• Both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals who are fully vaccinated should travel with proof of their vaccination status to provide to their airline prior to departure to the United States.

• That proof of vaccination should be a paper or digital record issued by an official source and should include the traveler’s name and date of birth, as well as the vaccine product and date(s) of administration for all doses the traveler received.

• For foreign nationals, proof of vaccination will be required – with very limited exceptions – prior to departure to the United States.

• In addition to verifying proof of a pre-departure negative test result – which they have done since January 2021 – airlines will now also verify vaccination status.
• Passengers will need to show their vaccination status, either via a paper record, a photo of their paper record, or a digital app.
• The airlines will need to:

o    Match the name and date of birth to confirm the passenger is the same person reflected on the proof of vaccination;

o    Determine that the record was issued by an official source (e.g., public health agency, government agency) in the country where the vaccine was given;

o    Review the essential information for determining if the passenger meets CDC's definition for fully vaccinated such as vaccine product, number of vaccine doses received, date(s) of administration, site (e.g., vaccination clinic, healthcare facility) of vaccination.

• CDC has determined that for purposes of travel to the United States, vaccines accepted will include FDA approved or authorized and World Health Organization (WHO) emergency use listed (EUL) vaccines. See the CDC's website for more information.

• Children under 18 are exempted from the vaccination requirement for foreign national travelers, given both the ineligibility of some younger children for vaccination, as well as the global variability in access to vaccination for older children who are eligible to be vaccinated.

• Children between the ages of 2 and 17 are required to take a pre-departure test. 
• If a child is not fully vaccinated and traveling with a fully vaccinated adult, they can show proof of a negative viral test from a sample taken within one day before departure (consistent with the timeline for fully vaccinated adults).
• If an unvaccinated child is traveling alone or with unvaccinated adults, they will have to show proof of a negative viral test from a sample taken within one day of departure.
• While children under 2 years of age are excepted from the testing requirement, CDC recommends a pre-departure test for these children whenever possible.

• Travelers must show documentation of a negative viral COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 within the past 90 days before boarding a plane to the United States (or before boarding the first flight in a series of connections booked on the same itinerary to the United States). 
• Both nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs), such as a PCR test, and antigen tests qualify.
• A self-test can be used if it meets the requirements of the order including real-time proctoring by a telehealth service affiliated with the manufacturer of the test and that generates a test result that can be reviewed by the airline before boarding.    
• This is the same standard for qualifying tests that has applied to the pre-departure testing requirement since January.
• More information on the types of viral tests is available here.

• The test must be administered no more than one calendar day before the date of the international flight to the United States.
• So, if a traveler is departing for the United States at 10 PM on January 19, they would have to present a negative test result for a test that was taken any time after 12:01 AM on January 18.

• Previously, vaccinated travelers were required to show a negative test result within three days of travel to the United States and non-vaccinated travelers were required to show a negative test result within one day.
• Starting on December 6, before boarding a flight to the United States, air travelers aged two and older, regardless of nationality or vaccination status, are required to show documentation of a negative viral test result taken within one day of the flight’s departure. You must show your negative result to the airline before you board your flight. That includes all travelers – U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPRs), and foreign nationals.

• Over-the-counter proctored tests are widely available in the United States, so U.S. citizens traveling abroad can bring a proctored test kit with them upon departure from the U.S. that they can take before returning home. And we are confident that there will be sufficient supply globally as well.
• However, there is also a waiver process in place from the pre-departure testing requirement when a suitable test is not available.

• This will be effective for passengers on planes that depart from their foreign destination at or after 12:01 AM Eastern Time on December 6.

• The requirements of this CDC Order only apply to air travel into the United States. See https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/testing-international-air-travelers.html for more details on the Order.
• See cbp.gov for further details on land borders.

This new global travel system replaces the existing country-by-country restrictions, putting in place a consistent approach worldwide.

• The presidential proclamation and CDC order include a very limited set of exceptions from the vaccination requirement for foreign nationals.
• These include exceptions for children, certain COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial participants, those with rare medical contraindications to the vaccines, those who need to travel for emergency or humanitarian reasons, those who are traveling on non-tourist visas from countries with low-vaccine availability, members of the armed forces and their immediate families, airline crew, ship crew, and diplomats.

• The new contact tracing order will be critical to detect and respond to variants of COVID-19, as well as to address other public health threats, making us better prepared.
• The Order requires that airlines collect contact information for all international inbound travelers to the United States – including full name, as well as a phone number, email, and address at which they can be reached while staying in the United States.
• Airlines will have to keep this information on hand and promptly turn it over to the CDC when requested.

• For each of these requirements, air passengers will have to sign an attestation, certifying the validity of vaccination and testing, and confirming that their contact information is complete and accurate. 
• Falsifying any information could result in criminal penalties and/or fines.

• Immigrants are already subject to separate requirements for medical examination and vaccination.

• Please see the CDC website for more information on exceptions. 

• Please see the CDC website for more information on exceptions. 

• Please see the CDC website for more information on exceptions.

• Please see the CDC website for more information on exceptions.