The Consequences of the Coronavirus Sars-CoV-2 affect the travel plans of almost all vacationers.
To give you a halay reasonable overview of how the current situation relates to the Entry into the USA In order to give you an overview of the most important facts about the pandemic and how it can affect your own booked trip, I have tried to compile an overview of the most important facts.
First of all, of course, the note that I will not presume to advise anyone to do anything. So this is NOT legal advice. Travel or not, no matter whether it is to the USA or to another destination, that must in times of Corona everyone to decide for themselves.
I would like to summarize here exclusively the most important facts to the entry into the USA in connection with the Corona pandemic, in order to give you compressed an overview of the current situation there.
Entry into the USA from 8. November 2021 possible again
After more than 1.5 years, the long wait has now come to an end. On 25.10.2021, details emerged from the White House about the conditions required to enter the U.S. from 8. November 2021 must be fulfilled.
It states that the entry from the 8. November 2021 again for fully vaccinated persons possible. One is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the last required injection.
Approved vaccines in the United States are:
- Biontech/Pfizer
- Astra Zeneca
- Moderna
- Johnson&Johnson
- Sinopharm
- Sinovac
Important: Cross-vaccinations are explicitly allowed for entry into the USA!
Children or people who cannot be vaccinated for health reasons are exempt from the vaccination requirement.
In addition to the vaccination ALL travelers must present a negative Corona test (in this case: PCR test or antigen test) already BEFORE entering the airplane of the respective airline. Either electronically or in paper form. This test must not be older than three days.
People who have been infected with COVID-19 within three months prior to departure must provide the airline with appropriate documentation. During the entire flight and at the airports there is still a mask obligation.
Until beginning of November 2021 However, the entry ban officially extended by the current President Biden is still in effect.
This affects the following 26 Schengen countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Additionally now also Great Britain and Ireland.
Important: The ban on entering the USA applies NOT For U.S. citizens with European residency who have tested negative for the pathogen. These are still allowed to enter the country. Spouses, parents, children or siblings under the age of 21 of a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident (i.e., green card holder) are also exempt from the entry ban NOT concerned! Also, members of the U.S. Army, students, journalists and businessmen should not have any problems returning or. Entry to the USA have.
EVERYONE, including all U.S. citizens returning to the U.S., MUST have a COVID-19 test before flying. Only if this is negative, the entry into the USA can take place! The test must not be more than three days old. In addition, everyone MUST go into domestic quarantine for a certain period of time after entering the country.
Are there any restrictions due to the corona virus in the USA??
Just like in many other countries, there MAY be some restrictions over in the USA due to Corona. Museums may remain closed, events may be canceled or held with small crowds only.
Again and again since the beginning of the pandemic, for example, all Navajo Tribal Parks, the big amusement parks or big events like the St.Patrick’s Day closed or completely canceled.
As circumstances can change rapidly, it is NOT possible to make a one hundred percent general statement as to when exactly something is or is not possible with restrictions. You should therefore update yourself daily on your own initiative by visiting the relevant website relevant to your vacation planning.
Can I cancel my trip to the USA because of Corona?
You have booked flights to the USA? Or perhaps a complete prepackaged round trip? Then you should contact your travel agent(s) immediately to see if they will give you your money back or, for example, if the airline will offer you to rebook for free or for a fee.
As long as there is no uniform regulation, every provider and airline currently handles this differently. Therefore, it is difficult to make a statement here that really every traveler can relate to.
If you have booked everything independently and individually, as I usually do, then you can cancel the rental car free of charge in 99.9 % of the cases. This should be possible as good as always until 24 hours before your arrival.
Even hotels, which for the most part I always book through Booking.com can be cancelled free of charge in most cases. At least I pay attention already at the booking that no deposit is due and a free cancellation is possible. Whether this is also the case with you, can be read quite easily in the booking conditions.
AirBNB has revised and adjusted its cancellation policy due to the Coronavirus. This will make it easier for travelers to cancel a booked accommodation free of charge, if this would not have been possible anyway.
If you have booked a package tour through a tour operator, for example a guided tour, then the current legal situation is ONLY clear if there is an official travel warning from the Foreign Office for the region to which you are flying.
In §651h Abs.3, Abs. 3 No. 2 of the BGB says it in addition:
"…if unavoidable, extraordinary circumstances occur at the destination or in its immediate vicinity, which significantly affect the implementation of the package tour or the transportation of persons to the destination.
Circumstances are unavoidable and extraordinary (…) if they are beyond the control of the party invoking them and their consequences could not have been avoided even if all reasonable precautions had been taken".
Translated this means:
- If regulatory requirements make travel to or at your destination impossible,
- If there is a travel warning from the State Department,
- If advertised travel services cannot be performed on site,
you can cancel your trip free of charge. The tour operator is then obligated to refund the travel price in full within 14 days.
If none of the three points should have occurred, then it always depends to some extent on the respective tour operator whether you can rebook or cancel free of charge (or perhaps at least for a small fee).
TUI, FTI or DER Touristik offer their customers free cancellation and rebooking under certain conditions. Decisive is mostly the time of travel. Since there are many different criteria, I would advise you to ask the respective tour operator yourself.
However, due to the current entry ban, the legal situation is such that unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances arise which massively impair your journey or even make it impossible – as in this case. A package tour can be canceled free of charge.
For independently booked components (accommodations, rental cars and flights) it depends on the respective cancellation conditions of the respective provider.
An excellent and informative article on the subject, which is also updated almost daily, you can find on reisen-fotografie.en
How can I protect myself, if I am already in the USA?
Just like everywhere else or at your home from. There are currently no additional regulations for the U.S. Meaning:
- Avoid crowds (such as Times Square in New York, the Strip in Las Vegas, etc.).)
- Wear a mouth/nose protection in closed rooms
- Wash your hands regularly and frequently or. Disinfect
- Refrain from shaking hands when greeting someone
- Avoid touching your face with your hands, especially in the mouth and nose area
- Regularly disinfect your own smartphone (for example with Sterillium or a cloth moistened with alcohol)
- Also regularly disinfect the steering wheel in your rental car
- In general, touch as little as possible what is also touched by many other people (shopping cart, door handle, tap at the gas station, EC card reader, etc.).)
Suddenly infected with Corona in the USA. What to do now?
You have already entered the USA, are on vacation and suddenly feel ill? You may even show the familiar symptoms (fever, cough, muscle aches and often diarrhea) of COVID-19 infection? Then avoid – just as in Germany – the direct visit to a doctor. Call instead first in a hospital before. There is currently no general emergency number for this purpose.
Theoretically, even a hotel you are staying at over there can suddenly be quarantined and you are suddenly stuck there for several days. In this case you should immediately contact your tour operator and the airline you flew with, so that the details of your return flight can be discussed.
Call for self information
In addition to the information listed here, you should of course always follow the daily media coverage of the current situation regarding the entry into the USA.
The latest updates on immigration in the U.S. may be delayed here on the blog, although I will of course try to update the article as soon as possible. Therefore, it is advisable to also visit the websites of the German Foreign Office, the Robert Koch Institute and the WHO for information on the corona virus in the USA.
And now you. Are you affected by the entry ban to the USA??
Have you booked a trip to the USA and are now affected by the entry ban due to the coronavirus in the USA?? Or are you maybe even over there on a road trip or something like that?? Then leave me a short comment about it.