OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED: The vaccination requirement to enter the USA is ending on May 11th at the end of the day! As early as midnight on May 12th, there will be no COVID-19 requirements for all travelers who want to go to the United States.
Here are the details of the elimination of the USA vaccination requirement.
(And as a reminder, whether it’s to travel to the U.S. or elsewhere, make sure to check out the great deals currently giving you $800+ in free travel in our ranking of the best credit cards in Canada or the best credit cards in the USA for travelers!)
Updates about the United States vaccination requirement
Here are all the last months’ updates about the vaccination requirement in the USA.
Reminder of the current vaccination rule in the USA
You can read all the details about the American rules in our ultimate guide on how to travel to the United States, including an infographic to sum it all up.
Announcement of the end of the requirement (May 1)
Just as we predicted the last time it was extended in April, the elimination of the USA’s vaccine requirement has been officially confirmed by the White House on May 1st.
It’s simple: EVERYTHING will be eliminated at the end of the day on May 11th, finally! As early as May 12th, EVERY traveler will be allowed to enter without pandemic-related requirements, with no exceptions.
It was about time they followed the actual science!
This applies for entry by:
- Air
- Land (even though it already was not often enforced)
- Sea (from Canada and Mexico; the rule never existed for other countries)
You can read the official announcement from the President if you want to subject yourself to the political spin (I don’t recommend it: it’s over, that’s it!).
The Department of Homeland Security has also confirmed it for entry by land/sea from Canada and Mexico.
Changes to the definition of “vaccinated” (April 19 and April 27)
This has NOTHING to do with the end date. But believe it or not… the USA has finally changed something about their vaccination requirement. It’s the very first change to the requirement since it was launched back in 2021.
And the change is not to remove the requirement, or to stop accepting vaccines received over 2 years ago that scientifically have absolutely no effect anymore.
No, they have changed the definition of vaccinated to include 2 new 1-dose options.
The Janssen/Johnson & Johnson and CanSinoBIO vaccines were the only ones accepted if you had only received 1 dose. Since April 19, the new bivalent Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are accepted even if you had just 1 dose. It really has to be the new vaccine though, not the old monovalent one from Pfizer or Moderna.
On April 27, they tweaked it again to also accept all Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna as 1-dose vaccines IF they were received after August 16th, 2022.
Weird that they would change that if everything is going to end in less than 2 weeks, but they were probably just aligning with unrelated CDC guidelines.
New law to eliminate one of the states of emergencies (April 10)
In the USA, both houses of Congress must vote to create legislation (the House of Representatives and the Senate).
Earlier this year, the House of Representatives voted to end the national emergency declaration (but NOT the public health emergency). And on March 29, in a bipartisan vote, the U.S. Senate also voted to end the national emergency declaration.
(This has nothing to do with the House vote to end the vaccination requirement, which still hasn’t been passed by the Senate!)
Biden was “strongly opposed” to this new bill but had confirmed he would not veto it.
Biden had 10 days (Sundays excluded) after the Senate vote to sign the bill into law. He took all the time he had and signed that into law on April 10.
The national emergency declaration is no more. They didn’t change anything about the public health emergency, which is still in effect until May 11th, as announced in January.
Most importantly, they have still not mentioned anything about the entry requirements for travelers.
As much as the rules themselves are illogical (very), it’s actually a simple concept really: every rule is a separate rule. The vaccination requirement will end when the rule about the vaccination requirement will be lifted (and we’ll let you know of course).
Really, this all has nothing to do with the USA vaccination requirement at all for now, unfortunately.
Absolutely nothing has changed since November 8th, 2021 in terms of the USA vaccination requirement in fact.
Renewal of the requirement (April 4th)
On April 4th, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the federal agency that manages transportation security in the United States, subtly issued an emergency amendment.
This document says the vaccination requirement has been extended to May 11, 2023 (but that could be extended too). That seems unlikely though.
Announcement of the end of the states of emergencies (January 30)
On January 30th 2023, the American President confirmed that the USA’s 2 separate states of emergency would be lifted on May 11, 2023. He didn’t say anything at all about travel rules.
I repeat: that really has nothing to do with travel rules. Nothing. It’s that simple.
Travel requirements are something completely separate and distinct from the states of emergency. Just as they have been all along and as Flytrippers has told you for many many months.
So the end of the states of emergency, in and of itself, really doesn’t mean anything for travelers. The travel rules come from a presidential proclamation, not from the state of emergency.
But obviously, the end of the states of emergency is a good sign. It’s not guaranteed to end the travel rules, unfortunately. But it’s a very good sign.
Start of the vaccination requirement (November 8, 2021)
The U.S. vaccination requirement has been in place for almost 1.5 years.
Before that, in 2020, the United States declared:
- A national state of emergency
- A state of public health emergency
Those 2 states of emergency have nothing to do with travel rules, but a lot of people have a hard time understanding this. So many people mixed literally everything together in terms of travel rules during this pandemic.
Details of the previous renewal of the vaccination requirement in the United States
Here are more details about the last renewal in April.
Impact of the renewed requirement
There is actually no change. The current rules remain in place as is.
The renewal doesn’t change the outdated definition of “vaccinated”: it’s still 2 doses of vaccine (or 1 dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine). You must have the required number of doses for a minimum of 14 days, but there’s no maximum timeline.
So someone who got a vaccine 2 years ago without a booster dose can enter the USA, but someone who had COVID-19 a month ago and is immunized cannot enter.
And this requirement that is so vital to protect Americans [sic] continues to not apply if you arrive by sea from countries other than Canada and Mexico, because science.
And it’s those who criticize that who are wrong according to some “experts” who suffer from covidanxiety and won’t get over this before 2025, if ever.
Entry by air vs. entry by land
This document says that it applies only to air entry, because of a technicality.
This is because the presidential proclamation requiring vaccination for entry into the US is formalized in separate rules for air and land:
- TSA is in charge of the air component
- Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is in charge of the land component
As mentioned, thousands of unvaccinated Canadians already enter the US by land anyway.
But it seems the requirement still officially applies for entry by land too, according to the official CBP website.
It would’ve been surprising for them to officially lift the requirement just by land.
That wouldn’t make much sense… but of course, there’s nothing very logical about any of this, so we never know! We’ll keep following this.
The “logic” behind this renewal
Let’s remember that:
- President Biden declared in September 2022 that the pandemic was over (a true “conspiracy theorist”)
- The US federal public health agency, the CDC, has stated in August 2022 what “conspiracy theorists” have been saying for a long time: having recommendations based on vaccination status makes no sense
- The experts are clear: considering 2 doses received more than a year ago as being up-to-date in terms of vaccination is absolutely antiscientific and absurd
The worst part about this isn’t that the USA says it’s following the science.
The worst part is that there are naive people out there who still really believe that.
End date for the USA vaccination requirement
Obviously, as always, the theoretical end date proposed by the government is just an arbitrary date.
They could obviously extend the requirement after May 11, as they just did.
Or even lift it in advance if their Senate forces them to. Or if the political science changes by then, and it becomes more politically rewarding to remove the rule than to keep it. That’s the only thing that has guided all travel rules for years now, whether it’s in the USA or in Canada.
However, it does seem extremely likely to end on May 11 this time.
Because the USA announced a while ago that their 2 states of emergency related to the pandemic would end on May 11 (at the end of the day). The states of emergency have no direct impact on the entry rule, but their removal is a good sign.
(It wouldn’t be logical to end everything except the vaccination requirement. But then again, do they seem like they’re following what’s logical in any of this…)
They extended it to the 11th instead of the 10th as it was before, adding an extra day to coincide with the end of the public health emergency. So that’s a good sign.
The last time they had extended the vaccination requirement, they added 3 months. Now they added just 1 month and 1 day. Another good sign.
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Congress and the USA vaccination requirement
On March 29th, the U.S. Senate voted to lift the national state of emergency (1 of the 2 states of emergency), but that has no impact on the entry rule.
MANY people and “experts” mix up everything, as they have for years with pandemic rules.
Look at this edit to a story from Forbes, which was initially published saying the Senate had voted to remove the vaccine requirement… and was then corrected because the Senate most definitely did NOT do that; the state of emergency has nothing to do with the entry rules, as Flytrippers has been telling you for months.
Edit: This article has been updated to reflect the current information (as of the time of publishing). Previously, this article mentioned a possible removal of the vaccine mandate for foreign air travelers, which was incorrect.
— Forbes story about the Senate vote
It’s just one of many examples. An “expert” on the radio this week said that the USA didn’t have a vaccine mandate, but rather it was the airlines that were requiring that (that’s completely false too; airlines have literally never imposed a vaccination requirement, they just applied the countries’ rules obviously).
And to be clear, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to lift the vaccination requirement on February 8th, but that has no concrete impact either. The U.S. Senate must also vote, and nothing has happened on that front since February 13th. Of course, we’re watching this for you too.
In short, nothing is changing.
When it will change, we’ll let you know here, of course.
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Summary
It’s officially confirmed: the United States is eliminating its vaccination requirement for entry by air at the end of the dayy on May 11th, 2023. It applies for entry by air, by land (even though it already was not often enforced), and by sea (from Canada and Mexico; the rule never existed for other countries).
What would you like to know about the vaccination requirement in the US? Tell us in the comments below.
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Oh, hi there May 11th. Nice of you to finally show up. Can’t wait for you to end though. xoxo 💋
Hahaha, yeah about time!!!
I was to fly out this morning May 11th at 830 to Indianapolis for a celebration of life I was denied access because of my vaccine status. They told me to rebook tommorrow for 1000.00 plus I would have to stay in a hotel again as I am from the Okanagan Unbelievable I am now driving home
Their rule sucks and has sucked for a very long time and I’m sorry this happened to you, but it was very clear that it would end only at midnight tonight.
So unfortunately, it was very risky to try and enter when you don’t adhere to their very clear entry requirements, however stupid they are (and they are). Especially by air, as airline employees can get in trouble if they don’t apply the rules (whereas a land border agent would have probably had more leeway and you could’ve flown out of Seattle for example).
Thanks for the testimonial though, goes to show that they are still enforcing it until the very end, I’m sure others were wondering.
Hi Andrew, we have booked a flight from Europe to the US on May 14th with British Airways and just now I received a message to fill in an attestation form about vaccination status. It says if we don’t fill in this form we can be denied to board a flight to the US. Should I be worried about this? We are not vaccinated.
No, you’ll be fine at the airport, their technology probably just can’t handle removing that requirement question until it’s actually over. And now it is 🙂
I booked flight with Flair Airlines for tomorrow May 12th from Canada, check in is already open but it asks me to confirm that I’m vaccinated. Otherwise it doesn’t let me check in. Can Airplines still ask me for proof of vaccination?
No, you’ll be fine at the airport, their technology probably just can’t handle removing that requirement question until it’s actually over. And now it is 🙂
official from CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/order-safe-travel.html
Thanks, but to be clear it was already official since May 1st though 🙂
GLOIRE A JÉSUS POUR CETTE BELLE NOUVELLE.
May God,Jesus, bless you Andrew for your resilience and great daily updates. ENJOY UR FREEDOM PEOPLE! Cheers!
are you 100% sure showing proof of vaccination will not be required for air travel to the US? DHS does not reference air travel in their press release and other articles such as in Forbes suggest the CDC can still enforce travel vaccine mandates….? https://www.dhs.gov/news/2023/05/01/dhs-statement-lifting-title-19-requirements | https://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffwhitmore/2023/05/02/united-states-covid-19-travel-restrictions-to-be-lifted/?sh=13e9122975ad
Unless they edited that Forbes post since last night when you shared the link, I’m not sure where you see that. It’s 100% over starting May 12th, the DHS statement is about the land border only because the rules have always been separate rules all along. It’s being removed for all modes of entry 🙂
Awesome, thanks for the response!
Thank you so much Andrew for all the updates. I was hoping so much that the vaccine requirement will be finished.
I use to live in USA but left 10 years ago. I always cherished my time there and tried to visit as often as possible.
But it’s been years now. Was last time there 2019.
Time to start checking plane tickets now ☺️
Best wishes from France.
Glad you’ll finally be able to return, profites-en!
And it was truly my pleasure to help Kairi! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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Thank you Andrew for all of your updates and replies. Very much appreciated 🙏🏼
I’m sooooo happy and excited that I can finally take my son on vacation and celebrate properly his 21st birthday. We’re taking him to Vegas next month 😀
I’m glad, I hope you enjoy Vegas! Check out the Fremont Street Experience and also the Arts District nearby for a change of pace from all the tackiness on the Strip haha, loved those spots when I went in October.
And it was truly my pleasure to help Nancy! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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Hi Andrew, when do you think they will update the CDC website
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/proof-of-vaccination.html
We are planning a flight to San Fran and Vegas but hesitate to book the flights :-/ despite the awesome news regards may 11
Regards from Germany
It will be updated once it’s not in effect anymore, so the 12th. There is really no reason to hesitate, they are removing everything, it’s been announced by the president himself 🙂
Thank you Andrew for keeping us well informed with the updates.
It was truly my pleasure to help Mike! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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Thank you Andrew. We are so looking forward to that trip. And thanks so much for all the news and updates. 🙂
Firstly, thanks for providing us with accurate information about COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
Do you know if the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination will also be lifted for immigrant and non-inmigrant VISA applicants?
https://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/panel-physicians/vaccinations.html#tbl1
Thank you in advance for your answer.
Not quite sure about that one, we should know on May 12th at the latest when everything is officially gone!
As an update: looks like those applying for an immigrant visa still need to get vaccinated and show proof of full vaccination when attending the immigration medical exam. It goes for everyone applying (children 6 months and above included), which is insane…
That sucks. Maybe it’s just longer to adjust and change that separate policy (or maybe not). I guess it’s more waiting for that specific rule unfortunately.
Has border patrol services released any statements? It is still rather confusing, as it states “air travel” and certain non-citizens. I am skeptical because the Canadian prime minister has an axe to grind with non-vaccinated individuals and Canadian truckers, and has likely put pressure on the US to keep the non-vaccinated from crossing the US border. It seems strange there is a distinction being made for air travellers.
The land rule has never been very explicit all along, but I wouldn’t be worried about this.
Please see rep Brian Higgins statement on his website confirming the LAND BORDER is open https://higgins.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4700
Perfect I can now take the ticket for departure May 12 to New York 😀
Awesome, enjoy! It was truly my pleasure! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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Andrew was so excited he even wrote “at the end of the day” twice. Finally can plan flights accordingly. Hells yeah, peace out. ✌️😎
Oops haha. Enjoy the USA 🙂
It was truly my pleasure to help! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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Thank you Andrew for all the updates…finally I won’t have to cancel my ticket for flight on 13.th of May😀😀…Kerp up the good work and all the best wishes, thnx
It was truly my pleasure Thomas! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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Andrew,thank you for updating us all this time!
you did a. phenomenal job!
and to the others reading this, We freaking did it!!!!🎉
Well said Marko! 🙂
Thanks again Andrew. Keep up the fantastic work. Best wishes!
It was truly my pleasure Ana! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
You can thank us AND help yourself by using our links for you next travel credit card applications (for Canadians and for Americans). You’ll get a huge welcome bonus worth hundreds of dollars in free travel!
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It was truly my pleasure Marko! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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Insane!!
Saved by the bell! 😅
I can go and use my 590$ non-refundable round trip ticket for LA on may 18. 🥳
Thanks for following this continuously for us!
It was truly my pleasure Kåre! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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That’s excellent news. Thank you, Andrew, for your coverage of this topic! Your site was the only place where I could always find accurate and up-to-date information.
It was truly my pleasure Eric! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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Are you sure? Can i book a flight?
That’s what they announced 🙂
PRAISE JESUS! My husband can finally see my family after 3 freaking years!
Awesome, enjoy! It was truly my pleasure Ili! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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same boat as you, my wife was not allowed in the USA for 3 plus years too , now we booked flights for end of June. Way to go to all who did the right thing and stood tall during this time.
Glad you’ll be able to finally get in 🙂
It was truly my pleasure to help Jamar! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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Thank you Andrew for your effort! Currently in Mexico and was looking every second on your page for good news because I have to be in the U.S. for a business event on 14th of May. Thank you really for your continuos updates and your dedication on this topic! So happy right now 😊
Awesome, enjoy the USA. It was truly my pleasure Yannik! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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HALLELUJAH! Haha. Now I’m REALLY looking forward to my trip to Disneyland on June 7th. 🙂
Awesome, enjoy the trip! It was truly my pleasure to help you Jeremy! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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Good news:
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3982297-white-house-to-end-covid-19-vaccine-requirement-for-international-travelers/
Yep, confirmed 🙂 Post is updated!
So who’s going to allow the government to forcibly displace people, separate families, ruin marriages, and traumatize children again? Asking for a friend lol please let this insanity be a lesson for all of us….NO is a complete sentence. NO we will not accept this when it happens again. Because they will keep trying! No begging captors for our God given freedom to ROAM the land!
Most people were glad to discriminate against unvaccinated people because they were scared and blindly following the governments. So if it happens again, most people would probably not change anything, sadly.
“Certain non citizens at the land border” official WH statement…land border isn’t magically open on May 11th
Yes, it will open 🙂
Andrew, Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You’ve been amazing throughout this fiasco of keeping us all updated and we really appreciate it.
And in other news… we’re coming to Florida! Yay!
It was truly my pleasure Elaine! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
You can thank us AND help yourself by using our links for you next travel credit card applications (for Canadians and for Americans). You’ll get a huge welcome bonus worth hundreds of dollars in free travel!
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Andrew
I would like to Thank You, for your patience and very upto date Information that you have supplied! I’m very grateful 😊
It was truly my pleasure Gay! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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From the White House:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/
The Biden-Harris Administration Will End COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements for International Travelers on May 11. Additionally, HHS and DHS announced today that they will start the process to end their vaccination requirements for Head Start educators, CMS-certified healthcare facilities, and certain noncitizens at the land border. In the coming days, further details related to ending these requirements will be provided.
Yep, confirmed 🙂 Post is updated!
Does that include non-immigrant visa holders? I’m an Aussie professional on an E3 visa to work in America. I’m due to fly back in June to renew my visa and visit family for the first time in 2 years!
I would assume yes, but this is probably something to double-check once they give more details.
Hello everyone, congratulations for your long-standing work. I was always positive about the end of the vaccination pass, even when it was extended in January. I am really happy for all those who are not vaccinated and who will be able to go to the USA, to find their loved ones or to travel. Following your message, I read the editorial on the stoppage of the vaccine pass on May 11, but the problem is that I did not find other editorials indicating that the vaccine pass will be canceled on May 11.. ..Maybe you have other official sources that indicate the end to May 11? THANKS
I just added the official link to this post (refresh or Ctrl+F5 to clear cache).
And it was truly my pleasure Joe! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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https://www.dhs.gov/news/2023/05/01/dhs-statement-lifting-title-19-requirements
Fresh from the White House press release:
The Biden-Harris Administration Will End COVID-19 Vaccination Requirements for Federal Employees, Contractors, International Travelers, Head Start Educators, and CMS-Certified Facilities – The White House
Ending on 11th May as we hoped!
Yep, confirmed 🙂 Post is updated!
Whitehouse has confirmed the vaccine requirement will be dropped May 11!
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/
Yep, confirmed 🙂 Post is updated!
Amazing news , I can’t believe it I had to read over again thank you for the daily updates on this thread and thank you Andrew for keeping us all positive amazing
It was truly my pleasure Gina! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/
Yep, the post was updated (refresh or Ctrl+F5 to clear cache).
It was truly my pleasure to help! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
You can thank us AND help yourself by using our links for you next travel credit card applications (for Canadians and for Americans). You’ll get a huge welcome bonus worth hundreds of dollars in free travel!
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*** BREAKING NEWS ***
The White House announced Monday that COVID-19 vaccination mandates for all federal workers and plane passengers from overseas will end next week.
“Today, we are announcing that the Administration will end the COVID-19 vaccine requirements for Federal employees, Federal contractors, and international air travelers at the end of the day on May 11, the same day that the COVID-19 public health emergency ends,” the administration said in a statement.
The White House also said that it will begin winding down vaccine mandates for “Head Start educators, [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services]-certified healthcare facilities, and certain noncitizens at the land border.”
Biden on April 10 enacted a law behind closed doors that ended the national emergency related to the coronavirus pandemic that had persisted since March 2020.
Yep, the post was updated last night (refresh or Ctrl+F5 to clear cache).
It was truly my pleasure to help Pete! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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If im reading things right they are lifting the mandate 🙂 🙂 🙂 thanks for everything Andrew !!
Yep, the post was updated last night (refresh or Ctrl+F5 to clear cache).
It was truly my pleasure to help! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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JUST IN – United States ends travel ban for unvaccinated international travelers as well as vaccine requirements for federal employees and contractors on May 11.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/
Yep, the post was updated last night (refresh or Ctrl+F5 to clear cache).
It was truly my pleasure to help! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
You can thank us AND help yourself by using our links for you next travel credit card applications (for Canadians and for Americans). You’ll get a huge welcome bonus worth hundreds of dollars in free travel!
Also, you can support us by signing up for our free newsletter (you’ll get great content), subscribing to our YouTube channel, and following us on your favorite social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok) and telling your friends about our website!
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/
Has it now ended? I have just seen this
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/
Yep, the post was updated last night (refresh or Ctrl+F5 to clear cache).
It was truly my pleasure to help Kerry! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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It was announced today here https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/
Yep, the post was updated last night (refresh or Ctrl+F5 to clear cache).
It was truly my pleasure to help Paul! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
You can thank us AND help yourself by using our links for you next travel credit card applications (for Canadians and for Americans). You’ll get a huge welcome bonus worth hundreds of dollars in free travel!
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Vaccine mandate will be lifted on May 11!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2023/05/01/covid-vaccine-requirements-end-international-travelers/
Yep, the post was updated last night (refresh or Ctrl+F5 to clear cache).
It was truly my pleasure to help James! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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https://insiderpaper.com/covid-vaccine-requirement-for-international-travelers-ends-may-11-w-house/
Yep, the post was updated last night (refresh or Ctrl+F5 to clear cache).
It was truly my pleasure to help Lainey! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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Refreshing read!
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12034847/Biden-FINALLY-announces-COVID-vaccine-requirement-travelers-scrapped-11.html
It’s official!
Yep, confirmed 🙂 Post is updated!
where do you get such a belief that there is a greater chance that they will repeal May 11? everywhere they say that is not so likely
For the reasons explained here: https://flytrippers.com/how-canadians-travel-united-states/#End_date_for_the_rules_to_travel_to_the_USA
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/?fbclid=IwAR0FWZD4TW5ikQOFR9xPy4lhb9-q1JZpQkltz64c5iFsdBzq9eA4ZyrwEVo
Yep, the post was updated last night (refresh or Ctrl+F5 to clear cache).
It was truly my pleasure to help Claudia! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
You can thank us AND help yourself by using our links for you next travel credit card applications (for Canadians and for Americans). You’ll get a huge welcome bonus worth hundreds of dollars in free travel!
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Hi Andrew, I’ve just spotted this online. https://higgins.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4700#:~:text=Press%20Releases-,Congressman%20Higgins%20Confirms%20U.S.%20to%20Lift%20COVID%20Vaccine%20Mandate%20at,Canada%20Border%20on%20May%2011&text=Congressman%20Brian%20Higgins%20(NY%2D26,to%20be%20vaccinated%20against%20COVID.
Read this! It looks like the White House are saying restrictions will be lifted https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-federal-covid-vaccine-mandates-week.amp
Yep, the post was updated last night (refresh or Ctrl+F5 to clear cache).
It was truly my pleasure Sarah! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
You can thank us AND help yourself by using our links for you next travel credit card applications (for Canadians and for Americans). You’ll get a huge welcome bonus worth hundreds of dollars in free travel!
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It looks like it’s going to be lifted!! https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-federal-covid-vaccine-mandates-week.amp
It’s over. Thank you Andrew for being so positive.
Yep, confirmed 🙂 Post is updated!
It was truly my pleasure Liz! I’d love to keep helping you travel in the future as well! 🙂
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Some news…
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/
Yep, confirmed 🙂 Post is updated!
Vaccine requirements for federal workers and federal contractors, as well as foreign air travelers to the U.S., will end May 11.
Source:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/us-to-lift-most-federal-covid-19-vaccine-mandates-next-week/ar-AA1aBlDt?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=ab7af8f6f07340f082fefca2c5ce55cd&ei=7
Could this be the news we were waiting for :
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/
andrew please give us your statistical chance of this being dropped on may 11th
how sre the odds?
thanks
I won’t put a number on it because making predictions is impossible when the actors involved have been making completely illogical decisions for years now.
I still think it’s more likely to be lifted on May 11th than to not be lifted. Either way, we should know by the end of this week.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email#:~:text=Today%2C%20we%20are%20announcing%20that,19%20public%20health%20emergency%20ends.
Yep, confirmed 🙂 Post is updated!
Looks very likely now. May 11th
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/01/us/politics/us-covid-vaccine-mandates.html
Yep, confirmed 🙂 Post is updated!
Looks like they’ve confirmed it’s ending 11th May! https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/01/the-biden-administration-will-end-covid-19-vaccination-requirements-for-federal-employees-contractors-international-travelers-head-start-educators-and-cms-certified-facilities/
Hello, any update regarding this latest news
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12025279/CDC-RENEWS-Covid-vaccine-requirement-travelers-coming-US.html
Nothing was renewed, nothing changes except which vaccines are accepted.
Hi Andrew, why would they change the definition of vaccinated so close to the expiry date if the plan is to drop the mandate? Makes no sense at all, unless they are thinking of extending the mandate yet again.
I think it’s just that the CDC is completely separate and they happened to choose this timing to revamp the definition of “vaccinated” and so the travel requirement was updated to try and be at least somewhat coherent, and that’s it.
The fact they updated the requirement a 2nd time 8 days later (after never changing it even once since November 2021) to clarify specifics shows me the travel requirement had initially been changed on April 19th in a reactionary way without having the time to think it through, just because the CDC revamped their things.
https://twitter.com/ProudElephantUS/status/1652477074899181570?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Quote: “Despite expectations that the Covid vaccine mandate for travelers entering the US would be dropped when the federal government ends the nation’s public health emergency on May 11, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Thursday that the policy will be updated rather than dropped.”
Quote: “The US thus extends its vaccine mandate for travelers for another month, as experts argue that bivalent boosters are necessary because they specifically target the Omicron variant.”
I don’t know who they are quoting, but the CDC did NOT extend anything. They did not remove it either obviously. So they only updated THE CURRENT RULE that is still due to expire on May 11th. It could very well be extended of course. But that’s not what the CDC changes mean. Completely different.
I think they’re lining up the recent renewed announcement to this.
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-changes-simplify-use-bivalent-mrna-covid-19-vaccines
Yep, that’s all it is for now. Still more likely to end on the 11th.
Hi andrew not sure if you have heard of these people on twitter but i stumbled across this last night and although 90 mins long its very interesting and gives a good insight !
https://twitter.com/booboo_gh
Andrew is there any chance they will let us in on may 11th? when i read about what cdc did on thursday i almost fainted, now i can’t sleep at night, it paralyzes me
It’s still way more likely to end on May 11th than to be extended. But there’s no guarantee until they announce it.
I am amazed that the travel industry is keeping so quiet. In most countries they were very eager to lift the ban but I can’t find anything about this in the US. I read that tourism is down by 30-40 percent – they should be shouting load to get this stupid rule eradicated. Crossing fingers for 11th May and hoping they will make it official earlier so that I can book tickets to attend a conference at the end of May…
I have many American friends and most didn’t even know this policy still existed. It doesn’t apply to Americans, so many Americans don’t care either. But yeah, hopefully we’ll know by the end of the week 🙂
hi Andrew, They extended it to the 11th instead of the 10th as it was before, adding an extra day to coincide with the end of the public health emergency. So that’s a good sign.
The last time they had extended the vaccination requirement, they added 3 months. Now they added just 1 month and 1 day. Another good sign.
Yes!
Thank you for really keeping on top of this! As everyone agrees that is really hard to get any updated info anywhere. I wished they were more clear on this subject, but it is what it is.
Keeping my fingers crossed! Haven’t see My 75 years old mom for over 3 years. 😔
Thank you for following us.
But really it’s not that hard to get info on the rules really, there’s only one official database for all entry rules for all the world’s countries, and it’s been that one same easy website all along the pandemic (IATA).
And the official USA rules website (CDC) has all the specific details.
What is hard is getting info on when it will be removed sure, but then again they have just never given ANY info on that in the past 18 months so, it’s not even a question of being hard to find, it just doesn’t exist 😛
Or what is hard is that people keep looking for info in the wrong places I guess haha! Glad we can help and hopefully this will be gone in 2 weeks 🙂
Hi Andrew, thank you for your information. I have two questions:
1. The vaccination mandate seems to focus on travelers “by air”. What about those “by land”? I am thinking to enter the U.S. from Canada after May 11.
2. What is the relationship between HR185 and the emergency amendment issued by TSA? If the senate cannot pass the HR185, does it mean TSA might extend the date (May11) again?
1. It applies by land too, just a separate rule. It’s less enforced, but is just as valid in terms of rules. If they extend it by air past May 11th, they’ll extend it by land. And if they end it by air, they’ll end it by land.
2. Yes, if the Senate does nothing and Biden decides to extend it, it will be extended.
Guys we are getting closer and closer to may 11th, i. feel like next week will be the week where we know if its getting renewed (because follow the science) ir finally dropped (follow common sense).
thank you. andrew though for always being on top of this!
Odds are good yes! Thank you for following us!
Reading that we will need one jab to enter USA. and no let up May 11 th.
You’re reading pure speculation, they changed the accepted types of vaccines and number of doses, but no change on the expiry date. We’ll know soon enough.
I really hope it’s good news for us all, it’s been a long wait. Thanks Andrew, we’re grateful for the updates.
yes,i think,we are all in the same boat .
guys we made it this far, we will wait a little longer now (may 11th hopefully)
and yes
andrew you are the man!
ps i cant wait to book tickets for next year😄
Hopefully this will finally be over soon 😛
HI Andrew im in the uk and somebody was saying tonight that they have extended the mandate past the 11th of may seemingly changed the conditions : ( they said its all over the media in USA , we were hoping to go in sept this year but my daughter only had her first vaccine in 2021 and took a bad reaction so had no more so unless it gets dropped we can’t travel in September ,
Mmmmmmm… well I didn’t see anything, so probably yet another of the thousands of times that people misinterpret something as they have all along the pandemic. Unless I completely missed it, I’ll check but I don’t think so 🙂
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12025279/CDC-RENEWS-Covid-vaccine-requirement-travelers-coming-US.html
What does this means?
They just changed the types of vaccines that are accepted, they did not “renew” anything at all or change anything else. Just the media misinterpreting things again.
Its something to do with the cdc changing criteria on the 27th april news stations are saying not getting dropped and seeing that as another extension 😭
Well they’re wrong 😛 ike so many of them have been wrong so often for 3 years when it comes to travel rules.
It’s still due to expire on May 11th, nothing has changed except the vaccines accepted.
Hi Andrew – yesterday the CDC renewed the vaccine requirement beyond may 11 however one dose of the bivalent vaccine taken after August 2022 will suffice. Those who are already fully vaccinated can still enter. I don’t know what to do now
They did NOT renew it. They just updated the definition of “vaccinated” 🙂
brooke61, your acquaintance was probably referring to these news:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/proof-of-vaccination.html
One dose received after Aug 16 2022 is now accepted. Hopefully this rule is short lived and the requirements is completely removed very soon!
I have one dose Sinovac in 1st April 2023. Is this acceptable?
No, Sinovac requires 2 doses.
Hi Andrew,
If someone has a positive test confirmed by a Dr, can they use that to enter the USA?
Thank you.
No, you need to be vaccinated, period. Unfortunately.
Good afternoon ‘ I’m on filing, I have medical to be done 26 of May the hospital requires covid vax before interview, I have immunization vaccines to be taken 22, so they are say I should take covid vax by 5th of May, is there a possibility the requirements will drop before May 5th ?
Hi, they could announce news before May 5th yes. Either to confirm they are not renewing the requirement that is due to end on May 11th or to confirm they are extending it.
Hi a new article I have just read from cbs news … I have copied and paste it here as I don’t know how to do the link … the title reads … CDC eases covid vaccination rule on international travellers as expiration looms
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved Thursday to formally loosen its COVID-19 vaccination requirement on foreign visitors, which will now allow some to board flights into the U.S. with only a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer or Moderna.
“Because some traveler vaccine records might not specify whether recent Moderna or Pfizer doses received were bivalent, CDC will consider anybody with record of a single dose of Moderna or Pfizer vaccine issued on or after August 16, 2022, to meet the requirements,” the agency said in updates published Thursday to its website.
I have found the link I think ….
https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/covid-vaccination-rule-international-travelers/?intcid=CNM-00-10abd1h
Better than nothing I guess, but I would assume those who are not vaccinated do not have any doses, or at least most of them. And would not want to go get a dose now that the requirement will probably expire in 2 weeks, not after holding out for 2+ years haha.
Hi Andrew, I was wondering what would happen if you show a test certificate instead of a vaccination certificate? Both look identical with QR codes and name and DOB but at the bottom it says test instead of vaccination. Or do they check these pdf files thoroughly on smartphones?
They don’t scan them (because having a QR code is not a requirement) but I’m pretty sure if they check, they do at least read the date for the dose and type of vaccine so I’d be surprised if they didn’t notice.
In Australia if you have tested positive, the doctors here will give you a vaccine exemption that lasts for 6 months. You of course must show proof of the positive test. I know multiple people that have travelled to the USA unvaccinated, who had exemptions due to having covid and obtaining the exemption from their doctor.
That could qualify for the medical exemption I guess yeah.
Hi Andrew
My plan is to travel to the US later in May. I really hope they drop the vax stuff on May 11. But have you heard any news about when the senate will vote on the HR185?
No news unfortunately. Almost certainly won’t happen before May 11th, so let’s hope Biden removes it.
Do you think my gf from Alberta won’t have problems flying to San Francisco by June 18?
I think they will remove the requirement on May 12th, but there’s no guarantee unfortunately.
I’m from Scotland and can’t wait to visit the US again.Even though I’m not vaccinated I’m pretty sure I’d get in ok but being unvaccinated would affect travel insurance. Wouldn’t enjoy my holiday worrying I might break my leg or something.
Hi, I don’t know anything about Scottish insurance, but here in Canada the fact you’re unvaccinated doesn’t void insurance for broken legs.
Andrew I have an interview tomorrow online and I am supposed to arrive on the 25th of May if I get the job- unvaxxed. What do you think of my chances? Safe to buy a ticket with insurance on the ticket?
I’m not sure what insurance you are talking about, but most general insurance plans only cover “good” reasons to cancel and won’t reimburse you if you aren’t eligible to enter a country (which makes sense, it’s a known rule and if you book anyway, you’re assuming that risk) but maybe some plans do. Just double-check.
That said, it really depends on what the price difference for that plane ticket between booking now and waiting maybe another week to see if we have news of the expiry date of May 11th. I think they will lift it, but I personally wouldn’t bet a huge amount on it either give how illogical this has all been for so long 😛
Calendar of Business May 1, 2023 – Senate Convenes at 3:00 p.m.:
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CCAL-118scal-2023-05-01/pdf/CCAL-118scal-2023-05-01.pdf
General Orders (under rule VIII) – Page 14 – Order N. 14
I don’t think that means they will discuss this on May 1, it’s been on the calendar since February.
Thanks for this helpful information. You may have addressed this already, as I didn’t read through every single post, but I know that those with Student Visa were part of the vaccine requirement for a period of time.
Does anyone know if that is still the case?
By the way, I travelled with a non-US citizen, non-vaccinated traveler across the Queenston-Lewiston bridge several times without incident during this past summer and in the winter. When we travelled back in the winter about a month after the previous trip – we were asked if we were vaccinated. When we honestly answered that we were not, the non-US Citizen, adult was turned back. This happened in the middle of the night, when there were zero other people in the line-up – in case anyone is looking for patterns…
Not sure about all the other visas, I have to stick to just travel rules for leisure travelers because that’s 99% of our readers and I only have so many hours in a week, sorry.
But thanks for the testimonial, I guess it does make sense that if there’s no one in line, they might take the time to ask (whereas they normally wouldn’t).
That said, I just want to reiterate that one thing is very clear, everyone who says they aren’t vaccinated will always be turned away, as some people seem to misunderstand that.
They might not ask at all. They might not ask for proof if you say yes. But they will always deny entry if you say no.
Thank you very much for the update and clarifications! It’s extremely hard to find up to date and accurate information anywhere else. I haven’t been able to be with my 16 years old son for more than 6 months because of these rules!…
Than you for reading, we’ll keep you informed as soon as this nonsense is over!
Is it possible to fly from the United States to other countries without Covid-vaccine? Is the requirement only inbound?
There has never been any requirement to board a plane in the USA or to leave the USA (as in almost every country in the world), the only thing you need to check are entry requirements 🙂
So if you’re going to a country with no requirements, you’re good 🙂
The bill (185) is for air travel. Nothing ever specified for land borders and yet they enforce…I called border crossings and had one agent state reluctantly that they are enforcing and another port couldn’t explain why the southern border is different. This is criminal. I crossed into Canada in 2021 with a “special” vax card uploaded to arrivecan and it took me 3 attempts to cross. Second said they’d ban me if i tried again and nonetheless I made it with a “special” Negative covid test….how many times are people trying to cross into the US before threats of being banned if they say they aren’t jabbed? Which ports aren’t asking? Can’t roll the dice on separation from my filthy unvaccinated husband while waltzing into my communist country…why is no one outraged? Why aren’t we lined up by the thousands at the Canadian American border. Has everyone resigned? Ffs
The vaccination requirement comes from a presidential proclamation, and the Senate doesn’t seem interested in contesting that for now. And to be clear, the southern border (Mexico) is not different, it also applies there. The only place it doesn’t apply is for arrivals by sea from countries other than Canada and Mexico.
And as for why anyone isn’t outraged, clearly you’ve seen how most Canadians were glad to discriminate against unvaccinated citizens and punish them, they always wanted more rules and more punishments really. So not sure why anyone would expect most Canadians to be outraged, sadly. As for Americans, most don’t even know their country still requires this since they are obviously exempt themselves.
So unfortunately, no one really cares about a minority of travelers. And so many people were so wrong about pandemic rules, voicing an opinion about this rule now (which is indisputably stupid now) would mean admitting how wrong they were, and they certainly don’t want to do that. After the COVID hysteria, it’s now the COVID amnesia.
How refreshing to find someone in the media who sees this propaganda for what it is and calls a spade a spade! Keep sharing common sense. There seems to be a shortage.
Will there be an announcement at least a week before May 11, if the vaccine mandate is getting extended or terminated?
Yes, there should be. We’ll let you know. You can sign up for our free newsletter 🙂
Hi Andrew
I am flying in next week from Amsterdam. Do the proof have to be digital with a QR-code or to the not scan and is a paper version just fine?
Hi,
a QR code is not required.
Here’s what the USA officially requires in terms of proof (either of the 3 options works):
-Vaccination certificate with QR code, digital pass via Smartphone application with QR code (e.g., United Kingdom National Health Service COVID Pass, European Union Digital COVID Certificate)
-Printout of COVID-19 vaccination record or a COVID-19 vaccination certificate issued at national or subnational level or by an authorized vaccine provider (e.g., the CDC vaccination card)
-Digital photos of vaccination card or record, downloaded vaccine record or vaccination certificate from official source (e.g., public health agency, government agency, or other authorized vaccine provider), or a mobile phone application without QR code
Hi Andrew,
I booked a holiday 4 months ago for 8th of May thinking that this nonsense requirement would be lifted by then. Now I am in a dilemma. Do you think there is any chance this would be lifted before 11th May? What would you do if you were me? I am thinking to wait and hope they would make an announcement before 11th May and that would be effective immediate. Or do you think I am too optimistic? Thank you.
Would be extremely surprising if it ended before May 11th, unfortunately.
Hi, and thank you for all of this information 😊
I do wonder which borders most unvaxxed Canadians have crossed to enter the U.S. …and have they crossed because they lied about their (vaccination) statuses, or simply because they weren’t even asked about it..?🤔🤔🤔
Hi, many were not even asked at all (it happened to me personally too). Some agents will definitely ask though. Really seems to be more common that they don’t ask (or at a minimum that they don’t ask for proof if they do ask), but it’s not guaranteed to work of course.
Hi Andrew,
I loved your article and signed up for newsletter.
I’m 100% on your side for this matter (or probably for many things). I’m a visa holder non-American living the USA, I can’t wait for the government to lift the mandate so I will go back to my country asap. It’s been too long – as it sounds, I’m not vaccinated.
Because of this nonsense (bullshit.), I’m trapped here and haven’t been able to see my family in my home country for years even since pre-COVID.
I can’t wait! I look forward to your newsletters.
That’s unfortunate, I know there are many in your situation that have family in other countries. Hopefully it will end soon!
Hi Andrew
As everyone I really appreciate your article and posts here. It is so hard to find anything related to this (and not to mention how ridiculous this whole thing is). I have been to US twice last year. i crossed by land and flew domestic. i was asked only once at the border, but luckily let go. However, I am looking to get a TN visa. Is it a hit or miss for TN too? or is it even more strict? Thanks again for helping out so many people.
Hi, unfortunately I’ve only followed the rules for leisure travelers, can’t really help for visas :S
Hello Andrew,
I appreciate your insight and all your effort to keep us informed up to date! What do you think about the vaccine requirement for green card applicants? I need to go back to my home country to get the green card, but I cannot since I have not been vaccinated and never will. My family and I are really anxious and worried about it everyday. HR 185 seems to not include green card applicants, and I am doubtful if USCIS will drop the covid vaccine requirement even after May 11th.
They will definitely drop it, more a matter of when. I don’t know much about the green card process, but if you can wait it out a bit, I’d at least wait for news from May 11th when the public health state of emergency will end.
Hi Alicia,
I have the same problem here as you do. I am waiting in my home country for final interview by the immgrant officer. However, a physical examination report is required and two doses of vaccines are mandate before the interview. My family and I cannot arrange the interview since we are not vaccinated.
Andrew,
Do you think USCIS will drop the VAX mandate immediately after the public health state of emergency end?
I just had the chance to read Zhaohui’s post and I would like to take the chance to clarify something. Everything points in the direction that a “Not Covered Individual” would be a person who is ALREADY in possession of a green card and qualifies as a lawful permanent resident to waive the vaccination requirement when entering the US by air and land.
It seems that you guys are however in the process of obtaining your green cards, in which case a list of vaccinations, not just only COVID, are required before proceeding to the interview. Yes, as specified in the following list, you are required to have the COVID shots.
https://www.uscis.gov/tools/designated-civil-surgeons/vaccination-requirements
As to whether they will drop that requirement when the PHE ends on May 11th is anyone’s guess because this entire blog post is regarding the TSA vaccination requirement for noncitizen nonimmigrant air travelers to the United States.
As far as I’m concerned there has been no mention on the USCIS position regarding a possible de-listing of the COVID required shots come May 12th. I’m actually very surprised they included COVID shots in that specific list. Unless there is specific official information regarding a possible de-listing, I’m afraid the only thing you guys can do is wait and see what happens in the days post May 11th. Good luck!
If you are going back to your home country to receive the actual physical green card and intend to use it to gain entry back into the United States, then you do not need to worry about the vaccine requirement to return to the United States. The reason for this is because this requirement is specifically targeting “noncitizen nonimmigrants”. As a green card holder your status would then be “noncitizen immigrant”. Therefore, in terms of vaccination for re-entry into the US, you will not be asked whether you are vaccinated or not, just like a US citizen. In short, you’re good to go.
Check this example.
https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/pdf/NCEZID-FRM-Pass-Attest-Eng-508.pdf
Taken from the attestation form for noncitizen nonimmigrants seeking entry into the US by air:
“One attestation form must be filled out for each passenger age 2 years or older who is not a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, or an immigrant (“Covered Individual”), and who is seeking to enter the United States by air travel.”
If you were NOT one of the above, then you would be asked for vaccination. If you are, which you would be as a green card holder a “lawful permanent resident”, you are free to fly. Good luck.
Also, please see: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/proof-of-vaccination.html#covid-vaccines
FAQs:
“Do the Presidential Proclamation and CDC’s Amended Order apply to U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or immigrants?
No, U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, U.S. lawful permanent residents, and immigrants, are not Covered Individuals; therefore the Presidential Proclamation and CDC’s Amended Order Implementing the Presidential Proclamation do not apply. “
So much appreciate buddy. It is very clear.
Before Green Card interview, a medical examination is a must. And in the I-693, which is Report of lmmigration Medical Examination, Covid-19 Vaccine list in the end of the table. And the exemption of vaccine is extremely tough and very few people can avoid it.
Maybe Alicia also need to take the medical examination. I believe the I-693 is download from USCIS and should be the same.
It seems unless USCIS withdraw this vaccine requirement from the table, Covid-19 vaccine is inevitable. That’s SAD. Only way to wait until May 11th.
Thank you for letting me know! I appreciate your input. Unfortunately, green card applicants are currently required to undergo an interview after clearing a medical examination, which includes the Covid-19 vaccine. Without receiving the vaccine, their green card application will be rejected. Some people believe that the Covid-19 vaccine requirement may be dropped for green card applicants if it is not required for foreigners, while others think that the USCIS rarely drops vaccine requirements based on its history. My final green card interview (NIW) is expected to be scheduled by the end of the year, but it has not been scheduled yet(fortunately?), but I am still waiting anxiously with my fingers crossed. I believe that this vaccine mandate is inhumane and illogical, especially when the efficacy of the vaccines is still in doubt, as even the CDC has admitted.
I now understand you guys’ situation. Unfortunately, I think relying on updates from this specific blogpost is of no help because this blogpost is regarding ‘noncitizen nonimmigrant’ travel to the US as tourist, visitor, etc. It is concerning a TSA security directive that was recently updated with a set expiration date of May 11, in coincidence with the end of the public health emergency. Such a directive is targeting only air travelers to the US. As ‘noncitizen nonimmigrants’, there is no vaccine requirement to apply for any b1/b2 tourist visa, or ESTA, or NEXUS card. We can just apply and then enter the US accordingly.
On the other hand, your case targets ‘noncitizen immigrants’, individuals who are applying for immigrant status to enter or stay in the US, and who, as part of their application for immigration process, are required to have been vaccinated against specific diseases. The USCIS’s inclusion of the COVID-19 vaccine on their list is due to the recommendation from ACIP to CDC. The CDC then includes it on their list of “vaccine requirements for *immigrants*” as specified in this site: https://www.uscis.gov/tools/designated-civil-surgeons/vaccination-requirements
(Note: this is entirely different from the CDC’s COVID vaccine requirement for air passengers).
This website has also more info on ACIP and how the process is done through the CDC. Because the process is different, and because it gives the impression that it is set in stone with the USCIS requirement (with no expiration date like in our case), it would then depend on what is the process (if there is any) for de-listing of vaccines from the USCIS list. As such, I think it is irrelevant to wait until May 11 when the public health emergency ends, because of how the vaccine listing process works with ACIP, CDC and USCIS. As you said, the USCIS has a history of not dropping them, so I wouldn’t know what to say. Maybe try calling their support line and see what specific info they have on vaccine de-listing?
This CDC website has some info on vaccination criteria for immigrants and the process followed by ACIP. https://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/laws-regs/vaccination-immigration/revised-vaccination-immigration-faq.html
This one has info on ACIP vaccine recommendations.
https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/index.html
Maybe one bit of good news is that, although the ACIP seems to have recommended a longer list of vaccines for different diseases, as specified in this website https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/acip-recs/index.html, not all of them are then included in the USCIS list. At least that tells us that there is a process of selecting only certain vaccines. If there is a selection process to include, then there should be a selection process to exclude. That is just subjective opinion, however. Best bet is to call USICS support line and ask. Wishing you guys the best of luck with this.
Hi, maybe I’m misreading your statement –
“As ‘noncitizen nonimmigrants’, there is no vaccine requirement to apply for any b1/b2 tourist visa, or ESTA, or NEXUS card. We can just apply and then enter the US accordingly.”
I just checked on the ESTA website and found the following –
“Can an adult travel to the US without being vaccinated?
Foreign adults who have not been vaccinated against coronavirus are not allowed to travel to the United States. It is highly likely that this mandatory rule will continue for a number of years to come, so it is strongly recommended to get vaccinated in order to ever consider traveling to the United States again.”
I’m an E-3 holder and I currently need to be vaxx’d to enter the country. I was also planning on applying for a Green Card however they changed the application requirements on October 1st 2021, requiring all applicants to be vaxx’d just to apply.
Dear Pete, thank you for your reply. Indeed, I believe you did misread my statement and I think it might have been because the above replies have been in connection to other posts concerning green card applications and the vaccination requirement in their case JUST TO APPLY (completely different from the TSA vaccine requirement FOR TRAVEL to the US for noncitizen nonimmigrants). My apologies. I think it is important that we keep these topics separated to avoid confusion. Let me explain:
Indeed, there is no vaccine requirement TO APPLY for a b1/b2 tourist visa, ESTA or NEXUS, in the same way that there is TO APPLY for a green card (immigrant status) as we have indicated above.
-As a b1/b2 holder, I can assure you at no stage was I required to go get vaccinated against any disease just TO APPLY for the visa and show official documentation thereof during my visa appointment.
-As for ESTA, there is no such requirement either. ESTA applicants are rather asked a question on whether they have any communicable diseases at the time they are FILLING OUT the application form, but nothing the sort of a requirement to go get vaccinated and show/submit official proof of vaccination.
-As for NEXUS, I am not familiar with it, but quick research showed there isn’t a process like that either. Perhaps a nexus holder would enlighten us if I am mistaken?
I couldn’t find any information on the question from the ESTA website you claim you found, since you never shared any link to it, nevertheless, the question itself already indirectly answers your concern. The question you copy/pasted, which I assume that’s what you did (copy/paste), is regarding TRAVEL to the US. Not regarding the process to APPLY for a nonimmigrant visa. In this blogpost, we all agree with that question you copy/pasted in that TRAVEL to the US is indeed currently restricted to noncitizen nonimmigrants who are unvaccinated against the coronavirus (COVID-19) because of the current TSA security directive. It is exactly what this entire post is about.
Hope this has answered your concern.
Cheers.
Got it!
Thank you for the clarification, that makes total sense.
Hi Andrew,
My apologies if this has been asked before. Do you know for land crossing if they do ask for proof, does the paper copy suffice? Thank you.
Yes it can be the paper proof 🙂
Andrew does fhe vaccine update apply to Kids or just adults
The vaccine requirement doesn’t apply to those under 18 so the update doesn’t apply to them either.
Thanks Andrew, sorry one last thing…the paper copy without the QR code is ok? Thanks so much for all your insight, it is much appreciated 🙂
No QR code is required.
Here’s what the USA officially requires in terms of proof (either of the 3 options works):
-Vaccination certificate with QR code, digital pass via Smartphone application with QR code (e.g., United Kingdom National Health Service COVID Pass, European Union Digital COVID Certificate)
-Printout of COVID-19 vaccination record or a COVID-19 vaccination certificate issued at national or subnational level or by an authorized vaccine provider (e.g., the CDC vaccination card)
-Digital photos of vaccination card or record, downloaded vaccine record or vaccination certificate from official source (e.g., public health agency, government agency, or other authorized vaccine provider), or a mobile phone application without QR code
I don’t think the CDC adding the 1-dose bivalent vaccines is something to worry about. The CDC’s list for accepted vaccines to enter the USA is based on the vaccines that have been domestically approved by the FDA and those approved by the WHO. It so happened that the FDA updated their list of domestically approved vaccines on April 18, a day earlier, to include the bivalent shots, so it was a logical move to update the list on the CDC’s website. It would be the same if the WHO decided to suddenly accept the vaccines that are currently on their “Solidarity Trials” like the Medigen vaccine from Taiwan, then the CDC would have to update their website on the section for approved vaccines by the WHO to indicate that those vaccinated with Medigen can now enter the USA while there is still a vaccine requirement. Therefore, I don’t think the amendment to the CDC list on April 19 affects the *expected* expiration of the current TSA security directive/emergency amendment on vaccine requirement.
Yeah me neither. Still think the most likely scenario is for it to be lifted on May 11th. Just slightly less than 3 days ago haha.
Would it be correct to say that Bill HR 185 can’t be passed anymore before May 11th? If it still has to be voted by the senate and also signed by the president looks like this can’t be done in time for the May 11th deadline?
If the Senate were to pass it, Biden has 10 days (Sundays excluded) to sign it. Assuming he doesn’t veto it, that means the Senate has until the end of the the month to pass it for it to take effect earlier than the 11th. Not quite sure what the Senate timeline is though.
Hi Andrew. Thanks for all the very helpful info. Wanted to say that I tried to cross in the USA from Canada (land border) about 3 weeks ago and have been refused based on my vaccination status. I tried again the same day on a different border and was refused again and threatened to be locked out of the States for 5 years if I try to come back without the vax. They also took my finger prints. I argued about it and they just made the process even longer, threatening to arrest me and treating me like a criminal.
Do you think the recent updates will increase or decrease the chances of the restrictions being dropped on may 11th ?
I do hiking almost every week in the USA and have had almost zero issues for months. Out of 20 border crossing, only 3 border agents asked for my vax status. Back in Fall I was asked for if I was vaxxed and they returned me to Canada. 20 minutes later I entered the States without any issues at a different border.
Hi Vincent
could you please share which were the 3 borders where you were asked about it? It would be really helpful. Thanks
We are looking to book tickets for summer 2024, you think itll be safe by then?
Also the cdc travel site still didnt update so i think and am hoping for no renewal in early may😁
Thank you for your input andrew
The fact that there’s no update 3 weeks out means nothing: before the April and January expiry dates, they announced the renewal just a few days before.
But yeah, I think it’s safe to say it should be removed by summer 2024 😛 But I mean all these rules are so stupid, I guess I would never say 100% sure, but maybe 99% 😛
yeah! we are looking to book. this summer for summer 2024.
i too am fairly cinfident that this whole mess ends may 11th though
This is So helpful thank you! I am due to fly from the UK to Florida on 3rd May. So is the case that it I fly to somewhere nearby I can then get to boat/ferry there (if not Canada or Mexico)? If so I will look into it thanks.
Yes you can fly to the Dominican Republic or the Bahamas specifically, then enter the USA by ferry with no vaccine requirement. All the details are here: https://flytrippers.com/how-to-enter-usa-without-vaccination/
Hello, Andrew, there are too many comments, sorry if it is a repeated comment, I don’t know if you have already seen the last update about the new accepted vaccines. Do you think that the situation of May 11 will affect the situation for the unvaccinated? Or do you still believe that the most possible scenario is that they eliminate it? additional thank you for all your effort to answer the comments and your excellent information.
Hi, I still believe it’s the most likely scenario, but maybe a bit less than I did 2 days ago for sure :S
Hi Andrew,
As everyone I want to thank you for the up to date info (it’s literally nowhere else to be found). You talking about the situation (realistically) is somehow leaving me calm that I will truly be able to go to US in late August (already bought tickets), but obviously I don’t want to get my hopes up. However, it would be really crazy if they extended it again. Thanks again!
It would be really crazy! But since they’re already bought, it’s best to wait it out a bit unless the cancelation/change policy gets less generous as the date approaches (usually not the case).
And thank you for reading 🙂
I recently travelled to Washington by air to a tournament via Porter Airlines. At the same time a number of families with kids were travelling on a bus to the same tournament by land. At the border they randomly asked 3 of the 7 adults if they were vaccinated. 1 was, 2 were not. They would not allow the 2 adults to cross and so the adults and their two children had to make their way back while the rest of the group proceeded. I received a call about the situation just as I was making my way through customs in the US and asked the border agent. They said, and I quote: “we don’t care and we are not checking vaccination. It is up to the airline if you’re flying” I asked him about land border crossing and he said as far as he knows, same thing applies. So it really is hit or miss and depends on which border agent you happen to get that particular day. In regards to airlines, Porter did ask me and make me show vaccination proof at the airport during check-in. We have another more important tournament in July, so hoping this is removed before then.
Hi, thanks for the testimonial. Hope you were able to enjoy Washington a bit even if you were there for a tournament. Cool city to visit.
But yeah, the following things are undebatable and unequivocal:
– By land, they might not ask about vaccination at all (many don’t care)
– If they do and you say you are vaccinated, they often won’t ask for proof
– If you say you aren’t, they will of course deny entry 100% of the time
– By air, the airline is in charge of checking and they don’t always do it
Also…the parents called the US Embassy to get clarity on the issue before departing and were advised that although the website specifies it is a requirement, that they didn’t need to be vaccinated to cross by land, so clearly confusion exists all around.
Yeah, that person has no idea what they are talking about. To be fair, for once it’s not government-specific incompetence, as this is true for so many frontline employees in so many sectors. There is definitely a vaccination requirement for entry by land and air, unfortunately.
HI, i’m hoping to fly in september from Ireland to Nashville, i’m not vacinated and my friends are. theyve booked their flights and i’m literally waiting until the 11th May to book. I’m wondering should i take the chance and just book it and hope it’ll be lifted. the cost of the flights are going up by the 100s each day 🙁
It seems safe to assume it’ll be lifted by September. But then again if they were even slightly logical this would be lifted a long time ago so… really depends on your risk tolerance.
Might be worth considering flight insurance to get a better cancellation policy and chance of refund if you’re not allowed to travel to the US. That’s what I”m considering doing, although May 11th is now only 3 weeks away.
Not sure if any standalone travel insurance will cover cancelations for a reason like you not fulfilling requirements to enter a country. Maybe there is, I never pay for that.
Friendly reminder that it’s always best to save money on travel insurance by paying with the right credit card that covers you for free in addition to giving you literally hundreds of dollars in free travel 🙂
Hi Andrew, did you see the latest update on CDC for travel? Do you think it will affect the 11May situation for the unvaccinated?
I would say it increases the odds that they do lift it on May 11th. Their own public health agency no longer recommends the original vaccine… but they accept the original vaccine to enter the country. Makes no sense (but it’s not the first time :P)
Do you need now only one dose of Pfizer-BioNTech to entry?
Yes, if it is the new bivalent one: https://flytrippers.com/usa-state-of-emergency-pandemic/#The_update_on_April_19
Why do you say it increases the odds. Thank you.
Because it’s very strange to go through the trouble of updating the vaccination requirement (when you’ve literally never changed it even once since 2021) if you’re going to remove it in less than 3 weeks. But hopefully it’s just a weird illogical move, like everything else.
What makes you think that they will end the vaccine mandate. Thank you.
This section of this post explains it all.
I think the reason for the change was based on the FDA recommendation which no longer authorized the use of the monovalent 2 dose vaccines in the US. Now FDA is only authorizing one bivalent dose for unvaxxed adults instead of the former monovalents (these shots are still acceptable for travelers though, even though they are outdated in the US). I think the CDC change was to be consistent with the FDA. I don’t think it has anything to do with the proclamation that requires foreigners to be vaxxed. I think that’s a separate matter altogether. I do think if they continue to extend the TSA orders past May 11 there will be hell to pay legislatively as there’s a lot of frustration that this policy hasn’t yet been dropped when most developed nations dropped it several months ago . I’d be surprised if it isn’t but you never know.
Yeah, I still think it will be removed on May 12th.
Just out of curiosity, what update are you referring to?
This: https://flytrippers.com/usa-state-of-emergency-pandemic/#The_update_on_April_19
Just flew to texas and back from mtl airport with no problems at all (bf not vaxxed). They dont give a sh** anymore, didn’t check anything, we didnt have to give our attestation or proof, didnt even check our temperature, it seems like its over for them. We even accidentally checked in as US citizens on the part where you submit the covid documents and no one said anything. If you arent sure whether you should go to the us or not i am VERY confident you will be ok. Hope this helps someone
They definitely don’t check everyone, but they could still check though.
Maybe checking the US citizen box is why they didn’t ask in your particular case (citizens are obviously exempt from all this).
Either way, its a huge joke. I observed other people as well and never heard anything about it. Just in general, none of the airports I have visited were as thorough as I imagined. I would 100% do it again
Airlines are sick of this nonsense, so it makes sense that they mostly don’t care anymore haha.
Thank you so much Andrew for all your info on this insane subject that affects so many. As an unvaccinated Canadian in BC I’m wondering what’s the worst that can happen if I’m honest with them and say i’m unvaccinated when I try to drive into Washington? Do I just get turned around or can they take my Nexus card, or fine me or what?
They might not even ask, but if you tell them and say you are not vaccinated they will absolutely deny you entry. No fine though.
If you don’t lie, I’m pretty sure that cannot affect your NEXUS membership because you can legitimately say that you thought they were over this nonsense and didn’t know it was still in effect. If you do lie and they ask for proof, that would be a lot riskier in terms of NEXUS, since us NEXUS members are held to a higher standard as “trusted” travelers!
Thanks Andrew, that’s what I figured. Getting turned around isn’t the end of the world for me, I always think it’s better to be honest.
Just an update, I drove through the Peace Arch border without being asked about vaccination. All good so far….
Not just “so far,” it’s all good and done. The only time you need to be vaccinated is to enter, that’s it 🙂 Enjoy the USA!
According to the current rules, will it be possible from May 11 to take flights within the U.S. (NYC to LA) without a vaccine?
Yes, of course. The USA has never had any requirement for domestic flights. Like almost every country in the world 🙂
Just wanted to give my testimonial. We recently took the Coho ferry from Vancouver Island to Port Angeles. No one asked about vaccination.
Thanks 🙂
Really appreciate your information on this. My husband is an unvaxxed Canadian with an L1A visa, we own a company that runs a US subsidiary in MT and have had a variety of circumstances occur when both flying and crossing at land borders. He was not checked/asked by anyone when flying and got in without issue. He crossed fine at a land border without being asked in January. Last month when he went to cross at the same land border they asked him and he truthfully said he wasn’t vaxxed. They attempted to deny him entry but they ended up letting him in because of his visa although that type of visa is not supposed to apply to the unvaxxed rules. So truly, it is totally a roll of the dice and totally subjective as you say.
Thanks for the testimonial!
my daughter just tried to fly out of Pearson on Flair airlines – was asked for Vax receipt – she us mot – they denied her boarding the flight
Yes unfortunately they often still verify by air :S
Hi LH
Thanks for sharing the info. which border was this where they allowed him? I need to get my TN visa and I am really worried about it.
Hey, thanks for this great post! Tried to find info on official US websites, but could not find detailed info in short…
Got quick question about ‘fully vaccinated’, trying to find the info about 2 years validation of vaccine, but couldn’t.. Could you please provide web link of from where you got the info about the fact that if my last 2nd dose was no later than 2 years ago, I am considered as fully vaccinated?
There is no maximum, old vaccines are accepted. Details here: https://flytrippers.com/how-canadians-travel-united-states/#Definition_of_vaccinated_for_travel_to_the_USA
and what exactly is this latest CDC travel update?
This: https://flytrippers.com/usa-state-of-emergency-pandemic/#The_update_on_April_19
I booked a flight from Berlin to Mexico end of May. I have a transit stop in the US. I realised that I have to be vaccinated, which I’m not. Now, I dont’ know if I should gamble and wait or book a new ticket, which I would also really like to prevent. Is there any hint in what direction this will go after May 11th?
More likely that it will be removed, but not guaranteed.
The cancelation/change fee for your flight is likely the same whether you change now or wait for news on the 11th at the latest (likely before). To try and save that amount, it’s probably best to wait. The fare difference for a new flight booked on May 11th versus now could be high though, it all depends on your risk tolerance.
Hi Andrew, thanks so much for your assessment. I guess I gamble and wait.
Do not gamble… I recently took a trip to Mexico via US, and they will not allow you to fly if you are not full jabbed.
To be clear, just because you were asked doesn’t meant they always ask. They don’t. So it’s not true that “they will not allow you to fly.”
But it is absolutely a gamble and they are more likely to ask than to not ask for sure (by plane, not by land).
I am due to fly from England to Orlando on the 16th may I have decided not to cancel , obviously hoping it will end on the 11th but the worse case scenario I’m hoping if it is extended we will maybe hear a week before the 11th , that’s my prognosis…… cause like Andrew said I’m sure the cancellation cost will stay the same , good luck 🤞🏽
THANK YOU for this article, I have been so stressed over waiting for news about this. I am meant to be flying from the UK to LA end of April for work, and when I first said yes to work, I was actually in the Maldives on holiday and had NO clue the USA still had these vaccine mandates still in place!
I was hopeful that they would end on April 10th as they had already been extended three months, and they are the only Western country still with these requirements. My team is mainly from Canada and I know the UK did have a pretty different outlook on the vaccine (in the sense I never felt forced to have it, I could go where I wanted etc). I am so sad that it looks like I won’t be able to go on this trip. And like you have said in your article, it makes no sense!
I have been trying to find information about it, and this is the first place I have found straight answers, I even emailed embassies and airlines, and I got no straight answer or no reply. No one knew what was going on!
My pleasure. As a traveler with an open mind and who travels to broaden my horizons, I’ve learned to respect others and their decisions. And not to discriminate. But unlike many virtue-signaling people, I actually am consistent about it and don’t have a different approach on some topics.
So anyway, thank you for reading 🙂
You can still make it to the US if you don’t mind a detour through SDQ in the Dominican Republic, then hopping on a ferry to San Juan and over to SJU and fly to LAX from there. It works. Good luck.
Isn’t that still arriving by air though?
No, San Juan is Puerto Rico, which is in the United States.
Andrew, thanks for all the info. Yours is the best source on this complex subject on the internet. What do you expect the impact to be on US entry rules for unvaxxed Canadians, both by law and in practice, if there’s no announcement before May 11th? e.g. May 11th comes, without further explicit communication
Sorry if this was already answered some way in one of your writings. Would be interested in your thoughts with respect to both land and air entry.
Hi, there will be some news. Either it’s extended (so everything stays the same as now) or it’ll be completely over. Almost certainly will be either one of those options 🙂
Thank you for all your great info! Have you heard of anything drastic happening to travelers if they say they are vaccinated but then unable to provide proof? Or are they generally just denied entry?
Almost all testimonials were from people who were just denied and that’s it. A few were told they would be flagged and unable to enter until the mandate was lifted, but I don’t know how reliable that is. It could be true, but could also not be. The U.S. CBP understandably doesn’t divulge those specifics.
Hi there just wondering which airlines are strict on checking vaccine requirement, I am travelling with delta any info would be great
There’s no way to know, most airlines will probably ask for proof most of the time, it’s really a roll of the dice to book a flight, unfortunately.
I flew Delta in December and I couldn’t print my boarding pass until my vaccination proof was checked at the desk.
Hi there, so I am going to Alaska this summer with work and travel and me and my partner are not vaccinated but did the mistake to buy tickets already from 25 June to 10 October, do you sir think that they will end with the vaccine requirements on 11th May?also do you think that we should cancel our tickets?
Unless the change policy for your plane tickets is more generous now versus on May 11th, there’s no point in canceling before knowing whether it ends on May 11th since it’s likely to end.
Looking for clarification:
Are they often not even asking for status? OR
Are they asking for status, and people are saying yes, without asking for proof?
Hearing stories of people being detained / getting fingerprinted. I’m confused if they are asking everytime and just sometimes asking for proof or not?
They definitely don’t ask all the time.
Some agents definitely do ask.
Those who say they are vaccinated are rarely asked for proof.
Those who say they aren’t vaccinated will obviously always be denied entry, unfortunately.
The only guaranteed way to enter is via the ferries from the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.
Hi Elle – can you provide more info on where you heard people were being detained/ fingerprinted?
Thanks!
Hi Andrew,
You are by far the best resource that I’ve found on this ridiculous subject. I can’t believe we’re still having to talk about it! So many good, innocent, law abiding people are being unfairly targeted, affected and discriminated against by this criminal behavior! I will never forgive nor forget how we’ve been treated!
Do you know if they will also drop the vaccination requirement for Green Card applications when they finally remove the vaccination requirement to enter the US?
Makes no sense at all indeed.
For the Green Card, I would assume they would remove it as well, but I’ll stick to the travel rules only due to time constraints haha.
Thanks for the updates, Andrew.
I wonder if anyone has tried telling the border guard that they identify as a 17 year old and are therefore exempt. Of course they will carry with them consent from their parents to travel alone as a minor. 🙂
The age requirement is based on the date of birth on your ID, unfortunately.
Hoping it finally ends on the 11th of May as I am due to travel to the US for work in August and September, and finally looking to travel to the US for vacation purposes as well. Absolute absurdity that the charade from the Biden admin has gone on this long when it comes to mandates.
I think August and September is safe, but yeah, never know with these extremists :S
Great info Andrew,
Want to get your opinion on the best way to proceed.
I am a Canadian citizen, whos not vaccinated and live in Manitoba. I am looking to travel to Las Vegas for a business conference May 4-5th. I wonder what the best way to get there is, drive through the border and fly from an airport say Minneapolis or fly directy from Canada?
Let me know what you think would work best. Thanks
Hi,
To be clear, none of those 2 options is guaranteed to work, unfortunately. If you were to do it, the most likely to work is by land, as they are less likely to ask for proof. Airlines in the USA also tend to generally have more flexible change policies so that you don’t lose your money too.
If it’s a really important conference, the only way to be sure is to fly to the Dominican Republic or the Bahamas, then take a ferry into the USA and a domestic flight. Not as efficient for you in Winnipeg compared to the Eastern part of Canada for sure.
It says that those who are unable to be vaccinated are exempt. How would I prove that? No doctor would write a certificate stating that, or they would lose their job. Thank you for your work on keeping us informed!
Here’s what they require:
You must show a letter from a licensed physician documenting the medical contraindication to the airline or aircraft operator before boarding a flight to the United States.
The letter
Must be signed and dated on official letterhead that contains contact information (name, address, and phone number) of a licensed healthcare provider.
Must clearly state that you have a medical contraindication to receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. The name of the COVID-19 vaccine product and the medical condition must both be listed.
Medical contraindications to COVID-19 vaccination include immediate or severe allergic reaction (e.g., anaphylaxis) after a previous dose or component of a COVID-19 vaccine or known allergy to a component of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Must have sufficient personally identifiable information (full name plus at least one other identifier such as date of birth or passport number) to confirm that the letter matches with your passport or other travel information.
If your letter is in a language other than English, check with your airlines or aircraft operator to find out if translation of the letter is necessary for their review.
Thank you for following this Andrew. I just want to urge others on here that are US citizens to contact your Senators as HR 185 (a bill that will rescind the foreign vaccine requirement) will likely reach the Senate floor once again next week because the mandate was not repealed along with the national emergency. I think a lot of Senators thought that it would be as that would’ve made sense. Another encouraging thing is that there was recently a lawsuit filed against this mandate so we may see movement soon on either end. Hoping and praying that Biden just ends the Proclamation before any of this.
Yes it would be great if they forced Biden’s hand. Not sure if it will speed things up that much compared to May 11th, but it can’t hurt!
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-border-vaccine-rules-remain-as-biden-ends-covid-national-emergency
This might help explain
Well HR185 has been on their calendar for 2 months and nothing happened…Does anybody know when it will be on the floor or will May 11th come faster 🙂
Still unclear. They might try it before May 11th, we’ll let you know if something changes 🙂
Hello mister andrew thank for write article. I share experience with travel america.
I am japan girl my boyfried is live quebec province of canada. I am not recive vacine covid. Last month I suposed ride fligt from osaka to montreal with transfer in hawaii with the delta airline.
I board fligt no problem in osaka. When arive the hawaii airport need go through border security agian. Border agent of america ask for vacine proof but say him I am not vacine. He call other security guard they bring me in room go look all my lugage make me undress. I was very scared and start cried. They took fingerprint form me.
They say canot board fligt to montreal need go back osaka. I need pay for return fligt and get detain several hour until ready to board return fligt.
I was treat like criminal no longer want travel to america worst than north korea. Next time I make sure no transfer fligt betwen canada.
Hi, that’s unfortunate. And you were unlucky; border agents usually don’t ask for entry by air, they leave the airlines be the ones to check. Actually it’s the first time I ever hear about a customs agent asking this by air; very strange.
But yes, flying via Canada is possible as there are no more rules here.
Why would they not have an airport transit section in Hawaii , this is what happens in London and Tokyo which tend to be a transit HUBs.
The USA as a whole does not allow sterile international transits at all, in any airport. Not specific to Hawaii. Not related to COVID-19 either, they didn’t have sterile international transits before either. So that’s why all along, the rules to enter the USA have applied for transits.
sorry to hear about this, please come again to the USA when their is a republican president, if you do, you will have a better experience. Also, you have made the right choice about not opting for that vaccine JUST TO TRAVEL ! much love from Fukuoka
The airline employee at the check in counter in Osaka made a mistake by not verifying your vaccination status. As a foreigner flying into the US (I had to get vaccinated to travel into the US to visit family), Korean Airlines employees always checked my vaccination papers at the counter prior to beginning any system entries to issue my boarding pass. The US doesn’t check this upon arrival for me because I assume my vax status is recorded in the system, for them to see.
Actually, it’s not recorded, the customs agents just don’t care and don’t check because airlines are supposed to be in charge of verifying. First time I’ve ever heard of agents checking by air 🙁
Why is the media not talking about this. I’m not even hearing about this nonsense on Fox. If any one it would be them to call out the Biden admin for such. Dead silence. I don’t get it? Where is the science what science? Biden’s 42% approval rate?
I am also quite baffled by the zero attention it gets. Since Americans themselves are obviously exempt from the requirement, maybe it’s not as relevant for their media to talk about it. Just speculation though.
yeah, most Americans actually dont know about it and dont really care to even know about it. I have been called a liar about 200 times over the last 3 plus years for telling people why they havent seen my wife in the USA for 3 plus years. Then they wont even bother looking it up when I tell them about it LOL and instead just continue to call me a liar, then the few that do look it up just says GET THE VACCINE for your dirty foreigner wife LOL ( Always democrats say that last part ) . So yeah this doesnt affect like 99 percent of them directly so they dont care ( it affects them indirectly but most are too stupid to realize it ) . The only ones that care are people like me who are married to non US citizens ( my wife is Japanese ) and the travel industry who knows its tanking their industry and peoples jobs and livelihoods.
Exactly, I have friends in the USA as well and they can’t believe that this is still in effect. They’re exempt so they don’t need to know the rules, but anyone with family members that want to come into the USA and have decided not to get the vaccine is affected by this.
Hi everyone. i want to share a good experience crossing a land border this week on tuesday morning. an officer asked me the driver where iwas going I said Orlando next question was.Do you have a Hotel reservation. I said yes and name of the hotel. he didn’t ask me or the rest of my family in the car if we been vaccineted. Happy Ending.
So aren’t they flooding through the Mexican/Texan borders without any paperwork? Yet I, as an Australian unvaccinated person, have not been able to see my grandchildren since 2019, and I am sure the US Senate deliberately withhold voting on HR.185. How a demented president can keep ruling on an outdated requirement for vaccination, yet not require a Covid test from vaccinated people is beyond me. I thought the idea was not to accept people who could likely spread the virus! Vaccinated people can have and spread it if they don’t have to do a Covid test!
Just a quick thanks to you for being on top of this and answering questions. Visiting your site frequently to check for any updates. Unfortunately, I am one of the dumb once who can travel to the US at anytime but some of smarter my colleagues can’t until this stupidity is over. We need to get over there as a team for business.
Thank you for following us 🙂 We’ve always wanted to help everyone travel, never been fans of discrimination and we are actually consistent about that, unlike many.
This mandate never made sense at all morally , ethicality, or scientifically . . my Japanese wife cant enter cause she has not been vaxed ( nor have I ) but Im a US citizen and can ??. Makes no sense at all, as I can sleep with my wife every night in the same bed and enter the USA with no requirements ( no vaccine, no mask, no pcr test ) but she ( same condition as I ) cannot enter the USA. Please someone show me the scientific evidence that says I can enter but she cannot . the vaccines do not stop transmission, they do not stop you from getting sick. If Trump did this, they would indeed call him rasist Xenophobe ect ect. but Biden does it, its okay. It’s been over 3 years now that my wife / my kids mother , has been unable to enter the USA . For a family vacation we have to leave the USA to see her . We have had to spend about 30k each year to go see her or take a family vacation . So far we spent 100k outside the USA . I would have preferred to have given that money to my fellow Americans . If this isn’t dropped very soon , I will be spending another 30k outside the USA. Most of the world doesn’t do this anymore , why is the USA being so dumb on this I do not understand
This mandate has done one thing, it’s made me a lifelong enemy of the democrat party and I am teaching my kids to remember this for their entire lives . Voted republican twice in my life before all of this, now I am voting every chance I get for the rest of my life republican.
Congrats Democrats, I hope this short time was worth it, you created an enemy for generations to come .
Certainly no way to justify any of it, really. Hopefully it will be a thing of the past very soon.
You mention several times that it is very likely the US will lift the vaccine restriction on May 11. What makes you believe this? Also, you say that unvaccinated people are very few. I think that the unvaccinated world population is huge, otherwise there wouldn’t be a lobby from the travel industry urging Congress to end this requirement.
Because they will end the unrelated public health emergency on the 11th, so it would finally make sense to end it there (not that they’ve made much sense before).
They extended the vaccine mandate until the 11th (whereas every previous time it was until the 10th) to coincide with that.
They extended the vaccine mandate for just 1 month and 1 day versus 3 months the last time.
I don’t remember saying they are few; maybe I did, but my point is there are still many more vaccinated than unvaccinated travelers. In Canada it’s about 90-10 if I’m not mistaken.
Hi,
Do you know what’s about Djokovic the tennis player? I read that he is allowed to go to the U.S open…
Because of the ending of the restrictions?
He has to follow the same rules as everyone else. Whoever says he is allowed to go is either just speculating that the requirement will be gone by the time the U.S. Open starts… or is one of the many who confuse the national emergency and the vaccination requirement.
Yet isn’t the US population ratio of unvaccinated something like 60/40? That would seem a large number of unvaccinated citizens, which is hypocritical when they won’t allow unvaccinated in if you are not a US citizen. Fortunately, like your last comment, my daughter will only vote Republican (she is a US citizen) and if I lived there I would do the same. Biden is a joke.
Biden just ended the state of emergency and said nothing about the vaccine requirement. So, it stays.
Yes, there was never any chance that it ended at the same time as the national emergency unfortunately.
With this (end national emergency), can we say that it is still very likely that the vaccine requirement will be lifted on May 11? Or have we already lost hope?
Hi, this section of this post answers that precisely, or at least as precisely as we can with the current information.
I really appreciate your posts and the up to date info you share here! I’ve been watching this closely and am wondering if anyone else finds it odd that there has been basically nothing in the news about TSA extending the vaccine mandate for another month? When they extended it in January for 3 months, every news outlet seems to have posted about it. But this time, it’s like radio silence everywhere. Maybe it was just the short week before Easter, but the lack of news in this day and age of news overload just seems strange!
Hi,
Most media outlets honestly don’t seem to care that much about a rule that affects so fee people unfortunately.
hmmm – confused the link of the TSA site says that the “travel” mandate to be fully vaxxed expires on April 10, 2023 – specifically says “travel” the new one that is supposed to come out tomorrow doesn’t say travel – just says to be fully vaxxed – so is it fair to say that to travel the mandate expires on April 10, 2023 and the mandate to just be vaxxed “at all” is May 11,2023
https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/ea_1546-21-02b.pdf
https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/ea-1546-21-02c.pdf
Only one of these announcements talk about travel – Am I missing it? I don’t see it on the new one as a travel
Hi,
The new one still says “APPLICABILITY: Foreign air carriers regulated under 49 CFR 1546.101” so I don’t think it’s really different.
Exactly!! Been following this news for a long time and really waited to get some good news today, but can’t find anything about this.
Does this mean we can travel again?
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/legislation/2023/04/10/bill-signed-h-j-res-7/
Not at all, unfortunately.
See this section of the post.
this shit is so retarded, i am an australian college student considering visiting my online friends for a month. idk if i should go through the 5 week process of getting my 2 shots and waiting for them to be valid, or gamble on it being lifted on may 11. what are the chances they’ll announce what happens on that date beforehand, and how long before would it be based on past announcements?
Hi, from a travel rules perspective it seems at least very likely to be removed on May 11th, but it’s not clear how early before they would announce it. I would assume they’d give advance notice because Biden keeps saying he wants an orderly transition, which is why he announced the end of the public health emergency on May 11th. But there’s no guarantee:S
My apologies if this, or something like this, has been asked already.
My fiancée is a US citizen, I’m European, both unvaccinated. We’ve been trying to do everything legitimate and applied for a fiance visa which would let me enter but the status on that has been “we have received your application” for 17 months now, without any news. There’s thousands of illegals just walking across the border every day and we’re starting to feel we’re being made a joke of for doing things legitimately.
If they extend the requirement yet again, would it be possible to fly to either Canada or Mexico, make my way to the US border, hope they don’t ask for proof, have my fiancée pick me up somewhere nearby if I make it across? And if I’m unlucky enough to be asked for proof, fly to the other country and try again?
Hi, that’s an unfortunate situation.
Whether or not they extend it, not many customs agents at the land border ask for proof of vaccination. But it’s not quite clear what happens if they do and you don’t have it. Some testimonials tell us that they just tried later and weren’t flagged, but this is purely speculation, unfortunately. And maybe having a non-Canadian passport makes it more likely that they would ask.
That said, if you are motivated, you can apparently enter by ferry from the Dominican Republic or The Bahamas as the rule does apply there (details: https://flytrippers.com/how-to-enter-usa-without-vaccination/).
What events are planned for April 11th? Someone said there will be an announcement about the unvaccinated on the 11th
Not sure if he’s announcing anything on April 11th but if he does we’ll share all the details here.
What we know is that at the end of the day on May 11th, the public health emergency will end. Doesn’t have anything to do with the vaccine mandate directly, but the vaccine mandate for travelers has been extended until then and is likely to not be renewed.
This is crazy everyone else has lifted the requirements so many Canadians are ready to travel to USA and Canada has no requirements for the USA
It is crazy, but where Canada has rules or not isn’t very relevant because the USA rules are the same for all nationalities. They make their own rules and don’t owe us anything, just like we don’t owe them anything and can decide our own rules. But yeah, definitely makes no sense for them to still have rules for sure.
I just called the 800 number for the CDC and asked specifically if the vaccine requirement for foreign travelers entering the US will end along with the planned ending of the NE and the PHE on May 11th. Here is the information the representative provided me with:
“CDC “Amended order on implementing the presidential proclamation on safe resumption of global travel during the COVID-19 pandemic” is implemented under the authority of the presidential proclamation titled: “Advancing The Safe Resumption of Global Travel During The COVID-19 Pandemic”. This is separate from the public health emergency, the proclamation remains in effect until terminated by the president. CDC continues to work with HHS on this process and are collecting questions to help ensure the needs of jurisdictions and partners are addressed.”
Both the TSA’s security directive and emergency amendment issued on April 4th extending the vaccine requirement to May 11th are issued with the means to implement this proclamation, as stated on both documents.
So, although the vaccine requirement was extended to coincide with the ending of the NE and the PHE on May 11th, it seems as it is entirely dependent on this proclamation, which doesn’t specifically have an end date yet: (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/10/25/a-proclamation-on-advancing-the-safe-resumption-of-global-travel-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/)
The question now is, since it has been confirmed that the proclamation is different from the PHE (and assuming that it also has nothing to do with the NE), will Biden end it by May 11th together with the NE and PHE?
It may seem as if their statement “to ensure the needs of jurisdictions and partners are addressed” is in reference to the U.S. Travel Association and other parties which have been on the government’s ass (excuse the language) trying to end this specific vaccine requirement, but hey, what do we really know what they mean by that. The only thing for certain right now, and to avoid falling into a larger speculation game, we shall only wait and see. Happy waiting.
Yes I had confirmed this, it’s been clear for over a year that the vaccination requirement has nothing to do with the public health emergency, as I mentioned quite a few times in every post on the topic, including this one here.
So yes, we are waiting. Probably will end at the same time as the public health emergency (not the same time as the national emergency because that will end in a few days when Biden is forced to sign the Senate bill into law). But not guaranteed sadly.
Here is an official statement from an official government institution on the PHE and the NE:
“Potential Impact of House Joint Resolution 7 (H.J.Res.7): In response to questions related to how the ending of the National Emergency by H.J.Res.7 impacts the Public Health Emergency for COVID-19, we wanted to share the following question and answer broadly:
What happens if a national emergency ends before the PHE ends?
To be clear, the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19 declared under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, is not the same as the COVID-19 National Emergency declared by the Trump Administration in 2020 and implicated by H.J.Res.7. Therefore, an end to the COVID-19 National Emergency does not impact current operations at HHS, and does not impact the planned May 11 expiration of the federal PHE for COVID-19 or any associated unwinding plans. Even if the COVID-19 National Emergency were to end, any existing waivers currently in effect and authorized under the 1135 waiver authorization for the pandemic, would remain in place until the end of the federal PHE for COVID-19.
Based on current COVID-19 trends, the Department of Health and Human Services is planning for the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19, declared under Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, to expire at the end of the day on May 11, 2023.”
More on:
(https://www.cms.gov/about-cms/agency-information/emergency/epro/current-emergencies/current-emergencies-page)
My bf lives in US and I live in Europe. We have been waiting to meet for 4 years mostly due to covid restrictions (including tests and vax that we refuse to take). We were supposed to meet a few months before covid happened but we postponed it. We have been waiting ever since. We hope they finally remove this ban soon!
That’s unfortunate, I hope they do remove it soon indeed! Probably will, stay tuned.
Wanted to go the Sabres game yesterday 4.6.23 ..crossed at Fort Erie and was asked by the USA customs guy of our vaccination status..my buddy said he was I said I wasn’t..were told to go collect our passports at another building and that we will need to return back to Canada..my recovered status was not excepted..very disappointing to say the least and I personally hadn’t checked it out before hand as I really thought all this nonsense had been dropped..btw while waiting I spoke with another agent who said bitterly “you can thank our president for this situation, if it was me at the booth, you’d be on your way to the game” obviously not a Biden fan..inform yourself before hand, I saw family’s there who weren’t allowed in who were crushed with disappointment and confusion about having to change their plans..go news is the Sabres won ..small consulation..
Hi, yes, unfortunately, they still haven’t gotten over this.
And to be clear, if someone tells a customs agent they aren’t vaccinated, it’s 99.99% sure they will deny entry (they often don’t ask for proof, they are not obligated to ask for it and therefore they don’t put their own job at risk this way).
Should end soon though, hopefully.
I’m the same! I really hope that they remove it. Fingers crossed 🤞🏼
Sorry if a duplicate question. If the vax requirement expires on May 11th, would that take effect midnight on the 10th or midnight on the 11th? We have moved our flights to the 11th in hopes that it takes effect midnight on the 10th…I can’t seem to find those details anywhere. Thanks
The actual vaccination requirement doesn’t specify that; it says “Expiration date: May 11th” so that’s not too clear.
However, the public health emergency ends at the end of the day on May 11th, so if the goal were to end the vaccine requirement at the same time (which really seems to be the case based on the renewal for 1 month and 1 day instead of 1 month), then I would book a flight on the 12th, not the 11th. Keeping in mind there’s no guarantee they don’t extend it further, even if that seems unlikely.
I have been wondering, the last 2 times they have extended the vaccine requirements for air travel, no specifics on crossing by land or fairy extensions. Wondering why that would be?
Hi, the rules by air and by land/sea have always been separate.
I didn’t look into the details of the end date (since it doesn’t really matter because well it’s still in effect by land/sea and will almost certainly be removed at the same time as by air), so don’t quote me on this.
But I’m under the impression that the order for land/sea doesn’t have an expiration date so is just kind of in effect until they decide it’s no longer in effect. Whereas for some reason by air, they have an expiration date.
Maybe related to the fact that by air, it’s not the customs agents that enforce the rule, but rather the airlines. So they have to officially communicate a rule to the airlines, and that maybe requires a known end date (even if they always extend it anyway). That part is just speculation though.
I am European and I understand that the USA requires vaccination by air. And the airlines do check, unlike the land border agents.
Now the airline Icelandair flying from Reykjavik to USA do not check anymore. I have called the airline and they confirmed that they have lifted the checks some time ago. Here is my question: could I be checked once at the USA airport custom and border control?
There’s no way to say with 100% certainty, because, well, the rule is clear and it’s not impossible that they could ask. But the airlines are really the only ones who are supposed to check, and I’ve never heard of a customs agent at the airport asking for it.
Strange that Icelandair would openly admit disregarding a country’s rules, I would take that with a big grain of salt as it might be yet another of the many many examples of frontline employees not knowing what they’re talking about. Maybe the HUCA tip (hang up call again) is worth trying a few times to make sure.
I forgot to ask this question : if the vaccination rule would be ended on May 11th, when will we know this? As 11 May looks like an important date in the US regarding the ending of all covid related measures, I suppose there should be some news at least 1 or 2 weeks before May 11 th?
No way to know for sure, but I would also assume we’d get some advance notice. We’ll let you know as soon as something is announced for sure 🙂
USA need to scrap it now I’ve booked a flight to the carribean in August 2023 and our connecting flight is from JFK Airpirt so I hope they allow unvaccinated international travellers through. sick if this shit vaccinated or not you can stick catch covid . why are too may dying after the jibberjab or have long term effects a.
One thing is for sure, being vaccinated (especially according to the USA’s definition that has literally never been updated) does not stop you from catching or spreading the virus. It’s not just us saying it based on the data that has been obvious for quite a while; the CDC says so too.
So yes, let’s hope they remove it. But August should be safe.
And Icelandair’s website even still has the tool to check rules, and it clearly says you need to be vaccinated to enter the USA.
They could really have just simply stopped checking at all; that would even be pretty cool.
But I just want to tell you that if that employee misled you and you paid for an expensive transatlantic flight, you will not be allowed to board if they do check the rules.
Believe me, I can’t even count the many of times airline employees had no clue what they were talking about, with COVID-19 rules in particular.
Thanks Andrew
I’m heart broken! I live in Italy, was married 1 1/2 years ago and still have not been able to have my Italian husband meet family- they have not been able to come to us for health reasons so we must travel home. This rule is awful and senseless at this point! I was so hopeful- family members who are ill and another month doesn’t help! This past summer my husband and I were seperated 3 1/2 months so I could help family –
my question is regarding the land entry!!
I did read through the messages but saw entry through Canada and news about Mexico? Also by sea , it’s through dominican republic? to Florida?
an article specifically about this would be great- again! so heart broken-
Hi, yeah that’s an unfortunate situation. And senseless too.
We do have a post about the “allowed” exception by sea: https://flytrippers.com/how-to-enter-usa-without-vaccination/
And as for the land border it could work too, but not guaranteed at all. I explain it here: https://flytrippers.com/how-canadians-travel-united-states/#Unvaccinated_adult_travelers_Rules_to_travel_to_the_USA
Hi Andrew, thanks for the very informative articles. We want to book a flight ticket to the US from Europe on 14 May (both unvaccinated). I wonder if there would be a difference between airlines about asking for proof of vaccination? I think the US airlines like delta or united would be more strict about asking the proof of vaccination? But what about non-US airlines like KLM or AIr France or British Airways? Could it be that they would be less strict being non US based airlines? Thank you
Hi, that’s a good question. Purely speculation though, unfortunately. They most definitely both sometimes don’t ask (USA airlines and foreign airlines). Either way, they are still both more likely to ask than to not ask. If you do book, make sure to look at the cancelation policy, especially for an expensive overseas flight!
Hi there – apologies if this is a duplicate post. I tried to post this morning on my phone and not sure if it worked. Wondering if you have any insight from what you have heard if people are more likely to get asked at a land border about vaccination if they disclose to the customs agent they are going to be catching a flight? I feel like it may raise more of a flag and curious what people’s experiences have been. Thank you!!!
Good question, I know some of the testimonials we got are definitely from people driving across the border to catch a flight. Not sure it would really be any different from a customs agent’s perspective honestly, as literally millions of Canadians drove across to catch cheaper flights way before the pandemic ever was a thing. But just pure speculation unfortunately. The good thing is that USA airlines generally have more flexible change policies: https://flytrippers.com/us-airports-near-border/
Just out if curiosity, what do they look for when they look your proof of vaccination? And how thorough are they?
Depends on who you’re talking about.
By land, customs agents never checked the 2 times I entered, so can’t say. But based on the many testimonials we get, they’re not very thorough the rare times they do ask for proof.
By air, airlines are in charge of checking. In my experience (10+ flights), they’re not very thorough (and recently they don’t always ask). They basically look to see if that’s your name and date of birth and the dates of your vaccine doses.
Here’s what the USA officially requires in terms of proof (either of the 3 options works):
-Vaccination certificate with QR code, digital pass via Smartphone application with QR code (e.g., United Kingdom National Health Service COVID Pass, European Union Digital COVID Certificate)
-Printout of COVID-19 vaccination record or a COVID-19 vaccination certificate issued at national or subnational level or by an authorized vaccine provider (e.g., the CDC vaccination card)
-Digital photos of vaccination card or record, downloaded vaccine record or vaccination certificate from official source (e.g., public health agency, government agency, or other authorized vaccine provider), or a mobile phone application without QR code
Hi Andrew,
Thank you for information. I am planning a trip to the US (from Europe) on May 15, do you think they will lift this unvaccinated role by then? i know you can’t predict the future 🙂 but if they plan to end the emergency situation on May 11, will they lift this requirement also?
Hi, here’s the section about that in this post.
Hi , I’m
In the process to get my green card , i read I need the vaccine to acces the medical appointment. I’m worried about because if I miss my appointment, it could take me months to get again . Anyone have any idea of what I can do ?
Sorry, just for time management reasons, I can only stay on top of rules related to travel. I’m sure if you contact them they should help you though. Best of luck.
Hi Andrew,
Flying from BC to anywhere in the US using Air Canada,
can children aged 12 and under fly unvaxxed?
Cheers,
Hi, flying from anywhere to the USA using any airline, any minor (under 18) can enter without being vaccinated.
Hello Andrew,
I am from Québec. I plan to travel to New York by custom borders this weekend with the whole family. My girlfriend and I are full vax. Otherwise, my dautghers (aged 6 and 9) are not as it’s not required in Canada. I read that if we fly, that would not be an issue at all. That said, can it be an issue by custom borders in Lacolle?
Hi,
All minors (under 18) are exempt from the vaccination requirement, no matter the mode of entry 🙂
Hi Andrew ,
Thank you for your very informative article.
Do you know if a person can fly to say Mexico , or Canada, and then enter the USA on land vaccine free (as I like to call it )?
A person can try, but the rule theoretically applies at the land borders (even if travelers are not often asked for proof, at least at the Canadian border).
The only way a person can enter the USA while respecting the rules is by sea from countries other than Canada or Mexico (details here).
My friend just flew from Winnipeg, to Phoenix, AZ the other week and he went through customs without a mention of vaccination. He’s not vaxxed, said it wasn’t even brought up.
Thanks for the testimonial, yes as we mentioned it’s definitely not enforced 100% of the time by air, but it can be a costly risk to take if you lose a plane ticket because they did decide to check :S
Does your friend hold a US passport or a Green Card? If so, that’s why it wasn’t brought up. If not, he got lucky.
Americans are indeed exempt obviously, but more and more Canadians are getting lucky by air. They don’t always ask anymore. I know my girlfriend flew into the USA for the first time on December 31st (so the airline didn’t have her proof of vaccination saved in her profile or anything) and was never asked. Same for me on some flights even if it was my first time with that specific airline. Same for Flytrippers’ other co-founder. Same for many testimonials we received. But sadly there’s no way to make sure they don’t ask.
I agree. We flew from Canada to the US, Florida and were asked at the ticket counter in Canada to show our proof of vaccination as part of the boarding process.
To be clear, just because you were asked doesn’t mean they ask everyone. They certainly don’t. But by air, they do ask way more often than by land indeed.
Hello,
Thank you for your time writing and updating this blog!
I usually come here and others to update myself since I would like to plan a trip to the US over the summer. I am actually triple vaccinated, but with a vaccine that is not on the CDC or WHO list, thus as per this mandate I am considered unvaccinated.
For some time I have been thinking the same as what you wrote, that the COVID national emergency and the TSA vaccine requirement for nonimmigrant noncitizens are two different things, so it was nice to see that someone at least has pointed this out. Nevertheless, in a sense this just adds to the confusion. It would mean that all news outlets reporting on the senate approval of the GOP bill to end the covid emergency and equating it with the ending of the TSA vaccine requirement are basically flawed. Especially articles reporting that Novak Djokovic (unvaccinated tennis player) will be able to enter the U.S. in time for the US Open in August, with headlines reading that he has been given the “green light” and that his “fate is confirmed to enter the US” as the bill has now passed and will be signed by Biden. But what I have been thinking, and what you have mentioned in this article, both the COVID national emergency and the TSA vaccine requirement are two different things, and just like you said, the TSA vaccine requirement could even be extended past the April 10 end date of the national emergency.
In fact, they just did this morning (April 4th). The TSA extended its vaccination requirement from April 11 to May 11. Please see: (https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/ea-1546-21-02c.pdf)
But now the question is, since they extended it only for a month, and specifically to coincide with the date the Biden administration said it would end all COVID national emergencies, wouldn’t this be read as a sign that the TSA vaccine requirement would very much likely end on that date too? And couldn’t it be also read as that the TSA vaccine requirement only has effect within the timeframe given for the COVID national emergencies?
Yet, if the theory here is right and both are not even related, they could end the national emergencies since they already said they would on May 11, but still then extend the TSA vaccine requirement to an unspecified future date, and again and again…. So confusing, I wish they would address this matter so that people may start planning their lives.
Even Japan just announced today they will end all COVID-related border entry rules on May 8. At least they and new outlets reporting on the matter have been very direct by specifying (border entry rules).(https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/04/03/national/china-travelers-test-on-arrival-stop/).
China, who we all know was the strictest country with border entry rules up until January 8th this year is now open to unvaccinated travelers, although still with a PCR required.
Sad day for policymaking.
Yes, it likely means it will end on May 11th, but there’s no guarantee of course. Here are the details: https://flytrippers.com/usa-vaccination-requirement-travel/
And yes it’s confusing, but every country has various rules, and different rules are different rules. There’s no way around it, that’s how it is.
And yes, it would be great if they at least announced their intentions.
I wonder about transit to a third country. Of course, the US is not like some other countries that allow airside transit, you still need to go through immigration and customs before heading to your connecting flight. But if it is up to the airline to check the vaccine requirement, I could basically make the case that I’m just transiting (yeah, will go through immigration and then onto my connecting flight and be on US soil for just a couple hours, but still without leaving the airport). But I haven’t heard anything about transit under this rule. Again, maybe because there is no airside transit?
Have you heard anything about this though?
Hoping for this rule to be history after May 11.
Yes, unfortunately, the requirement applies for transits because of what you said, there are no sterile international transits in the USA so airlines based in the USA tend do know this quite well.
Hi Andrew,
Thanks again for your updates. I’ve read your several blog posts regarding this topic yet still have a question. Could you elaborate on why you mention that the vaccine requirement is “extremely likely” to end on May 11th but in another section you mention that it very well “could be extended too”.
Since you also mention that it is an arbitrary date, then that makes things still up in the air without an official government source declaring that it is likely to end as well along with the 2 emergencies, as there is no system or anything governing the actual end date of the TSA vaccine requirement (if it indeed is not dependent on either the national emergency or the public health emergency). The only thing close to a government mention about this (that I have so far found) is on this reuters article where they quote the White House saying, and I quote:
“The White House plans to end the COVID public health emergency on May 11. “As we approach the end of the public health emergency, the administration will review all relevant policies, including this one,” the White House said.” (With ‘this one’ being in reference to the TSA vaccine requirement for foreign noncitizen travelers).
(https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-house-votes-end-foreign-air-traveler-covid-vaccine-requirement-2023-02-08/)
It seems to me that taking into consideration the above-mentioned it is rather misleading to state “extremely likely” as this implies very high percent chance of it actually happening, yet still so much uncertainty surrounding the issue where people are still not sure if they should plan to buy a ticket with a departure date starting on May 12th.
I personally think that doing some more research where it is proven that the TSA vaccine requirement is governed by or dependent upon the national emergency or the public health emergency then would help to make things a bit less uncertain and would warrant the use of ‘extremely likely’.
If those were exactly the White House’s words in that quote, then by mentioning the public health emergency and then saying ‘relevant policies including this one’ it would seem that they are implying the TSA vaccine requirement is indeed dependent on the public health emergency because of ‘this policy’s ‘relevance’ to the public health emergency’, in which case would make this so much easier and everyone can start planning with ease.
I hope you know where I’m getting at.
Cheers.
The vaccine requirement is entirely unrelated to the declaration of national emergency or public health emergency. That much is absolutely clear.
That said, it remains very likely to end on May 11th because if you’re ending the public health emergency, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to keep a health requirement.
And previous times, it was renewed for 3 months, now it’s just renewed for 1 month and 1 day, to fit perfectly with the end of the public health emergency.
So I’m comfortable saying it is very likely to end. But far from guaranteed, not the same thing.
Hi Andrew, thank you so much for this. Do we know yet if the cut-off date for vaccine requirement has been extended beyond 10 April, and where we could find out? What page(s) should we keep track of? Thanks again
Hi, we do not know yet but as soon as we do we’ll update our guide about traveling to the United States for sure 🙂
is it true the Bill has now been passed by the Senate and they’re hopeful the President will sign it?!!
Hi, it’s a bill about the national state of emergency. It has absolutely nothing to do with the vaccination requirement unfortunately. But maybe it will lead to the vaccination requirement being lifted too, we’ll see! Yes it has passed the Senate and Biden said he won’t veto it.
Hello,
obviously the situation has evolved in our favor.
Already, vaccination is no longer recommended as it has been imposed.
Corruption scandals are opening in all countries, and vaccination has collapsed. Everyone knows, fortunately, everything has been corrupted, but none can recognize it, it is indisputable for them to release this pass little by little, because they cannot recognize it.
We have a very high percentage of seeing the US borders open on May 11, 23.
We still have 1 1/2 months ahead to see even more scandals that will help improve the situation.
Good luck
Appreciate the updates.
Thank you for following us!
This is a great thread, thank you Andrew! So if we don’t hear anything before April 10, can we assume the vaccination requirements have been lifted?
Yes, the order expires on April 10th so if they don’t renew it, it ends. At least by air. By land it’s a separate rule that doesn’t really have an end date, but it’s safe to assume they’ll end at the same time.
Yes, it was just extended to May 11th.
https://www.tsa.gov/sites/default/files/ea-1546-21-02c.pdf)
Yes, sadly. Post is now updated (might need to hit Ctrl+F5 here if you’re still seeing a version cached on your browser).
This is a good sign,usually they always extended this nonsense for 3 months!
So i think there is a high chance we will be good to go after may 11th
Interesting development that came through the US Senate yesterday regarding HJ RES 7.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-strongly-opposes-resolution-ending-covid-19-national-emergency-wont-veto-senate-vote
Hi, it’s positive news for sure, but it’s still not related to the vaccination requirement at all unfortunately. But maybe it will lead to the vaccination requirement being lifted too, we’ll see!
“while 23 Democrats voted against it. ”
Bastards ! These demoncraps are power hungry.
Hi, how long does it take for Biden to sign that bill, so that it will become law? Does it take immediate effect after he signs it? I hope this will have some effect on TSA also… I have a ticket for May 13th and since I am not vaccinated a bit nervous 🙂
He has 10 days (Sundays excluded) to sign the bill, so it will become law before the previous rule would have expired on April 10th. So if he planned to change the vaccination requirement at the same time as removing the declaration of national emergency, they probably wouldn’t have extended the requirement to May 11th unfortunately.
Hi Andrew
I’m from UK, we have a large Family holiday booked for Disney in Mid July (12 of us) a mix of Adults and Children to celebrate lots of Birthdays. The balance for this needs to be paid by 24th April, one of our Party is an unvaccinated Adult! Obviously we will lose a lot of money if they can’t go due to this restriction.
Will we get a definite answer regarding the requirement being ended on 10th April in time for us to pay the balance or will it be May they make the decision? There must be thousands of Europeans in the same boat, either losing lots of money or avoiding the US , this is so stressful as we won’t get chance to do this as a family ever again. Thanks for the information so far, I have subscribed
Hi,
You’ll definitely know if the requirement is extended past April 10th by April 10th at the latest, so you’ll know that by the 24th. But if they do extend it, there’s no guarantee they announce the end date. They could very well say that they are extending it up until May 11th to coincide with the end of their state of emergency, then you’d be fine. But they could also not announce anything until closer to May 11th. We’ll let you know and keep this post about visiting the USA updated.