United States to Pull Bans for Fully Vaccinated Foreign Travellers

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The American officials have announced pulling the travel ban from November for fully vaccinated travelers only. The move come 18-months after a presidential proclamation from Donald Trump closed off the US to British visitors. Visitors from the UK, Ireland, and the Schengen Area (most of the EU plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein) have been banned from travelling to the US since March 2020. A presidential proclamation outlawing direct arrivals was made by Donald Trump, who lifted it very briefly at the end of his White House tenure, only for his successor, Joe Biden, to re-impose the prohibition on people who have been physically present in one of those locations during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States.

The new order applies to all travelers except American citizens and foreigners with the right of residence in the US. Similar bans apply to China, Iran, Brazil, South Africa, and India. The ban has looked increasingly unjustifiable since the US remained open to arrivals from more than 150 other countries, many of them with more serious COVID concerns than Europe. The travel ban has proved extremely harsh for people with family or partners in the US, as well as causing damage to tourism. People with a compassionate reason to travel to the US, or whose presence is held to be beneficial to the American nation may be granted permission. The latter option, known as a “National Interest Exception,” has been used by some professionals but not those seeking to visit loved ones or holidaymakers.

Most travelers with pressing reasons to go to the US have “laundered” their status by spending 2-weeks in a third country, usually Mexico, before continuing by air to an American airport. However, the exact date is yet to confirm for November to lift the ban on the UK, Europe, and other nations that have been blocked during the coronavirus pandemic. So, foreign nationals from anywhere in the world will be able to visit, provided they can prove their fully vaccinated status. Double jabbed travelers from these countries will then be able to enter on the normal terms: presenting a visa or an Esta (America’s online entry permit). They will not need to quarantine on arrival. A person who has completed a course of jabs with a vaccine authorized for emergency use by the WHO. These are AstraZeneca, Janssen, Moderna, Pfizer/BioNTech, and 2 Chinese vaccines Sinopharm and Sinovac.