Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Travel&Dining > Travel Health and Fitness > Coronavirus and travel
Reload this Page >

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

Community
Wiki Posts
Search
Old Sep 15, 2021, 1:47 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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


Print Wikipost

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

 
Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Nov 29, 2021, 8:25 am
  #2881  
 
Join Date: Dec 2020
Location: CDG & ORY
Programs: AF/KL FB Ultimate
Posts: 261
Originally Posted by Vardomannen
White House Statement is at 11.45 AM ET according to whitehouse.gov/live

Travelling on Friday so crossing fingers for no major obstacles between now and then....
I would actually feel more relaxed if some cases were discovered in the US! As long as there are officially no cases, closing borders might sound legitimate...
SpinEcho is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2021, 8:26 am
  #2882  
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Rome, Italy
Programs: Delta, Lufthansa
Posts: 30
Originally Posted by SpinEcho
I would actually feel more relaxed if some cases were discovered in the US! As long as there are officially no cases, closing borders might sound legitimate...
no because they don’t test arrivals but they all know they have cases.
DL77 likes this.
jo535 is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2021, 8:57 am
  #2883  
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Milan, Italy
Programs: Skymiles
Posts: 271
Originally Posted by SpinEcho
I would actually feel more relaxed if some cases were discovered in the US! As long as there are officially no cases, closing borders might sound legitimate...
If you don't look for them you won't find them ...
DL77 is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2021, 8:58 am
  #2884  
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,248
Originally Posted by DL77
If you don't look for them you won't find them ...
Ah, the good old days
golfmad is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2021, 9:01 am
  #2885  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: PVG, FRA, SEA, HEL
Programs: UA Premier Gold
Posts: 4,783
Well, I am 100% sure that Biden will impose tougher travel restriction.
Whether this means a travel ban -> let's see.
Owenc likes this.
warakorn is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2021, 9:04 am
  #2886  
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Rome, Italy
Programs: Delta, Lufthansa
Posts: 30
Originally Posted by warakorn
Well, I am 100% sure that Biden will impose tougher travel restriction.
Whether this means a travel ban -> let's see.
we’ll see but Reuters have always reported “leaks” ahead of time so I doubt anything is to be added today.
LETTERBOY and casey89 like this.
jo535 is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2021, 9:12 am
  #2887  
 
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Milan, Italy
Programs: Skymiles
Posts: 271
Originally Posted by warakorn
Well, I am 100% sure that Biden will impose tougher travel restriction.
Whether this means a travel ban -> let's see.
I think so too.
DL77 is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2021, 10:13 am
  #2888  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: CDG
Programs: SK Gold, AF Gold, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,722
Originally Posted by warakorn
Well, I am 100% sure that Biden will impose tougher travel restriction.
Whether this means a travel ban -> let's see.
Well, it seems you were 100% wrong.

And on that note, I'd like to remind fellow members that these forums are read not only by seasoned travellers, but also the general population looking for guidance, advice and a point of reference in these uncertain times. Therefore, it would be good if posters could refrain from absolute statements and 100% certainty about things that are anything but.
gojko88 is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2021, 10:14 am
  #2889  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: Kent, UK
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, UA Premier Platinum
Posts: 125
Just watching the press conference. Notable:

US is going to fight this not with shutdowns or lockdowns but with more vaccines and boosters.
Also with questions from the media afterwards he seemed to imply that he isn’t keen on travel bans and only banned South Africa due to the high number of cases. The impression I got is he wasn’t happy he had to do this but felt it necessary. He also specifically said he doesn’t anticipate other travel restrictions at this point.
SteveWhite88 is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2021, 11:03 am
  #2890  
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: CDG
Programs: SK Gold, AF Gold, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,722
On a lighter note, did anyone else notice how Biden pronounced it "omnicron" every single time? I actually like it better that way, it sounds like a Transformer is causing all this mayhem.
Tim_T, GUWonder, sbandy and 3 others like this.
gojko88 is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2021, 12:37 pm
  #2891  
Senior Moderator
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: San Francisco, CA
Programs: UA Plat/2MM [23-yr. 1K, now emeritus] clawing way back to WN-A List; MR LT Titanium; HY Whateverist.
Posts: 12,396
Moderator note

We have edited some text which was an incomplete or misleading statement of U.S. position on the Omicron variant. As well, we have deleted a number of replies to that content or posts which are off-topic for this Miles&Points forum.

Going forward, please focus on the factual and travel aspects of the topic and avoid OMNI/PR-related posts. Thank you, Ocn Vw 1K, for the Coronavirus and travel forum Moderator team

Last edited by Ocn Vw 1K; Nov 29, 2021 at 12:39 pm Reason: Clarify.
Ocn Vw 1K is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2021, 12:46 pm
  #2892  
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: South Park, CO
Programs: Tegridy Elite
Posts: 5,678
C-SPAN has the speech video up...

https://www.c-span.org/video/?516362...cern-not-panic
84fiero is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2021, 1:48 pm
  #2893  
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: AS, US, Hilton, BA, DL, SPG, AA, VS
Posts: 1,628
Originally Posted by Tim_T
Based on this it wouldn’t surprise me if instead the US introduces arrival PCR testing.
While they could do that if they really wanted to, it would be a logistical nightmare. And if they introduced it & it became a logistical nightmare, [OMNI/PR content deleted by Moderator.]

Last edited by Ocn Vw 1K; Nov 29, 2021 at 2:24 pm Reason: Please see Moderator Advisory two posts above.
LETTERBOY is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2021, 2:50 pm
  #2894  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: where lions are led by donkeys...
Programs: Lifetime Gold, Global Entry, Hertz PC, and my wallet
Posts: 20,340
Originally Posted by DrGee
We're due to be heading to the US on Wednesday. Fully vaccinated and tested with a green Verifly but now on the verge of throwing in the towel because of the endless uncertainty.
Well it's looking a heck of a lot better than it was this morning!
Silver Fox is offline  
Old Nov 30, 2021, 12:53 am
  #2895  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Berkshire
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 380
Originally Posted by Silver Fox
Well it's looking a heck of a lot better than it was this morning!
It is indeed. I've even started to think this trip might actually happen.
DrGee is offline  


Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.