By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House will announce on Friday it will lift travel restrictions for fully vaccinated foreign nationals effective Nov. 8, at land borders and for air travel, a White House official said.
Curbs on non-essential travelers at land borders have been in place since March 2020 to address the COVID-19 pandemic and were first imposed on air travelers in China in early 2020 and extended to more than 30 other countries.
The White House announced Tuesday it would lift restrictions at its land borders and ferry crossings with Canada and Mexico for fully vaccinated foreign nationals in early November. They are similar but not identical to requirements announced last month for international air travelers.
Unvaccinated visitors will still be barred from entering the United States from Canada or Mexico at land borders.
Canada on Aug. 9 began allowing fully vaccinated U.S. visitors for non-essential travel.
The White House announced on Sept. 20 that the United States would lift restrictions on air travelers from 33 countries including China, India, Brazil and most of Europe in early November. It did not disclose the precise date at the time.
It also said it would apply vaccine requirements to foreign nationals traveling from all other countries.
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.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by John Stonestreet and Nick Zieminski)
