Travel Restrictions Are Still Here…
Yesterday the Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador was denied boarding on his flight to the United States to join the Carnival Horizon for Carnival’s first cruise back since the pandemic shut down.
People were upset, he was upset, and there were a lot of questions of, “Why?”
He is fully vaccinated and had a negative PCR test. So, why can’t he fly into the United States?
The United States and the United Kingdom typically have pretty open borders between the two countries. Aside from an ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) and a valid passport, United Kingdom citizens can usually come into the United States for up to 6 months a year. And, mostly US citizens can go to the UK for up to 6 months a year.
Disclosure: I am not an attorney. This is meant as general information about travel restrictions that exist and not specific advice to any particular situation. If you have a specific immigration or travel restriction question you should contact an immigration attorney or the appropriate government authorities.
I sometimes forget that not everyone is living every day acutely aware of the various travel restrictions between the US and the UK. My husband is from the United Kingdom, I am from the United States. This puts me, us, and a whole lot of other couples actually, in the unique category of being hyper aware of the travel restrictions, exemptions, and rules about travel between the two countries.
The Dang Document That Restricts Travel Into the United States
In March of 2020 then President Trump put into effect a Presidential Proclamation restricting travel. When President Biden was sworn in he kept the proclamation in place. Formally called the “Proclamation on the Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Non-Immigrants of Certain Additional Persons Who Pose a Risk of Transmitting Coronavirus Disease”. This fun document restricts people from a variety of countries from directly entering the United States unless they fall under certain exemptions, such as being the spouse of a US citizen, or in the world of cruising, be a crew member joining a cruise ship on a C-1/D visa.
To reiterate, for most countries (including the UK), it does not say that people from the restricted countries cannot enter the United States. It says they cannot have been in one of the restricted countries in the previous 14 days. That means that people from the United Kingdom, or any number of other countries that are listed – assuming they have the other required documentation – can come into the United States if they have been in a non-restricted country for the previous 14 days. This is often referred to as a “third country”. For instance, one of my friends recently visited the United States from the Netherlands – he had to spend 2 weeks in Aruba before flying to the United States because he isn’t within an exempted category from the Presidential Proclamation. Does it stink and cost lots of money and time? Absolutely.
It’s Been 16 Months… Hopefully Someday Things Open Up More
There are some other specific exemptions (mostly diplomatic), but this post is not to discuss whether or not the letter he had from Carnival counted as an exemption or if he was in an exempted category – I don’t know what kind of visa he would have to go into the US for the type of work that he does so it’s best not to speculate. I think we can all empathize with the heartache of thinking you were going to be on a cruise and not being able to go. It absolutely is heartbreaking that he wasn’t allowed to fly to the U.S. to join the ship and be part of Carnival’s restart.
This post is rather to bring awareness to the fact that travel restrictions very much still exist, and they stink, and this is a reality that a whole lot of people have been dealing with this whole time. Check out the group Love Is Not Tourism to get a bit more of an idea of what these travel restrictions have meant to people. These travel restrictions have kept long term couples and families apart for over a year.
And, personally, while my husband I have been lucky that for us it hasn’t kept us apart it’s just been a wicked headache to sort through and navigate.
Every once in awhile they tease that there will be a “green lane” between the two countries and we can fly back and forth basically freely again, but that day isn’t here (and honestly doesn’t feel like it will be for awhile still). At some point hopefully being fully vaccinated with a negative COVID test will mean you can travel as freely as you could before COVID. Right now it doesn’t though, and it’s not just the US that has restrictions.
It’s Not Just the United States That Has Restrictions
I, (a US citizen) flew into Scotland a few weeks ago. As a fully vaccinated individual I needed to have a negative PCR test to fly, and then as I was coming from an Amber country (designations from the UK government as to the COVID risk in certain countries), I had to isolate at home for 10 days and take (and pay for) COVID tests on day 2 and 8 of that quarantine. Is it frustrating to be fully vaccinated, have to isolate for 10 days and get three COVID tests within that time? Yes. Honestly in those moments it feels like we haven’t make any progress since last year. But, it was the best option for my husband and I to see each other after his contract at sea.
So, even though within the United States basically everything is open, international travel restrictions are still very much in place.
Here’s hoping that travel between the two countries gets easier over time and that the virus and all it’s variants gets under control. Here’s also hoping that if the CCL Brand Ambassador wants to be cruising he finds a way there – I think I might recommend two weeks in the Bahamas or Aruba? At least in the Bahamas he could say hi to the cruise guests when they came ashore?
