Covid Protocols when Traveling to Turks & Caicos

*Date 3.28.2021 Please note the date while reading this post things are constantly changing with travel I can only speak to my personal experience. 

Traveling these days is not as easy as it used to be, but here are some tips to help you navigate the process a little easier. 

First, when traveling to Turks and Caicos you need to set up a profile with their online portal https://tcisafe.com. 

Next you will need to get a letter of certificate from your insurance company saying that they cover you if you should contract COVID while out of the country. Please note that this can take a few days to receive and you need to call you insurance company to get that letter. Your insurances card will NOT suffice in this particular situation. If your insurance does not cover you for COVID outside of the states you can pre-purchase insurance here to cover you for your trip https://tcisafe.com/insurance.  

You must get a PNR test at Rapid PNR test is valid, but NOT a rapid COVID test, it must be a PNR test. This test must be taken 5-3 days not earlier or later than your outbound flight to the island. This can be tricky due to the high demand of PNR testing some places take 5-7 days for your results to get back. Be sure to do your research on a location for your test well in advance. I went to a Helix Center in Florida and it was an easy process, I received my PNR test back within 24hrs. A friend went to a City MED in New York and received hers back 3 days later. 

As soon as your have your insurance and testing back you must apply for TCI Travel authorization https://travelauthorisation.turksandcaicostourism.com/public/.  I won’t lie this took a few days to actually process and I also contacted them the Friday before my trip since my flight was that Sunday (they only work Mon-Fri 8am-6pm) Here is the email in case you need it: authorisation@turksandcaicostourism.com. 

**Please note that some people get an incorrect test or insurance and they do not get approved. Please make sure you read everything over to avoid that from happening to you.

Once you are approved access to the island be sure to PRINT OUT EVERYTHING! You will need to show your negative test results, insurance and approval to the island multiple times from when you get to the airport to when you land on the island. 

I recommend getting to the airport 3 hours early. You will not be able to pre-check for your flight nor will anyone else on your flight due to the agent having to look over your paperwork. This causes longer wait times to check-in. Just and FYI, your paperwork will be checked again before you board by the agent at the terminal. 

Once you land you will go through a screening (Temperature) and paperwork check. 

You will have to be retested 3 days before you leave the island, so this means if you are there for 3 day you will need to set up with your hotel when you arrive to have your testing done.  Most if not all hotels offer this service and it will be on the property. You will get your testing back within minutes and the hotel will put together your outbound package. 

I hope this was helpful! I know that it seems like a lot, put TBH I was able to get all of my paperwork together fairly quickly and without any issues. It was also reassuring to know that they have these protocols in order and they did make me feel safer traveling out of the country.