Entry on US Visitor Visa B1/B2 [when flying from India using IbA]
 

I checked Timatic just now, and there is no indication that pax holding Passport India Visa US B1/B2 who have not visited/transited Eur-UK/Brazil/China/Iran in the last 14 days cannot enter the USA or if they do, will need to be quarantined in any way as long as they have not been through the aforementioned restricted regions in the last 14 days. Actually there does not seem to be a restriction on entry of ANY passport holder with a valid US visa if they have not been to these restricted regions in the last 14 days.

However ... I am also seeing blanket statements on other fora that US borders remain closed to those who don't "live" in the USA. So which one is it?

/ 18JUL20 / 0310 UTC
National India (IN) /Destination USA (US) https://www.timaticweb.com/logos/OLY...CB2C/vi_de.gif
USA (US)
https://www.timaticweb.com/logos/OLY...C/in_on_no.gif Passport required. - Passports issued to nationals of India must be valid for the period of intended stay. - When passengers travel with an authorization for Parole of an Alien into the United States (Form I-512), it must be valid on arrival. Passport Exemptions:
- Passengers with an Authorization for Parole of an Alien into the United States (Form I-512). - For passengers arriving directly from the US mainland, Alaska, Hawaii, For details, click here Admission and Transit Restrictions:
- Passengers who have transited or have been in Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland (Rep.), Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland or in the United Kingdom (excluding overseas territories outside of Europe), in the past 14 days are not allowed to enter and transit. - This does not apply to B1 crew crewmembers that are engaged in lightering, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) activity, wind farm activity, private air/sea crew and other similar crewmember actives.
- Passengers who have been in China (People's Rep.) in the past 14 days are not allowed to enter and transit. - This does not apply to B1 crew crewmembers that are engaged in lightering, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) activity, wind farm activity, private air/sea crew and other similar crewmember actives.
- Passengers who have been in Iran in the past 14 days are not allowed to enter and transit. - This does not apply to B1 crew crewmembers that are engaged in lightering, Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) activity, wind farm activity, private air/sea crew and other similar crewmember actives.

Visa required, except for Passengers with an Authorization for Parole of an Alien into the United States (Form I-512). Visa required, except for Passengers admitted to the USA on a visa, returning to the USA after a visit of maximum 30 days to Canada or Mexico or to adjacent islands (except for Cuba) For details, click here . Holders of F or J visas must For details, click here Minors: - Minors traveling unaccompanied, or accompanied by one parent or a person other than parent/legal guardian, For details, click here. Additional Information:
- A passenger may enter the USA with a valid visa in an expired passport, if For details, click here Warning: - Below listed passengers are allowed to enter the USA, even if they transited or have been in Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China (People's Rep.), Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Ireland (Rep.), Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland or the United Kingdom (excluding overseas territories outside of Europe), in the past 14 days: a. nationals of the USA;
b. permanent residents of the USA; c. the spouse of a national of the USA;
d. the spouse of a permanent resident of the US; e. the parent/legal guardian of an unmarried and younger than 21 years national or permanent resident of the USA;
f. the unmarried and younger than 21 years brother or sister of a national or permanent resident of the USA, who is
unmarried and younger than 21 years; g. the child/foster child/ward of a national or permanent
resident of the USA; h. passengers with an IR-4 or IH-4 visa; i. passengers with a C-1, D, or C-1/D visa; j. passengers with an A-1, A-2, C-2, C-3, E-1 as an employee of TECRO or TECO or the employee's immediate family members, G-1, G-2, G-3, G-4, NATO-1 through NATO-4, or NATO-6 visa; k. members of the U.S. Armed Forces, spouses, and children of members of the U.S. Armed Forces; l. passengers with evidence of traveling at the invitation of the USA government for a purpose related to the containment/mitigation of the Coronavirus (COVID-19);
m. passengers with documents issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, or U.S. Department of State indicating that the passenger is exempt from the restriction.
- Passengers who have been in one of below listed countries in the past 14 days but are exempt from the restriction to enter the USA, must arrive at one of the following airports: Atlanta (ATL), Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Dallas, (DFW), Detroit (DTW), Ft. Lauderdale (FLL), Honolulu (HNL), Houston (IAH), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK or EWR), San Francisco (SFO), Seattle (SEA) and Washington (IAD). -- Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China (People's Rep.), Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland (Rep.), Iran, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland or the United Kingdom (excluding overseas territories outside of Europe). - Passengers who have been in Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China (People's Rep.), Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Iran, Ireland (Rep.), Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland or United Kingdom (excluding overseas territories outside of Europe) in the past 14 days but are exempt from the restriction to enter the USA, must self-quarantine for 14 days once they reach their final
destination.
- Passengers traveling to Puerto Rico will be quarantined for 14 days. - Passengers traveling to Puerto Rico must present a completed Puerto Rico Department of Health form upon arrival. CHECK For details, click here - CHECK LATEST NEWS AND UPDATES ON TRAVEL INFORMATION
Timaticweb Version 1.3
18 July 2020https://www.timaticweb.com/logos/OLY...CB2C/sc_co.gif

The Presidential Proclamation only forbids entry by non-citizens/residents of the U.S. who have been in or transited the listed "red" countries in the past 14 days. India is not listed as a "red" country. So if you have a valid U.S. visa and are flying non-stop from India (or are stopping/transitting only in non-"red" countries) your are not banned by the Presidential Proclamation.

Note that depending on where you're landing in the U.S., there might be quarantines imposed by the local government. This is a complicated and changing situation.

To supplement what 889 has said, just because you are not banned, it does not mean CBP will allow entry.

Of course you remain subect to the usual rules, under which a visa is never a guaranty of entry. As I said, you're just "not banned by the Presidential Proclamation."

its amazing how usa considers the eu as a red zone while india is not....the rest of the world of course considers usa & india to be red zones....rightfully so....

this is a perfect example of retaliation by usa since the eu has banned their entry at the moment....

No, the limitations are on Schengen as a whole (not the EU as a whole) because of the way Schengen operates as a single travel zone (in theory, at least). That means the situation in the worst states -- currently Spain and Portugal -- controls for all Schengen states.

Think about your conspiracy theory again.

First, before COVID-19, nonstop air traffic between the U.S. and India is quite limited. With the service suspension by airlines, it is quite difficult for Indian to travel into the U.S., ban or no ban (FWIW - there is even a FTer crying for help at FT to get out India). Also - even connections are available (either via Europe or Asia), many have banned transit traffic.

Also - there is no so-called retaliation. The U.S. did not ban EU and the U.K. just because the EU and the U.K. ban the U.S. The ban has been in place for a while.

Hardly think its a conspiracy theory. Currently there is a retaliatory angle to it. Just like EU won't open to China till China reciprocates. And USA stopped India from flying "repatriation" flights to India till US airlines were allowed to fly the same route but not as repatriation flights.

Yes USA banned EU and pretty much everyone else a long time back. I remember the botched announcement that Trump made that caused mass panic and the crazy lines of people in ORD, LAX etc. trying to get home.

However, the ban remains today because of retaliation reasons. There's hardly a reason to have links between the current worst performing nations Russia, India, Mexico, South Africa and who have you and ban the EU which is now faring significantly better than them. And given where the US is currently... how's banning any country really helping them with their numbers?

' . . .how's banning any country really helping them with their numbers?'

You could ask that of any number of countries with high rates, like India or Singapore or Indonesia or Russia, still banning everyone.

Point is, for all sorts of reasons, there is world-wide a much higher standard for relaxing restrictions than for imposing them. That's just the way it is, world-wide.

(And for the record, it was the EU which formally stated that reciprocity was a consideration in relaxing restrictions. And the EU hasn't relaxed restrictions with China solely for reasons of reciprocity. So if you want to criticise for "retaliation," criticise the EU.)

you can sugarcoat it all you want....usa banning even transit through the schengen area is simply retaliation against the ban imposed on them....

fair enough....i should have been more clear....i meant the schengen states when i said eu....

having said that, india is most definitely is a worse position than spain & portugal combined....so once again, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to allow travel between india-usa & not allow between schengen-usa....

As said, with India basically banning flights, it's not a big issue, since few Indians are heading to the U.S. Ditto Indonesia, etc. The U.S. Government's going where the numbers are. Nothing illogical about that: what counts is the risk a traveller from a particular country is infected times the number of travellers from that country, not the infection risk of a single traveller alone.

Same with Canada and Mexico: essentially banning crossings overland but not by air. You could certainly say that "doesn't make a whole lot of sense" either. But the point is to keep the numbers down.

Yes of course, irrespective of visa, eligibility to enter is always and has always been determined at Port of Entry so that's not changing COVID or not. The real question for right now is if someone does have a valid B1/B2 visa and would be entering for what would ordinarily under non-COVID "normal" circumstances be considered be a "valid purpose allowed by the visa", whatever that may be ... oh who knows like maybe holiday, seeing friends and relatives, medical appointments, business meetings etc., question is will that ordinarily valid purpose still be considered a valid/reasonable reason to enter under the current circumstances. I would think that even though offices are shut down, manufacturing etc. is still going on so people are traveling for business... or to see relatives and friends or whatever else. Considering the Level 4 Do Not Travel situation, "holiday" may or may not not be a very good one. :)

Like I mentioned before, it's not the country of passport that is being restricted so just wondering if folks from any country who have not been in the restricted "red" regions in the last 14 days have recently entered on B1/B2 without issues or if they had to provide a medical clearance certificate, negative test, subject to quarantine etc. For example Tahiti has declared themselves to be COVID free and is now open to international tourism, accepting all valid pax as long as they have additionally satisfied strict medical testing requirements prior to boarding and also provide traceability info while in French Polynesia. I can guarantee 90%+ of those going to the islands would be on "holiday".

with travel just having resumed i think there will be much more clarity on rules & passenger eligibility over the next few days & weeks....

i'm supposed to travel to nyc in another 3 weeks for an arbitration....my flight was originally in april but because of the pandemic my travel shifted to august....i'm still desperately trying to get out of this trip even though i've already had covid & recovered from it a few months ago....i'm just not comfortable taking an international flight at the moment....in any case, my flight is on klm via ams so there is a good possibility that transit through the schengen area still won't be allowed in 3 weeks time....

more relaxations for travel to 'bubble' countries....indians holding b1/b2 visas can travel provided usa has no restrictions on allowing entry....

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india...z6Wy6SAHM.html