Re-using unused short-stay inbound tourist Covid tests ?

[mike]

Difficult to know how to phrase the subject line, or whether to put this here or DAK.

I have two friends coming to London from France on a Friday in December, and they will be leaving the UK on the Sunday, so leaving on Day 2. I will have purchased two Day-2 tests for them and given them the reference numbers for their passenger locator forms.

I believe as they will have left the UK before the limit to test, they do not need to use the tests.

I shall be making a trip to France for New Year, and returning from France in January.

Question: Can I use the reference number for one of the unused tests from December for my PLF in January ?

[redsturgeon]

No, you can't use them again. The numbers will have been assigned to your friends and invalid once they have used them to enter the country, whether they use the tests or not.

It would be illegal for use to try to reuse the number yourself.


John

[Lootman]

No, you can't use them again. The numbers will have been assigned to your friends and invalid once they have used them to enter the country, whether they use the tests or not.

It would be illegal for use to try to reuse the number yourself.

That is my understanding as well. However what short-stay visitors to the UK can do is take a Day Two test for arrival purposes and then use that same test result for the exit requirements for another country such as, say, the US which requires a negative test taken within 72 hours of departing to the US.

So an American visiting the UK for 4 days could, with careful timing, take just one test rather than two.

Being careful which test since the US won't accept a lateral flow test but the UK will.

[redsturgeon]

No, you can't use them again. The numbers will have been assigned to your friends and invalid once they have used them to enter the country, whether they use the tests or not.

It would be illegal for use to try to reuse the number yourself.

That is my understanding as well. However what short-stay visitors to the UK can do is take a Day Two test for arrival purposes and then use that same test result for the exit requirements for another country such as, say, the US which requires a negative test taken within 72 hours of departing to the US.

So an American visiting the UK for 4 days could, with careful timing, take just one test rather than two.

That is correct and we do many of these for short term visitors. Many of the more basic providers will not do this though.

John

[mike]

No, you can't use them again. The numbers will have been assigned to your friends and invalid once they have used them to enter the country, whether they use the tests or not.

It would be illegal for use to try to reuse the number yourself.


John

Thanks. Understandable if disappointing.