On October 25, 2021, President Joseph Biden issued a presidential proclamation detailing his previously announced plan to replace the current COVID-19 travel restrictions, which were issued on a country-by-country basis, with a globally consistent policy centered around vaccination and testing requirements. The new international air travel policy will be put into effect for any flights departing on or after 12:01 AM EST on Monday, November 8, 2021.
In this article, we will discuss President Biden’s vaccination and testing requirements for foreign nationals, US Citizens, and lawful permanent residents to travel to the United States.
Vaccine Requirement
Beginning on November 8, 2021, in order to enter the United States, foreign national non-immigrant travelers to the US will be required to provide proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to the airlines prior to boarding the flight to the US In order to be considered fully vaccinated and in compliance with this policy, passengers must have received the final dose of an accepted COVID-19 vaccine fourteen or more days prior to traveling to the United States. All FDA approved/authorized or WHO Emergency Use Listed vaccines are accepted. The full list of accepted vaccines, as well as the requirements for acceptable evidence of COVID-19 vaccination, is detailed on the Center for Disease Control’s (“CDC”) website.
There will be extremely limited exemptions to the vaccination requirement for foreign nationals, which include the following groups:
Children under eighteen;
Certain COVID-19 vaccine trial participants;
Individuals with medical issues that prevent them from being vaccinated;
Individuals who need to travel for humanitarian or emergency reasons (with a letter issued by the US government affirming the urgent need to travel);
Individuals with valid visas (excluding B-1 and B-2 visas) who are citizens of a foreign country that currently has less than ten percent vaccine coverage due to limited COVID-19 vaccine availability;
Airline crew members, sea crew members, and members of the US Armed Forces;
Individuals traveling to the US as foreign government officials, their immediate family members, and individuals who have been invited by the United Nations; AND
Individuals whose entry is deemed to be in the national interest of the US, as determined by the Secretary of State, Secretary of Transportation, or Secretary of Homeland Security.
In a future post, we will discuss the waivers for the unvaccinated once we have better guidance. Individuals who are granted one of these extremely limited exceptions will be required to comply with all public health requirements, including, with even more limited exceptions, that they be vaccinated in the United States if they intend to stay for more than sixty days.
US Citizens and lawful permanent residents will not be required to provide proof that they are fully vaccinated in order to enter the United States, but unvaccinated travelers will be required to comply with a more limited testing window than vaccinated travelers, as detailed below.
Testing Requirements
Prior to November 8, 2021, all travelers have been required to provide a negative COVID-19 test result within three days of travel to the US. The new policy will continue to require a negative COVID-19 test result taken within three days of departure to the United States for vaccinated travelers of any nationality. Both PCR and antigen tests will fulfill this requirement.
The testing requirement has changed for unvaccinated travelers, who now must produce a negative COVID-19 PCR or antigen test result taken within one day of departure to the United States. This includes US citizens and lawful permanent residents, who must also provide a negative test result taken within one day of departure to the United States.
While unvaccinated children are exempted from the vaccination requirement, all children between the ages of two and seventeen are required to present a negative COVID-19 test prior to boarding the flight to the US. Children under two years old are not required to present a COVID-19 test, although the CDC recommends that they take a COVID-19 test as well, if possible. The testing requirements for children differ depending on the vaccination status of their travel parties:
Children traveling with a fully vaccinated adult will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of departure, which is consistent with the testing requirement of their vaccinated adult companion.
Children traveling alone or with an unvaccinated adult will be required to provide a negative COVID-19 test result taken within one day of their flight’s departure to the United States. This timeline is also consistent with the testing requirement for unvaccinated adults.
To summarize these testing guidelines, unvaccinated adults will need to provide a negative COVID-19 PCR or antigen test result from a sample taken within one day of their flight’s departure to the United States, while vaccinated adults will need to provide a negative COVID-19 PCR or antigen test result from a sample taken within three days of their flight’s departure. Children between the ages of two and seventeen should follow the guidelines based on their adult companion’s vaccination status.
Contact Tracing
In addition to the vaccination and testing requirements detailed above, the Center for Disease Control is also issuing a Contact Tracing Order, which will require all airlines flying into the United States to maintain records of contact information for inbound air travelers so that they can be informed of any potential exposure to the COVID-19 virus.
We realize this is a lot of information to take in. In order to help explain the requirements outlined above we offer a few examples of how Individuals seeking to enter the United States can determine their testing and vaccine requirements based on their legal status in the United States and vaccination status. For example, if Person A is a US citizen, they do not need to be fully vaccinated to enter the United States, but if they are unvaccinated, they will need a negative COVID-19 test within one day of departure in order to be allowed to board the airplane destined for the United States. If Person B is vaccinated and a lawful permanent resident of the United States, they will need evidence of their vaccination status and a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of departure. Finally, if Person C is vaccinated and would like to enter the United States as a foreign national, they must provide documentation of their vaccination status as well as a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of departure.
The Presidential Proclamation is due to go into effect on November 8, 2021, at 12:01 AM EST, and will remain in effect until the proclamation is terminated by the president.