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US reopened on 8 November 2021 (& subsequent entry restrictions for non-citizens)

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Old Sep 15, 2021, 1:47 pm
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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:
  • AstraZeneca
  • BIBP/Sinopharm
  • Covishield
  • Janssen/J&J
  • Moderna
  • Pfizer-BioNTech
  • Sinovac
Vaccination certificates must come from an official source
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


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US reopened on 8 November 2021 (& subsequent entry restrictions for non-citizens)

 
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Old Oct 5, 2021, 1:21 am
  #2491  
 
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Originally Posted by Yellowjj
I've heard from someone November 16th is the target date, courtesy of two separate groups of people (both viable) they spoke with.

Take that with a grain of salt, although everything this person has spoken about in the past has come to fruition. I will say this is a Intl destination, so agents here are alerted ahead of time by corporate on policy changes/announcements.
Am going to pretend I didnt read this, to avoid getting really worried / annoyed / wound up about this any more than usual. I am still clinging on to "early November" meaning sometime in the first third of the month...
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Old Oct 5, 2021, 2:04 am
  #2492  
 
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One thing is certain, the 1st is looking pretty unlikely at this point.
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Old Oct 5, 2021, 2:30 am
  #2493  
 
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People said the same about the reopening coming in 2021
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Old Oct 5, 2021, 2:52 am
  #2494  
 
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Originally Posted by gojko88
People said the same about the reopening coming in 2021
Sure, but the closer it gets to November, the less likely it's going to be early November.

I can't see them announcing the 1st with only two weeks notice (for example).
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Old Oct 5, 2021, 8:48 am
  #2495  
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Originally Posted by RG1X
Sure, but the closer it gets to November, the less likely it's going to be early November.

I can't see them announcing the 1st with only two weeks notice (for example).
oh I can for the simple reason that they can then blame the airlines / airports / etc for not then taking advantage of the change “well we’ve opened the border and it’s now the airlines to blame for no flights running”
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Old Oct 5, 2021, 1:19 pm
  #2496  
 
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Originally Posted by RG1X
Sure, but the closer it gets to November, the less likely it's going to be early November.

I can't see them announcing the 1st with only two weeks notice (for example).
Didn't the Europe reopening to US give two weeks notice? I thought it was two weeks. I bought a ticket (actually 3 business tickets) well in advance in hoping of a reopening and then just watched and waited. Not being able to plan is a big pain for me, but I kind of got over that last year! Good luck to you all, I do empathize and have contacted the WH earlier on to voice my support of reopening, not that it did any good.
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Old Oct 6, 2021, 7:53 am
  #2497  
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It is my current hypothesis that the lifting of the Schengen/UK/Ireland Travel Ban will happen in Mid-November. However, the Biden-Administration is intentionally withholding a firm date as to not provoke a sudden rush of incoming passengers.
If the Biden Administration were to announce today that the borders will be opened on Nov 15, you would bet that bookings from Nov 15 would experience an immediate surge in bookings - and we would have full flights and super-full FIS facilities at all ports of entries.
By announcing a firm opening date at the last minute the Administration would be able to dampen that surge, because for European it is easier to plan and book transatlantic travel 5 weeks in advance, instead of 2 weeks in advance. So essentially the rush would be decreased and spread out over a longer period of time. The hope of the Biden Administration would be that most European families/travellers had already booked trips to other countries than the US - for the period of November and December 2021. I mean, which normal European family (who is eager to visit the US) today would be willing to tie up several thousands of Euros for a trip to New York or Disney World, if there is no firm opening date?

My bet is still that the firm opening date around Nov 15 will be announced at the end of October.

Yes, this all presents a large cliffhanger for the big transatlantic airlines, but I can fully understand the pandemic-related rationale of the Biden Administration.

We have experienced the calculus of the Canadian Government. While a firm opening date was announced a bit earlier and was made clear that this date was subject to change. Moreover, the Canadian government has achieved to avoid any crazy summer travel rush by opening in mid-September right after most summer holidays had finished.
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Last edited by warakorn; Oct 6, 2021 at 8:02 am
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Old Oct 6, 2021, 8:04 am
  #2498  
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Originally Posted by warakorn
It is my current hypothesis that the lifting of the Schengen/UK/Ireland Travel Ban will happen in Mid-November. However, the Biden-Administration is intentionally withholding a firm date as to not provoke a sudden rush of incoming passengers.
an family (who is eager to visit the US) today would be willing to tie up several thousands of Euros for a trip to New York or Disney World, if there is no firm opening date?
So the surge would just be delayed to another date.
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Old Oct 6, 2021, 8:07 am
  #2499  
 
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Originally Posted by warakorn
It is my current hypothesis that the lifting of the Schengen/UK/Ireland Travel Ban will happen in Mid-November. However, the Biden-Administration is intentionally withholding a firm date as to not provoke a sudden rush of incoming passengers........

I mean, which normal European family (who is eager to visit the US) today would be willing to tie up several thousands of Euros for a trip to New York or Disney World, if there is no firm opening date?
I may not be normal but my fully cancellable flight and hotels are booked for mid November, here's hoping!
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Old Oct 6, 2021, 8:22 am
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Originally Posted by heronb
I may not be normal but my fully cancellable flight and hotels are booked for mid November, here's hoping!
I went with mid November.. Booked for the 15th to NY. Yep here's hoping indeed.
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Old Oct 6, 2021, 8:25 am
  #2501  
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Originally Posted by TomMM
So the surge would just be delayed to another date.
ok, I try to explain again, because I assume you didn't get my point.
Yes, travel demand will pick up with the opening, however, there won't be a huge spike (on the opening day) if the firm opening date is announced at the last minute.
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Old Oct 6, 2021, 8:27 am
  #2502  
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Originally Posted by heronb
I may not be normal but my fully cancellable flight and hotels are booked for mid November, here's hoping!
Well, honestly during this pandemic I have lost trust in airlines to issue quick cash refunds, hence, I am not a big fan of tying up large sums of money in (cancellable ) tickets.
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Old Oct 6, 2021, 9:10 am
  #2503  
 
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Originally Posted by warakorn
Well, honestly during this pandemic I have lost trust in airlines to issue quick cash refunds, hence, I am not a big fan of tying up large sums of money in (cancellable ) tickets.
Sensible option, it's mainly points anyway during a 'sale'.
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Old Oct 6, 2021, 10:07 am
  #2504  
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Originally Posted by warakorn
I mean, which normal European family (who is eager to visit the US) today would be willing to tie up several thousands of Euros for a trip to New York or Disney World, if there is no firm opening date?

My bet is still that the firm opening date around Nov 15 will be announced at the end of October.

Yes, this all presents a large cliffhanger for the big transatlantic airlines, but I can fully understand the pandemic-related rationale of the Biden Administration.

We have experienced the calculus of the Canadian Government. While a firm opening date was announced a bit earlier and was made clear that this date was subject to change. Moreover, the Canadian government has achieved to avoid any crazy summer travel rush by opening in mid-September right after most summer holidays had finished.
as an admin on several FB Orlando / Disney world group, trust me when I say that lots and lots of U.K. families have already booked for travel in November and December, including me. Disney World is celebrating its 50th anniversary as from 1st Oct, this combined with lots of pent up demand means that there are plenty of families booking flights.
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Old Oct 6, 2021, 10:51 am
  #2505  
 
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Take this for what it is worth but a reporter for the Sunday Times is saying November not early November now as there have been multiple "kinks".

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