Washington, Oct 26: The Biden administration has announced the lifting of air travel restrictions to the US from November 8 for foreign travellers, provided they are fully vaccinated and provide proof of the vaccination status before boarding the flight.
The White House said in an updated travel guideline that unvaccinated travellers will need to test within one day of departure. It said that fully vaccinated foreign nationals will be able to travel across the Northern and Southwest land borders for non-essential reasons, including tourism, starting November 8.
Starting on November 8, non-citizen, non-immigrant air travelers to the United States will be required to be fully vaccinated and to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination status prior to boarding an airplane to fly to the U.S., with only limited exceptions.
The updated travel guidelines also include new protocols around testing. To further strengthen protections, unvaccinated travelers whether US Citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPRs), or the small number of excepted unvaccinated foreign nationals will now need to test within one day of departure, the announcement said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the vaccines accepted will include FDA approved or authorised and World Health Organization (WHO) emergency use listed (EUL) vaccines. ?Individuals can be considered fully vaccinated more than two weeks after receipt of the last dose if they have received any single dose of an FDA approved/authorized or WHO EUL approved single-dose series (i.e., Janssen), or any combination of two doses of an FDA approved/authorized or WHO emergency use listed COVID-19 two-dose series (i.e. mixing and matching), it said.
It also said there are very limited exceptions from the vaccination requirement for foreign nationals. These include exceptions for children under 18, certain COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial participants, those with medical contraindications to the vaccines, those who need to travel for emergency or humanitarian reasons (with a US government-issued letter affirming the urgent need to travel), those who are traveling on non-tourist visas from countries with low-vaccine availability (as determined by the CDC), and other very narrow categories.
Those who receive an exception will generally be required to attest they will comply with applicable public health requirements, including, with very limited exceptions, a requirement that they be vaccinated in the U.S. if they intend to stay here for more than 60 days, it said.
Fully vaccinated air passengers entering the US internationally, regardless of citizenship, will continue to be required to show a pre-departure negative COVID test taken within three days of travel prior to boarding.
Vaccinated travelers will be required to show proof of vaccination to qualify for this three-day testing window, an official said.
However, for unvaccinated air passengers, including unvaccinated U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, the rules will now require a test within one day of departure to the United States, the official added.
Children under two years old do not need to test. There are also accommodations for people who have a documented recovery from COVID-19 in the past 90 days with respect to the testing requirement.
Air passengers to the US will also be required to provide basic, valid contact information to airlines before boarding flights to the United States, the official added. (Agencies)
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