US Reopens Borders for Foreign Visitors After 20 Months but Vaccine Proof Needed
The travel ban was initially applied only to China but was later extended to other nations like India and Brazil.
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After a travel ban that lasted for 20 months, the Biden administration reopened US borders on Monday, 8 November, to fully vaccinated foreign visitors, BBC reported.
Passengers must provide an "official source" that depicts their vaccination status, and airline operators will match the name and date of birth as proof of vaccination.
They must also provide a negative test result within three days prior to their flight.
The rules for children say that those under the age of 18 are exempted from compulsory vaccination but children who are between 2 and 17 must take a pre-departure COVID test, according to Reuters.
The ban, which was imposed by former President Donald Trump, has impacted non-American citizens from dozens of nations.
The ban was initially applied to travellers only from the People's Republic of China in early 2020, but was also eventually extended to other countries like India, Iran, and Brazil.
Families had been kept apart and tourism had been strictly halted. Workers and students, however, had been allowed to enter.
A huge influx of travellers is anticipated. "It feels good, it feels good!", said Jerome Thomann, the head of Jetset Voyages told Reuters, happy that his travel agency was witnessing an "incredible upturn" in flight arrangements.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the national public health agency of the US, made it clear that there existed no exceptions or special arrangements "for religious reasons or other moral convictions", and that anyone who wanted to travel to the country had to be fully vaccinated.
(With inputs from Reuters and BBC)
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