Relaxed Restrictions for Select International Visitors

As the international community reengages visiting the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced a few changes in its travel vaccination policy.

As of April 27, 2023, the CDC's website says if you are a non-U.S. citizen who is a nonimmigrant (not a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, or traveling to the U.S. on an immigrant visa), you will need to show proof of being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before you travel by air to the United States from a foreign country.

However, some categories of non-citizens and/or nonimmigrants are excepted from this requirement. 

But now, the U.S. will consider anyone who has received a single dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine on or after August 16, 2022, to meet the requirements for boarding an airplane heading to the U.S.

The CDC's website says, 'Because some traveler vaccine records might not specify whether recent Moderna or Pfizer doses received were bivalent, the CDC will consider anybody with a record of a single dose of Moderna or Pfizer vaccine issued on or after August 16, 2022, to meet the requirements," because that was when bivalent vaccines first became available.'

And to interpret vaccination records for travel to the U.S., the CDC is accepting combinations of accepted COVID-19 vaccines.

Unfortunately, the CDC's new changes do not highlight the protein-based Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, which the U.S. FDA approved.

For more travel vaccination information, including exceptions, see the CDC's Frequently Asked Questions.

Additionally, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration recently renewed specific vaccination requirements (S.D. 1544-21-03C) through May 11, 2023.

While the unvaccinated tennis champion Novack Djokovic still can't visit the U.S., many non-U.S. citizens can.