for residents)
• negative test
• PDF self-declaration https://www.esteri.it/mae/resource/doc/2020/08/modulo_rientro_da_estero__26_08_20_inglese.pdf
• EU Digital Passenger Locator Form" is free, and it is here https://app.euplf.eu/#/

To get back:

• CDC card
• negative covid test within 72 hours of arrival (some folks using binax test with telehealth appointment/app, others just going to pharmacies while in Italy

You mentioned you are getting your boosters tomorrow, that is great. My only concern is someone not familiar with the CDC cards might read that date and see that it is not 14 days passed. If I'm you, I might do those after I get back but certainly up to you. Just something I thought of.

Good luck, have a great trip! I'm sure others in Italy or that have been recently will chime in but this is what I understand I'll need to do when I go next month.

We will bring our CDC vaccination cards (which are blue, not white...)

Blue cards may be a problem. I suspect the EU folk have gotten used to seeing the white CDC cards may be suspicious of a blue one, thinking it a fake perhaps. Is it formatted the same as the white card?

I was in Italy last month. I was able to get a free rapid covid test from CVS with an appointment made online, but I don't know if they do that in your state. I was not asked for proof of vaccination at either airport, only for the proof of the negative covid test.

I was able to easily get the return covid test a pharmacy in Florence for 22 Euro. I did make an appointment a few days in advance. They also gave me a 48 hour temporary paper Green Pass, which came in handy for the last couple of days of the trip.

No one asked to see the Passenger Locator Form after we left the US. We were also given a paper form to fill out on the plane, but they actually ran out of copies, so I don't know what form it was. No one asked for it at the Milan airport or anywhere else.

Our CDC cards worked everywhere we were asked for them. If your cards are blue, you may want to see if you can get a white card when you get your booster tomorrow. If it doesn't look familiar to the person checking, you could have an problem. You most likely will be fine. but you never know.

Masks were worn everywhere inside, but not outside. The only place where I saw people without masks indoors was at the Central Market in Florence.

I hope this helps!

Dantbarnes, where did you find that PDF self-declaration and the need to fill it out? This one:

https://www.esteri.it/mae/resource/doc/2020/08/modulo_rientro_da_estero__26_08_20_inglese.pdf

I do not see the USA mentioned anywhere at all on that form. Maybe I just missed it?

The dPLF is FREE.

IN SHORT:

• TEST 72 HOURS BEFORE ENTERING ITALY,
• CDC CARD (to seat inside in restaurants, to travel on high speed trains, to visit museums and archaeological sites. Not necessary on buses and local trains.)
• dPLF. (a printed out copy may be useful to make cops at the airport happy)

NOTHING MORE.

How did I learn it? Long version:

I filled the official online questionnaire pretending I was an US tourist flying directly to Italy (i.e. I digit USA both times I was asked about country of origin and departure airports).
It says:

people who have stayed in or transited Countries in List D in the 14 days prior to entering Italy must:

1. fill out a digital Passenger Locator Form (only in case of lack of necessary tools to fill out the dPLF, you can use a paper-based self-declaration) and present it to the carrier or any other authorised person, either printed or on one's mobile device.

2. present to the carrier, or any other authorised person, a certificate of vaccination stating that the cycle of vaccination has been completed with an EMA-authorised vaccine or EU Green Pass proving the same;

3. take a molecular or antigenic test, carried out by means of a swab and with negative result, in the 72 hours before they arrive.

In case of lack of the certifications under points 2 and 3 (which are not alternative), travellers may still enter Italy but they must:

-self-isolate for five (5) days, activating local health surveillance procedures by informing Local Health Authorities.

-get tested again, upon completing the prescribed self-isolation.

Travellers coming from Canada, Japan or the United States may enter/return to Italy provided that they are able to present to the carrier, or any other authorised person, a Digital Covid Certificate, or equivalent certificate, but they must take also a molecular or antigenic test in the 72 hours prior to entering Italy, carried out by means of a swab, and with negative result. Otherwise, travellers from Canada, Japan or the United States may still enter Italy following general provisions for Countries in List D, as described above (self-isolation and subsequent test).

The provisions described above are in force until October 25, 2021.

Border Officers in Italy may always request that you fill out a paper-based self-statement upon arrival.

Who issued your "blue" card? (Not who handed it to you, who issued it--state, county? It will be on the card.)

If it is not an official CDC card it may not be accepted.

I think many of the responses are saying the same thing, but a couple more points for clarification.

dPLF: use the site given by another poster, no charge, it submits the form directly to the Italian Database. Each of you need to fill out and submit a form, you can use the same account though. You may be asked to show it at check-in, or when boarding your Rome flight, but otherwise you will not be asked for it, and after a couple days in Italy, it serves no further purpose.

Covid Test: Sounds like you have that covered. It is supposed to be required for boarding, so the airline should check it. Again, it will not likely be asked for in Italy, except for a rare spot-check. Again, after a couple days it is no longer useful.

CDC Card: Don't sweat the blue card, if you can still get a white one, fine, but for the most part, by now, as soon as someone sees you pull out a US passport, they wave you through. Same with the booster, yes, it might cause some problem, but unlikely, again, they just do not look at it that closely. You should not need the CDC card to board or at immigration, only for some instances in Italy. Museums and other indoor venues will check it, if you sit inside at a restaurant, you might have it checked, sit outside, not needed. For trains where you have a seat reservation, you need it; as well as any internal flights...not needed for buses, trams, subway, and local trains. As alluded to, carrying and showing it with your US passport will avoid confusion as to what it is and if it is valid.

I would not get the booster as it adds a potential source of confusion for Italians checking your CDC card since it may appear your 14 day period has not elapsed. I’ve never heard of a blue CDC card and I would check where you received your vaccinations to see if it is possible to get a white version. The frequent references in Italian information to the “white CDC card” would concern me that Italians checking the card may question it. You need the Passenger Locator Form but not the Self Declaration. If you are flying on American Airlines, download and use the VeriFly app. The app is not great but it tells you exactly what you need and when you upload your documents they are reviewed and approved in advance. Tell the check in agent you have used the app and all they will check is your VeriFly pass. We received our return test at a pharmacy in Trastevere with no appointment and results took about 5 minutes although the paperwork was an additional 15-20 minutes. €15

We returned from Italy last night. No problems with our CDC cards being accepted as the green pass even though we were primarily in places less frequented by Americans. Some places asked if we had a green pass without actually checking it.

I am actually in Italy right now and this is my second trip since June. As others have stated, you need the CDC card, negative Covid test and dPLF form from the Italian government website. To return to the US, the negative and cdc card are needed.

The only thing that I have to add is if you are connecting to Italy via other countries you will need to check and meet their requirements as well.

Thank you all so very much! Without your replies, I would never have known that our blue CDC card (and why our public health system gave us blue and everyone else has white, I'm not sure), was supposed to be white. Thank you! Also, thank you for all the link information. I appreciate the generosity of information!

In Italy now. White COVID vaccination card was easily accepted at all major museums, trains, sights. We flew over on United and they would not accept the home monitored test kit we had purchased when we checked their travel desk. So we spent some tense hours waiting for our results from CVS. We could not get a boarding pass online until we had uploaded the test results and the digital locator form to United. We were tested at a lab in Venice for our return flight home with no problems for 20 euros. I agree it is much more complicated to travel now than pre-COVID, but the crowds are fewer and here everyone has a mask on their nose and mouth inside. The fines can be very high if you don’t.

2sinclairs - Which monitored home test did you use that United wouldn't accept? We're booked with Lufthansa, but our first leg to Washington Dulles is on United. Guessing we have to go by their guidelines. We've got Abbott BinaxNow kits we were planning on using. Still 2 weeks out from departure.

Thank you for this heads up! I'm checking with Delta Airlines now, because we were planning to use Abbot's Binaxnow home test (that is monitored). Hmmm??? I wonder why United wouldn't allow it? Again, thanks for the heads up. And thanks to everyone for all the helpful answers! We just want to get to Italy!

Wanted to address a couple of concerns raised. My parents just returned from 10 days in Florence...their CDC cards are also blue, and they had no problems whatsoever. My 22 yr old daughter had her booster vaccine a week before heading to Florence for 3 months and also has not had issues with that recent date being on her card. Which is good because I had my booster shot yesterday and I leave Nov 4th for my trip to Florence!!

We arrived 10 days ago. The Passenger Locator Form tripped us up so I’ll tell you what we learned. You should find it on your airline’s website and probably in a link they’ll send you with all the travel requirements. If you use their website it will automatically update your record so you won’t have to deal with US airline staff at check in. Since they are unfamiliar with the form it can be confusing for them to review it. They don’t need or want paper copies but I still think it’s better to carry one. Having said that, we did find a glitch in the British Air system because when we attempted to select our ticket date from the calendar presented by the system for that purpose, it declared it to be an invalid date. In the end, we elected to go to the airport early and try to get some assistance. We were told by the AA folks who were operating the BA flight that they had nothing to do with the form and could not help. Obviously, that rendered us unable to fly. A very upsetting experience! I’m telling you all this to stress that the form can be glitchy — I’ve done this now with 4 airlines and each one had a quirk. Start early and allow a couple of hours if you have a couple of stops on the way because you must fill in your itinerary in quite a bit of detail, using drop down menus for things like time zone changes that would seem simple but aren’t. Other than that, everything was pretty simple with Covid tests and vaccination documentation. All of it checked before we boarded the first leg of our trip and presented at subsequent boardings. Buon viaggio!

@chs10089 would you be willing to share what the technical difficulty was you had with the form?

Sorry to ask on your post, but I have a similar question. I’m also traveling soon. Will a photo of the CDC card be enough? I also have a NYS digital Excelsior pass that lists my vaccinations.

You will need the actual card

christine h, thank you!

it declared it to be an invalid date

sounds like it needed a date was provided in US format in a form requiring a rest-of-the-world date format.

(mm-dd-yyyy provided when it wanted dd-mm-yyyy) ?

Thank you for this heads up! I'm checking with Delta Airlines now, because we were planning to use Abbot's Binaxnow home test (that is monitored). Hmmm??? I wonder why United wouldn't allow it? Again, thanks for the heads up. And thanks to everyone for all the helpful answers! We just want to get to Italy.

You are going to find that you will need to have a PCR test administered by a lab no earlier than 72 hours before your flight departs. The Abbott test is a rapid antigen test that is monitored and really only works for returning to the USA. Delta should have provided you with exactly what your requirements are to depart. Follow them to the "T". The Airline is the gate keeper. If they let you on the plane and things are not right they are responsible.

You haven't posted exactly when you are traveling to Italy, but things will more than likely change so definitely check your Airline's website.

Because the results from my PCR test were so late in arriving, I had a rapid antigen test as well at a local clinic. Uploaded those results to the VeriFLY app and had no problem with my October 21 flight on American to Rome.

*You are going to find that you will need to have a PCR test administered by a lab no earlier than 72 hours before your flight departs. The Abbott test is a rapid antigen test that is monitored and really only works for returning to the USA. *

Not entirely correct.

Italy clearly accepts either Rapid Antigen or Molecular tests (PCR or NAAT). Other EU Countries vary in their requirements, but many do accept Antigen tests.

Delta accepts rapid antigen tests for travel to Italy as well, I know, that is what I had, and many others on here that traveled recently.

The specific issue that has caused concern and confusion on here is that, at least for a time, United Airlines was not accepting the BinaxNow test. Whether they questioned the validity of having the test remotely administered, or the validity of that particular test, who knows. That is the Airlines prerogative, they are responsible for checking, and can face penalties if they mess up. Their legal and health people must have decided it was an issue.

Getting a Rapid Antigen test administered at CVS or Walgreens, or another lab, is valid in all cases for travel to Italy so far as I have seen.

Paul; I agree with you that a rapid antigen test administered by a third party should be acceptable to enter Italy. I believe that it varies from airline to airline as to what they will accept with some taking a very tight approach as in "PCR only" to others that will accept a Rapid Antigen test. My wife and I have pretty much decided just to get a PCR test before we travel internationally if test is required. This is based on a trip in August that we made to different European country where the Rapid Antigen test was acceptable on the country's website, but the airline would not accept it. There are two labs near us that will turn it around in an hour, obviously for an additional fee.

This has been quite helpful! I am traveling to Italy in March. I fully realize A LOT may change between now and then and we will definitely be staying on top of those changes. One question...Our inbound flight is connecting in Munich so will our arrival testing requirements be the requirements for Germany or Italy, which is our ultimate destination?

Use this tool to check requirements in place now
https://infocovid.viaggiaresicuri.it/index_en.html

JHS

In the case of having a flight where you change planes in another country, you are still obligated to meet all of Italy's requirements for entry, including testing.

You also need to check the requirements of your transit country. If you are truly "in-transit", meaning you land, stay in the secure area, then leave in less than 24 hours, then most countries do not impose any testing requirements, including Germany currently, who knows in a few months though. It is possible though that either paperwork or tests may need to be done for transiting.

For anyone that has been in Italy with these requirements. Does the QR code from the DPLF get used at all? I've got it saved as a screenshot on my phone, but wondering if I also should/need to print it.

The QR code from the dPLF really serves no purpose, other than to tell someone looking at the paper or your phone (email) that you filled out the form, submitted it, and received a response.

The airlines are the only ones to check it, and that has varied, by reports on here, from not even mentioning it, to asking if you have it, to examining it, and for some airlines uploading a copy of it to their electronic documentation system. No one in Italy will ask you for it.

All the dPLF really is, is additional information that you directly submit to the Italian Government (or whatever third party they contracted with) that ties your flight itinerary, any traveling companions, and the location of your first nights stay together. In the event of serious exposure on a flight, they could then do contact tracing, or if you come down sick, do the tracing as well.

Thanks @paul that makes sense to me