The US rescinds certain travel restrictions affecting Brazil, China, India, Iran, Ireland, the Schengen Area, South Africa and the United Kingdom, effective November 8, 2021.
The old restrictions are replaced by a global vaccination requirement for all adult foreign national travelers aboard flights scheduled to arrive in the US that departs after 12:01 a.m. EST on November 8, as well as entry through a land boarder or ferry terminal.
The new requirements apply to travel to the US by plane to individuals who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents of the U.S., with limited exceptions.
The general requirement is to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, as well as proof of a negative COVID-19 test result or recovery from COVID-19.
For these purposes, an individual is considered fully vaccinated in all of the following situations:
- 2 weeks (14 days) after an accepted single-dose COVID-19 vaccine
- 2 weeks (14 days) after your second dose of an accepted 2-dose series
- 2 weeks (14 days) after you received the full series of an active (not placebo) COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S.-based AstraZeneca or Novavax COVID-19 vaccine trials
- 2 weeks (14 days) after you received 2 doses of any “mix-and-match” combination of accepted COVID-19 vaccines administered at least 17 days apart
The last dose must have been given a full 14 days before the day of boarding the flight to the US.
Children under 18 years of age are exempt from the vaccination requirement.
Acceptable proof of COVID-19 vaccination
| Documentation Type | Examples |
| Verifiable records (digital or paper) | Vaccination certificate with QR code, digital pass via Smartphone application with QR code (e.g., United Kingdom National Health Service COVID Pass, European Union Digital COVID Certificate) |
| Non-verifiable paper records | Printout of COVID-19 vaccination record or a COVID-19 vaccination certificate issued at national or subnational level or by an authorized vaccine provider (e.g., the CDC vaccination card) |
| Non-verifiable digital records | Digital photos of vaccination card or record, downloaded vaccine record or vaccination certificate from official source (e.g., public health agency, government agency, or other authorized vaccine provider), or a mobile phone application without QR code |
All forms of proof of COVID-19 vaccination must have:
- Personal identifiers (at a minimum, full name and date of birth) that match the personal identifiers on the passenger’s passport or other travel documents;
- Name of official source issuing the record (e.g., public health agency, government agency, or other authorized vaccine provider); and
- Vaccine manufacturer and date(s) of vaccination.
Exceptions
Categories of noncitizen, nonimmigrants that meet the criteria for an exception under the proclamation and CDC’s order include:
- Persons on diplomatic or official foreign government travel
- Children under 18 years of age
- Persons with documented medical contraindications to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine
- Participants in certain COVID-19 vaccine trials
- Persons issued a humanitarian or emergency exception
- Persons with valid visas [excluding B-1 (business) or B-2 (tourism) visas] who are citizens of a foreign country with limited COVID-19 vaccine availability
- Members of the U.S. Armed Forces or their spouses or children (under 18 years of age)
- Sea crew members traveling pursuant to a C-1 and D nonimmigrant visa
- Persons whose entry would be in the national interest, as determined by the Secretary of State, Secretary of Transportation, or Secretary of Homeland Security (or their designees)
Additional information
The global vaccination requirement will end the travel restrictions under Presidential Proclamations 9984, 9992, 10143, and 10199 as they related to the suspension of entry into the United States of certain persons physically present in Brazil, China, India, Iran, Ireland, the Schengen Area, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
The announcements are at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/safely-resuming-travel-by-vaccine-requirement-and-rescission-of-travel-restrictions.html, https://www.dhs.gov/news/2021/10/29/frequently-asked-questions-guidance-travelers-enter-us-land-ports-entry-and-ferry, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/noncitizens-US-air-travel.html, and https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/proof-of-vaccination.html#covid-vaccines.
Please contact your Dentons attorney for further information.
