The White House has given details of new travel rules that will lift a blanket ban on travellers from the EU and Britain that has been in place for more than a year.

The lifting of the ban on 8 November had already been flagged, but the Biden administration yesterday (25 October) released additional details on how the new policy on air travel would be implemented.

Under the new rules, non-US citizens must be fully vaccinated, and provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination status before boarding a plane to fly to the US. They must also provide proof of a negative test taken up to three days before boarding.

Airlines must check

Unvaccinated travellers – including US citizens, permanent residents, and a small number of exempted unvaccinated foreign nationals – will now need to test within one day of departure.

The documents issued by the White House also set out what airlines must do to implement the new rules – including reviewing the proof of vaccination, and checking that it matches the person’s ID.

Vaccines accepted will include those approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, and those list for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Children under 18 are exempted from the vaccination requirement for foreign travellers, but children between the ages of 2 and 17 are required to take a pre-departure test.