BALTIMORE – U.S. Customs and Border Protection reminds travelers that, starting today, foreign nationals boarding flights to Baltimore Washington (BWI), Philadelphia (PHL), Pittsburgh (PIT) and Washington Dulles (IAD), and other U.S. international airports must be fully vaccinated, and possess both proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test result for admission into the United States.
This vaccination requirement is the latest measure being implemented at air, land and sea ports of entry across the United States under President Biden’s October 25 Presidential Proclamation on Advancing the Safe Resumption of Global Travel During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
This Proclamation suspends the entry into the United States by air travel of foreign nationals who are nonimmigrants and who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Starting today, foreign national air travelers, with very limited exceptions, will be required to be fully vaccinated and to provide proof of their vaccination status to airline gate attendants before being permitted to board a flight to the United States.
Fully vaccinated travelers will continue to be required to show a pre-departure negative test taken within three days of travel prior to boarding.
Unvaccinated travelers – whether U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, or the small number of excepted unvaccinated foreign nationals – will now need to test within one day of departure.
Although passenger counts are expected to increase, they are not expected to rise to pre-COVID levels at this time. This vaccination verification process will not affect traveler volumes in CBP airport facilities as it will take place prior to travelers arriving in the U.S.
“Customs and Border Protection understands that resuming international travel is a significant step in regaining our nation’s economic momentum,” said Stephen Maloney, CBP’s Director of Field Operations in Baltimore. “However, the continuing threat posed by COVID-19 and its variants requires the federal government to implement measured steps to ensure for the health and safety of the American people, our workforce, and foreign visitors, and this vaccination requirement will help limit the spread of COVID-19.”
The Presidential Proclamation includes exemptions for certain individuals, such as transiting noncitizen airline crew and sea crew members who comply with their company’s and industry’s health and safety protocols, noncitizens for whom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determines that a vaccination requirement would be inappropriate due to the individuals age, and noncitizen members of the U.S. Armed Forces or the spouse or child of a U.S. Armed Forces member. See the Presidential Proclamation for additional exemptions.
The CDC has determined that only vaccines approved or authorized for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and vaccines that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared as emergency use listed (EUL) vaccines are acceptable for travel to the United States. See the updated list of CDC Accepted Vaccines.
Individuals will be considered fully vaccinated if it has been 14 days since they received one dose of an accepted single-dose-series COVID-19 vaccine, or 14 days since they received the second of an accepted two-dose vaccine.
The Department of Homeland Security also issued specific guidelines for fully-vaccinated foreign nationals to enter the U.S. at land Ports of Entry and ferry terminals along our nation’s borders with Canada and Mexico.
Travelers should visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website for vaccination proof requirements for foreign nationals, U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, immigrants and air crew members.
Additional information for implementing these new travel requirements can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/order-safe-travel/technical-instructions.html.
CBP’s border security mission is led at ports of entry by CBP officers from the Office of Field Operations. CBP officers screen international travelers and cargo and search for illicit narcotics, unreported currency, weapons, counterfeit consumer goods, prohibited agriculture, and other illicit products that could potentially harm the American public, U.S. businesses, and our nation’s safety and economic vitality. Learn more about what CBP accomplished during “A Typical Day” in 2020.
Visit CBP Ports of Entry to learn more about how CBP’s Office of Field Operations secures our nation’s borders. Learn more about CBP at www.CBP.gov.
Follow the Director of CBP’s Baltimore Field Office on Twitter at @DFOBaltimore and on Instagram at @dfobaltimore for breaking news, current events, human interest stories and photos.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation’s borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with securing the borders of the United States while enforcing hundreds of laws and facilitating lawful trade and travel.