Sep 15, 2021, 1:47 pm
Last edit by: NewbieRunner
New thread for discussing 1-day test requirements for travellers arriving in the US by air
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/coronavirus-travel/2060730-us-require-air-travelers-provide-negative-test-within-1-day-departure.html
Entry ban from eight southern African countries starting on November 29, 2021
Most non-U.S. citizens who have been in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique or Malaw within the prior 14 days will not be allowed into the United States.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/11/26/a-proclamation-on-suspension-of-entry-as-immigrants-and-nonimmigrants-of-certain-additional-persons-who-pose-a-risk-of-transmitting-coronavirus-disease-2019/
Entry ban by air to be lifted on November 8, 2021 - All travelers should refer to CDC for travel requirements.
3 day pre-flight testing requirement will continue (US citizens/LPR not vaccinated will have to test no earlier than 1 day prior) Children under 2 years old do not need to test.
Children under 18 are exempt from vaccination requirement
Accepted vaccines will include:
There is a face mask mandate when flying to/from the USA, with effectively no exemptions, and including children two and above years old
Airlines need to provide some sort of contact tracing information for potential follow-up cases
Update on U.S. travel policy requiring COVID-19 vaccination
Last Updated: October 25, 2021
As announced by the White House today, the new travel policy requiring foreign nationals traveling to the United States to demonstrate proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 will take effect November 8. The CDC’s website explains that, for purposes of entry into the United States, the accepted vaccines will include FDA approved or authorized and WHO Emergency Use Listing vaccines.
COVID-19 Travel Restrictions and Exceptions - U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs
Last updated: October 25, 2021
The presidential proclamations described on this page will no longer be in effect on November 8, 2021. For additional information, please see Safely Resuming Travel by Vaccine Requirement and Rescission of Travel Restrictions on Brazil, China, India, Iran, Ireland, the Schengen Area, South Africa, and the United Kingdom (travel.state.gov).
To protect the public health, there are four presidential proclamations that suspend entry into the United States of all noncitizens who were physically present in any of 33 countries during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States. They are Presidential Proclamation 9984 (China); Presidential Proclamation 9992 (Iran); Presidential Proclamation 10143 (Schengen Area, United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, and South Africa); and Presidential Proclamation 10199 (India).
What we know so far is
- Confirmed to start on 8 November
- Children under 18 are exempt from the vaccine restrictions, so the varying international standards on jab ages won't be an issue here.
- Vaccines that are OK will include Pfizer, Moderna, AZ, J&J and the two Chinese vaccines.
- Some exemptions from vaccinations are potentially allowed, notably for US citizens, though my guess is airlines will be expecting to see vaccine certificates
- 3 day pre-flight testing requirement will continue, so this needs to be a documented antigen/Lateral Flow test or PCR.
- 3 days is potentially more than 72 hours, departure on a Friday afternoon means a test on Tuesday morning or thereafter.
- NHS Lateral Flows and PCRs can't be used.
- Children over 2 years old travelling with vaccinated travellers have to be tested on the same basis (3 days).
- 1 day testing for unvaccinated USA legal residents (testing on or the day before departure), including their children.
- All passengers need to sign an attestment to confirm their negative test result and also a statement to confirm full vaccination status.
- Children who are not vaccinated do not need to get vaccinated but do need to get a "viral test" 3 to 5 days after arrival in the USA
- As a result there is a separate attestion question for unvaccinated children to confirm that the viral test is arranged.
- Vaccination certificates must come from an official source. The NHS COVID Pass app and EU DCC are specifically mentioned as acceptable.
- Vaccination is counted as two weeks from dose2, or 2 weeks after the sole dose in the case of J&J.
- Antibody certification is not a replacement for the need for vaccination, at least for non USA residents.
- 14 clear days need to elapse before travel. So if jabbed on 1 October then 15 October is when you are good to go.
- Booster vaccinations are not a factor here, they don't count towards or against the primary dose process.
- There is a face mask mandate when flying to/from the USA, with effectively no exemptions, and including children two and above years old.
- Airlines need to provide some sort of contact tracing information for potential follow-up cases.
- These restrictions do not apply at the land border.
Note that a lot of interpretation onus falls on airlines. For example there is no language requirement for vaccine certificates as far as the CDC is concerned, however you can imagine Air France may be hesitant in accepting a vaccine certificate issued in the Welsh language, to take one example.
CDC link
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2...el-System.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/coronavirus-travel/2060730-us-require-air-travelers-provide-negative-test-within-1-day-departure.html
Entry ban from eight southern African countries starting on November 29, 2021
Most non-U.S. citizens who have been in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique or Malaw within the prior 14 days will not be allowed into the United States.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/11/26/a-proclamation-on-suspension-of-entry-as-immigrants-and-nonimmigrants-of-certain-additional-persons-who-pose-a-risk-of-transmitting-coronavirus-disease-2019/
Entry ban by air to be lifted on November 8, 2021 - All travelers should refer to CDC for travel requirements.
3 day pre-flight testing requirement will continue (US citizens/LPR not vaccinated will have to test no earlier than 1 day prior) Children under 2 years old do not need to test.
Children under 18 are exempt from vaccination requirement
Accepted vaccines will include:
- AstraZeneca
- BIBP/Sinopharm
- Covishield
- Janssen/J&J
- Moderna
- Pfizer-BioNTech
- Sinovac
There is a face mask mandate when flying to/from the USA, with effectively no exemptions, and including children two and above years old
Airlines need to provide some sort of contact tracing information for potential follow-up cases
Update on U.S. travel policy requiring COVID-19 vaccination
Last Updated: October 25, 2021
As announced by the White House today, the new travel policy requiring foreign nationals traveling to the United States to demonstrate proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 will take effect November 8. The CDC’s website explains that, for purposes of entry into the United States, the accepted vaccines will include FDA approved or authorized and WHO Emergency Use Listing vaccines.
COVID-19 Travel Restrictions and Exceptions - U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs
Last updated: October 25, 2021
The presidential proclamations described on this page will no longer be in effect on November 8, 2021. For additional information, please see Safely Resuming Travel by Vaccine Requirement and Rescission of Travel Restrictions on Brazil, China, India, Iran, Ireland, the Schengen Area, South Africa, and the United Kingdom (travel.state.gov).
To protect the public health, there are four presidential proclamations that suspend entry into the United States of all noncitizens who were physically present in any of 33 countries during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States. They are Presidential Proclamation 9984 (China); Presidential Proclamation 9992 (Iran); Presidential Proclamation 10143 (Schengen Area, United Kingdom, Ireland, Brazil, and South Africa); and Presidential Proclamation 10199 (India).
What we know so far is
- Confirmed to start on 8 November
- Children under 18 are exempt from the vaccine restrictions, so the varying international standards on jab ages won't be an issue here.
- Vaccines that are OK will include Pfizer, Moderna, AZ, J&J and the two Chinese vaccines.
- Some exemptions from vaccinations are potentially allowed, notably for US citizens, though my guess is airlines will be expecting to see vaccine certificates
- 3 day pre-flight testing requirement will continue, so this needs to be a documented antigen/Lateral Flow test or PCR.
- 3 days is potentially more than 72 hours, departure on a Friday afternoon means a test on Tuesday morning or thereafter.
- NHS Lateral Flows and PCRs can't be used.
- Children over 2 years old travelling with vaccinated travellers have to be tested on the same basis (3 days).
- 1 day testing for unvaccinated USA legal residents (testing on or the day before departure), including their children.
- All passengers need to sign an attestment to confirm their negative test result and also a statement to confirm full vaccination status.
- Children who are not vaccinated do not need to get vaccinated but do need to get a "viral test" 3 to 5 days after arrival in the USA
- As a result there is a separate attestion question for unvaccinated children to confirm that the viral test is arranged.
- Vaccination certificates must come from an official source. The NHS COVID Pass app and EU DCC are specifically mentioned as acceptable.
- Vaccination is counted as two weeks from dose2, or 2 weeks after the sole dose in the case of J&J.
- Antibody certification is not a replacement for the need for vaccination, at least for non USA residents.
- 14 clear days need to elapse before travel. So if jabbed on 1 October then 15 October is when you are good to go.
- Booster vaccinations are not a factor here, they don't count towards or against the primary dose process.
- There is a face mask mandate when flying to/from the USA, with effectively no exemptions, and including children two and above years old.
- Airlines need to provide some sort of contact tracing information for potential follow-up cases.
- These restrictions do not apply at the land border.
Note that a lot of interpretation onus falls on airlines. For example there is no language requirement for vaccine certificates as far as the CDC is concerned, however you can imagine Air France may be hesitant in accepting a vaccine certificate issued in the Welsh language, to take one example.
CDC link
https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2...el-System.html
US reopened on 8 November 2021 (& subsequent entry restrictions for non-citizens)
Jul 22, 2021, 8:29 am
#1741
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,248
I am afraid we can't expect any announcement from the POTUS soon. Please see a quote from the White House Press Secretary:
Q The President said a few days ago that he would have something more to say within a few days on the travel restrictions. Can you at least give us a sense of the timing for when you think there may be some easing or loosening? Or is it — is the upsurge in Delta variants, in cases involving Delta, pushing that off?
MS. PSAKI: He gets regular updates from his COVID team; that’s what he was referring to. But he is going to be guided by their recommendations on when we should ease travel restrictions, which are based on a range of criteria.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-...cincinnati-oh/
Q The President said a few days ago that he would have something more to say within a few days on the travel restrictions. Can you at least give us a sense of the timing for when you think there may be some easing or loosening? Or is it — is the upsurge in Delta variants, in cases involving Delta, pushing that off?
MS. PSAKI: He gets regular updates from his COVID team; that’s what he was referring to. But he is going to be guided by their recommendations on when we should ease travel restrictions, which are based on a range of criteria.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-...cincinnati-oh/
https://twitter.com/0_politics2/status/1418147229718786052?s=24
Jul 22, 2021, 9:05 am
#1742
Join Date: Oct 2019
Programs: OW Emerald / BAEC Gold
Posts: 472
It's disappointing but after listening to parts of his Town Hall last night I am fearing the worst. He actually said that injecting spending trillions of dollars would help drive down inflation but was unable to articulate why. If he is really that clueless about basic economics then I don't think there's much chance of him leading us out of this travel conundrum anytime soon.
https://twitter.com/0_politics2/stat...718786052?s=24
https://twitter.com/0_politics2/stat...718786052?s=24
Jul 22, 2021, 9:07 am
#1743
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 286
Can we redo the primaries from last year? This is tough to watch after having to endure the last four years.
Jul 22, 2021, 10:37 am
#1745
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 3
I am convinced this is starting to undermine the credibility of US politics here in Europe. Most Europeans rejoiced at Biden's victory in November, bringing hope and enthusiasm - "America is back !", remember.... Turns out that America wants to keep us out and that sound decision-making based on logical and realistic arguments is not possible. What will the future bring when we will be discussing much more important topics such as climate change, world safety and security etc ? Just so disappointed.....
Jul 22, 2021, 10:46 am
#1746
Join Date: Dec 2017
Programs: Flying Blue Platinum
Posts: 223
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/...pe-brazil.html
Jul 22, 2021, 10:59 am
#1747
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: LAX
Posts: 211
Not wishing to go political but President Trump rescinded the EU/UK travel ban before he left office, President Biden put it back in place.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/...pe-brazil.html
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/...pe-brazil.html
Jul 22, 2021, 11:23 am
#1748
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Park, CO
Programs: Tegridy Elite
Posts: 5,678
I think if an outgoing President had simply wanted to put his successor in a bad position for spite, he would have made the change take effect on 19 Jan (day prior to Inauguration Day) or something like that, rather than allowing the successor time to reverse course and announce any changes, if he chose to do so. Just my two cents anyway.
Another article on the current situation:
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/22/p...ons/index.html
The stakes are high for Biden, who officials say is trying to avoid a situation where restrictions are lifted only to be put in place again in the future. Meanwhile, liberals and conservatives alike are scrutinizing the President's immigration policies and the Trump-era restrictions that remain in place. When questioned about the timing for reopening borders, the White House has pointed to interagency working groups that were formed last month.
...
But some people familiar with the working groups have questioned their effectiveness, as other countries begin to open to Americans with little clarity over whether the US will reciprocate. One source familiar with the discussions described "paralysis among agencies" over next steps.
...
The lack of answers is fueling frustration among members of Biden's party, who are imploring the administration to ease restrictions.
"It is extremely frustrating that the United States government has failed to reciprocate current family exemptions already allowed by the Canadian government and failed to show a lack of urgency to make any progress on this side of the border toward lifting restrictions," said Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins of New York, who chairs the Congressional Northern Border Caucus, in a statement Monday after Canada announced it was reopening to vaccinated Americans.
...
But some people familiar with the working groups have questioned their effectiveness, as other countries begin to open to Americans with little clarity over whether the US will reciprocate. One source familiar with the discussions described "paralysis among agencies" over next steps.
...
The lack of answers is fueling frustration among members of Biden's party, who are imploring the administration to ease restrictions.
"It is extremely frustrating that the United States government has failed to reciprocate current family exemptions already allowed by the Canadian government and failed to show a lack of urgency to make any progress on this side of the border toward lifting restrictions," said Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins of New York, who chairs the Congressional Northern Border Caucus, in a statement Monday after Canada announced it was reopening to vaccinated Americans.
Jul 22, 2021, 11:53 am
#1749
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: LAX
Posts: 211
It was a policy change. The travel ban was rescinded effective 26 Jan (6 days after Inauguration Day) which is the same date the new negative test requirement for all air passengers took effect. Those two changes were announced about a week in advance of the effective date, presumably to give travelers overseas notice to arrange for testing.
I think if an outgoing President had simply wanted to put his successor in a bad position for spite, he would have made the change take effect on 19 Jan (day prior to Inauguration Day) or something like that, rather than allowing the successor time to reverse course and announce any changes, if he chose to do so. Just my two cents anyway.
Another article on the current situation:
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/22/p...ons/index.html
I think if an outgoing President had simply wanted to put his successor in a bad position for spite, he would have made the change take effect on 19 Jan (day prior to Inauguration Day) or something like that, rather than allowing the successor time to reverse course and announce any changes, if he chose to do so. Just my two cents anyway.
Another article on the current situation:
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/22/p...ons/index.html
Jul 22, 2021, 11:56 am
#1750
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London & Sonoma CA
Programs: UA 1K, MM *G for life, BAEC Gold
Posts: 10,222
I fear that, with the rise in Delta, Biden won't do anything this year. Delta will clearly swipe the US in a month or two and so he will likely calculate that lifting restrictions now will get him blame for cases rising exponentially in late summer / early fall. Likewise, he won't be able to lift the ban later as Americans will then be frightened and distrustful, having believed that the vaccine will stop them getting COVID and discovering that it's more complicated than that.
So, sadly, I'm revising my guess for reopening date from September to early next year.
So, sadly, I'm revising my guess for reopening date from September to early next year.
Jul 22, 2021, 12:54 pm
#1751
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: AS, US, Hilton, BA, DL, SPG, AA, VS
Posts: 1,628
The administration has no burning desire to keep out foreign tourists, they're just indifferent. As I've said, Americans just don't care one way or the other about this like Europeans do. Until that changes, not much will happen.
Jul 22, 2021, 1:24 pm
#1753
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2012
Location: MCO
Programs: AA, B6, DL, EK, EY, QR, SQ, UA, Amex Plat, Marriott Tit, HHonors Gold
Posts: 12,809
Jul 22, 2021, 1:37 pm
#1754
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 3,267
Europe would have stayed closed to Americans because they couldn't trust the previous administration to conduct the American campaign against covid (the existence of which which many of them still deny) competently.
Jul 22, 2021, 1:39 pm
#1755
formerly a193991
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Zulu Romeo Hotel
Programs: Hyatt LT Globalist; LX SEN (*A Gold), AA LTG, SBB-CFF-FFS First Class GA
Posts: 4,565
Maybe EU/Shengen should immediately close the border to US citizens until Biden agrees to open up for us.
this is an unacceptable behavior by the US Govt.
this is an unacceptable behavior by the US Govt.