UPDATED REQUIREMENTS FOR AIR TRAVEL TO THE U.S.
Effective December 6, 2021, all inbound air travelers aged two or older, regardless of nationality or vaccination status, will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 viral test taken within one (1) calendar day prior to their flight’s departure, or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in the past 90 days. Both nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs), such as a PCR test, and antigen tests qualify. The test must be administered any time within one (1) day prior to departure for the U.S.
U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPRs), and foreign nationals who are fully vaccinated should travel with proof of their vaccination status to provide to their airline prior to departure to the United States. That proof of vaccination should be a paper or digital record issued by an official source and should include the traveler’s name and date of birth, as well as the vaccine product and date(s) of administration for all doses the traveler received. CDC has determined that for purposes of travel to the United States, vaccines accepted will include FDA-approved or authorized and World Health Organization (WHO) emergency use listed (EUL) vaccines. See here for more information.
Effective November 8, 2021, all nonimmigrant, non-citizen air travelers to the United States will be required to be fully vaccinated and to provide proof of vaccination status prior to boarding an airplane to the United States.
Exceptions to this policy will be extremely limited:
- children under 18
- people medically unable to receive the vaccine
- emergency travelers who do not have timely access to a vaccine
Details on exceptions and waivers due to humanitarian concerns, is available at Non-U.S. citizen, Non-U.S. immigrants: Air Travel to the United States | CDC.
On October 25, 2021, President Biden announced a Presidential Proclamation titled “A Proclamation on Advancing the Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” This proclamation, which took effect on November 8, 2021, ended the travel restrictions under Presidential Proclamations (P.P.) 9984, 9992, 10143, and 10199 related to the suspension of entry into the United States of persons physically present in Brazil, China, India, Iran, Ireland, the Schengen Area, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. In place of these restrictions, the President announced the global vaccination requirement for all adult foreign national travelers. For additional information, please visit State Department’s FAQs.
THIS POLICY ELIMINATES THE REQUIREMENT THAT TRAVELLERS OBTAIN A NATIONAL INTEREST EXCEPTION TO TRAVEL TO THE UNITED STATES.