The United States will lift restrictions at its land borders with Canada and Mexico for fully vaccinated travelers.
Reopening of the doors of the United States means tourists and separated family members who have been sealed out of the country during the pandemic, will be allowed to enter.
The lifting of the bans will effectively mark the reopening of the United States to travelers and tourism, signaling a new phase in the recovery from the pandemic after the country closed its borders for nearly 19 months.
U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow said, “U.S. Travel has long urged a reopening of the U.S. land borders, and we applaud the Biden administration’s plan to ease entry restrictions for vaccinated visitors. This action will bring a welcome surge in travel from our two top source markets of inbound travel.
“Declines in international visitation since the start of the pandemic have resulted in more than $250 billion in lost export income and more than a million U.S. jobs. The closed Canadian and Mexican land borders alone costs the U.S. economy nearly $700 million per month.
“The full reopening of international travel to the United States to fully vaccinated individuals is overdue and will provide a jolt to the U.S. economy, travel businesses large and small, and to destinations across America.”
Unvaccinated visitors will still be barred from entering the United States from Canada or Mexico at land borders.
The exact date in early November when the restrictions will be lifted on both land and air travel will be announced very soon.
Canada on August 9 began allowing fully vaccinated U.S. visitors for non-essential travel.
Foreign visitors crossing into the United States by land or ferry will need to be vaccinated but will not necessarily need to show proof of vaccination unless they are referred by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol for secondary inspections.
By contrast, all non-U.S. air travelers will need to show proof of vaccination before boarding a flight, and will need to show proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test. Foreign visitors crossing a land border will not need to show proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test.
United States would accept the use by international visitors of COVID-19 vaccines authorized by U.S. regulators or the World Health Organization.
