COVID-19 Travel Updates-October 2021

Biden Administration Proclamation on Advancing the Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic

On October 25, 2021, President Biden issued a Presidential Proclamation that revoked the geographic COVID travel bans issued previously. The proclamation also creates a new travel ban for unvaccinated nonimmigrant travelers entering the U.S., with exceptions.

Effective November 8th, 2021, travelers entering the U.S. via air travel will be required to show proof of full vaccination with paper or digital documentation. The documentation must include the traveler’s biographical information which matches their travel documentation, the name of the issuing authority of the vaccine record, vaccine manufacturer, and dates of vaccination.

Travelers must also still comply with the negative COVID-19 test requirement within 3 days of the flight, or provide documentation of recovery from COVID within the last 90 days.

The following vaccines qualify: Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca/Covishield, Sinopharm, and Sinovac. Mixing and matching of the vaccines will be accepted. The CDC defines “fully-vaccinated” as 14 days following the second of a two-dose series or 14 days after a single-dose.

Exceptions

• Does not apply to children under 18
• Persons who have participated in certain COVID-19 vaccination clinical trials
• Persons who are nationals of countries with less than 10% vaccination rate or CDC approved countries with low vaccine availability (does not apply to B-1 and B-2 travelers)
• Persons with documented medical reasons for not obtaining the vaccine
• Persons issued a humanitarian or emergency exception
• Persons approved as travelers of national interest
• Diplomatic or official foreign government official travelers
• Members of U.S. armed forces and their families (spouses and children under 18)
• Sea crew members

Travelers utilizing one of the above exceptions will need a negative COVID-19 test result from no more than 1 day before travel. Travelers must also agree to further requirements based on their category of exception. Please check the CDC website to understand these further requirements.

Visa Issuance, ESTA, Immigrant, U.S. Citizen, and Permanent Resident Travelers, and National Interest Exceptions

• Once the rule is in effect on November 8th, 2021, already issued visas and ESTA approvals for travelers who are fully vaccinated per the above requirements, may travel to the U.S. without needing a National Interest Exception (NIE).
• The above vaccination requirements are for non-immigrant travelers. U.S. citizens, permanent residents of the U.S., and immigrant visa holders are required to show proof of vaccination and negative COVID-19 test results within 3 days before travel, OR a negative COVID-19 test result within 1 day before travel.
• Children under 2 do not need to test or provide proof of vaccination.

Source:  Finnan, Fleischut & Associates