October 15, 2021: The Biden Administration plans to lift travel restrictions for international travelers coming to the U.S. from countries that are currently subject to COVID-19 travel restrictions (as well as National Interest Exception [NIE] waivers) on November 8. In place of the travel restriction and/or NIE requirement, all international travelers, including those coming from countries without a COVID-19 travel ban, will be required to show proof of vaccination for the COVID-19 virus.
Only vaccines that are approved or authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or listed for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO) will be accepted for air or land travel into the U.S. Currently, the accepted vaccines are the following:
- FDA Authorized/Approved: Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer-BioNTech
- WHO Approved: Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca/Covishield, Sinopharm, and Sinova
Further guidance on this new policy, including possible limited exceptions and other operational details, will be provided by the Administration before November 8.
International Employment continues to recommend against international travel at this time, due to the ever-changing COVID-19 travel requirements and restrictions, and the potentially lengthy visa application processing backlogs at U.S. consulates and embassies all over the world for those individuals who need to get a new nonimmigrant visa stamp in their passport before they can return to the U.S.
Please also note that, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), all air passengers coming to the U.S., including U.S. citizens and fully vaccinated people, must have a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 3 days before travel, or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in the past 3 months before boarding a flight to the U.S.