Biden Administration Provides Guidance on COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements for Travelers to the U.S.
As stated in our alert last week, the regional COVID-19 travel bans affecting 33 countries will be lifted on November 8, 2021, for fully-vaccinated travelers. On October 25, 2021, the Biden Administration issued Presidential Proclamation 10294 which provides guidance on the new policy for travelers entering the United States. The recently issued Presidential Proclamation is no longer country-specific and will rescind and replace the Presidential Proclamations that restrict the entry of noncitizens who were physically present in China, Iran, Schengen Area (Europe), the United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, South Africa, and India, during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States. The new policy will go into effect at 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on November 8, 2021. This Proclamation does not apply to persons aboard a flight scheduled to arrive in the United States that departed prior to 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on November 8, 2021.
Under the new travel policy, nonimmigrant air travelers will be required to be fully-vaccinated and must provide proof of vaccination status prior to boarding any airplane bound for the United States, and a negative PCR test result within three days of travel. Airline carriers will be responsible for reviewing the COVID-19 vaccination records of passengers and confirming that passengers meet the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s definition for “fully-vaccinated.” Travelers are considered ”fully-vaccinated” after two (2) weeks after receiving the single-dose series or any combination of a two-dose series. The CDC has provided a list of accepted vaccines for purposes of travel to the United States.
Nonimmigrant travelers who are not fully-vaccinated will be restricted from entering the United States unless they meet one of the limited exceptions. Noncitizen, nonimmigrant children under the age of 18 are excepted from the vaccination requirement but children between the ages of 2 and 17 are required to take a pre-departure test, within three days prior to travel if fully-vaccinated, or one day if unvaccinated. Other exceptions include:
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); and
Those who are traveling on non-tourist visas from countries with low-vaccine availability as determined by the CDC.
Those travelers who qualify for exception will generally be required to comply with certain public health requirements such as post-arrival testing, and they must agree to become vaccinated in the United States if they intend to stay here for more than 60 days.
The Presidential Proclamation does not apply to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPRs), or those traveling on immigrant visas but these travelers should be prepared to present documentation of their vaccination status alongside their negative PCR test result taken within three days of travel. Unvaccinated U.S. Citizens and LPRs will need to provide a negative PCR test taken within one day of traveling. Please note that as of October 1st, immigrant visa applicants are required to receive COVID-19 vaccinations as part of their application process.
We recommend that clients review the Biden Administration’s Fact Sheet on the new travel policy before making any firm travel plans.