U.S. president Joe Biden has signed a proclamation laying down the travel rules for when the country reopens to international visitors on 8 November.
Almost all travellers will need to be fully vaccinated, and airlines will be required to check travellers’ vaccination status before they will be allowed board the incoming airplane.
“It is in the interests of the United States to move away from the country-by-country restrictions previously applied during the Covid-19 pandemic and to adopt an air travel policy that relies primarily on vaccination to advance the safe resumption of international air travel to the United States,” the text explained.
All visitors will also have to present a negative Covid test taken no more than 72 hours before travel, either a PCR or antigen (lateral flow) test.
What About Children?
This morning (26 October) in London at the Brand USA trade show, Brand USA CEO Chris Thompson and Sarah E Morgenthau, Deputy Assistant Secretary, National Travel & Tourism Office at U.S. Department of Commerce, confirmed that all children under 18 would be exempted from the vaccination requirement.
However, they will still need to provide a negative Covid test, although clarification is still being sought on whether there will be a minimum age requirement for testing.
