Breaking News: Jamaica's Updated COVID-19 Test Requirements

March 1, 2021

Before travel to Jamaica, take the time to know the risk management initiatives and applicable quarantine orders that form part of the Controlled Entry Programme and how they will impact your visit.

Effective March 4, 2021: ALL travellers to Jamaica, 12 years of age and over, regardless of nationality, will be required to present a negative COVID-19 PCR or Antigen test result to check in for a flight to Jamaica. The test must be authorized by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) or meet the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), and must be performed by a College of American Pathologists (CAP) accredited, Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) registered or ISO 15189 certified laboratory. The date of the sample collection must be within 3 days of the date of travel. The negative test result must be presented to the airline representative in order to complete the check in for a flight.

Before March 4, 2021: Only residents of the United States of America (USA), Brazil, Dominican Republic, Mexico or Panama who are 12 years of age or over, are required to present a test result for which the sample collection must be within 10 days of the travel date.

Accepted Test Types

• A Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Test (RT-PCR)
• A Nucleic Acid Amplification test (NAA)
• An RNA or molecular test
• An Antigen test

​Note:

• Only results from oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal samples will be accepted for PCR tests
• Only results from nasopharyngeal samples will be accepted for Antigen tests
• Antibody tests will NOT be accepted
• Results from home-based test kits will NOT be accepted

Test Validity Period

• The date of the sample collection must be less than 10 days from the date of travel to Jamaica
• Example: For a travel date of October 20, the earliest the test sample may be collected is October 11.
• To determine your earliest test date, use the Test Date Calculator.

Laboratory Requirements

The test must be conducted by a medical laboratory with either of the following credentials:

• Accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP)
• Registered by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA)
• ISO 15189 certification

Test Result Sheet Requirements

Ideally, the test result sheet should display the following information:

• Name of individual tested (must be same on application and lab test result)
• Date of birth of individual tested (must be same on application and lab test result)
• Name of testing laboratory
• Indication of laboratory credentials (CLIA, ISO 15189)
• Date of sample collection
• Type of test
• Type of sample
• Test result

Information from Visit Jamaica