US to require proof of vaccination for international arrivals

Regulations will focus on vaccination status rather than country-based restrictions

The US government has announced new international travel guidelines. The new rules mark a pivotal change in US pandemic-era air travel policies. In early 2020, the US imposed travel limitations that barred non-citizens from entering the US if they had been in Brazil, China, India, Iran, South Africa, the UK and many Schengen area countries within the previous two weeks.

In a statement released by the White House, US President Joe Biden stated that, from 8 November 2021, the US will move beyond country-by-country restrictions to an air travel policy that relies primarily on vaccination to advance the safe resumption of international air travel to the US.

Non-citizen travellers arriving in the US will now be required to be fully vaccinated with a vaccine approved by either the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the World Health Organisation (WHO). In addition, vaccinated travellers will be required to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken within three days of departure.

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President Biden added: “Together, these policies aim to limit the risk that Covid-19, including variants of the virus that causes Covid-19, is introduced, transmitted and spread into and throughout the United States, potentially overwhelming United States healthcare and public health resources, endangering the health and safety of the American people and threatening the security of our civil aviation system.”

Airlines will verify proof of vaccination and negative PCR tests, as well as passenger contact and tracing information for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

For more information, visit CDC