Vaccine Requirements for American Entry

[emosborn 4]

Wife finally had her embassy interview this morning, everything went good and we expect to get our IR1 visa next week, however I see that foreign nationals traveling to America have to be vaccinated starting November 1st. Does anyone know if this also applies to people with permanent residency (or does she not have permanent residency until she gets to the US and is issued the green card?). Basically we pre-ordered Moderna back in June but of course it's still delayed. If she has to get Sinovac she will, but we're not even sure if the US will accept Sinovac. Does anyone know details on this? We plan to leave December 9th so if we're going to get double-Sinovac'd we need to start ASAP basically.

[TBoneTX 43,057]

Here's some information from another thread:

 

[millefleur 5,035]

27 minutes ago, emosborn said:

Basically we pre-ordered Moderna back in June but of course it's still delayed. If she has to get Sinovac she will, but we're not even sure if the US will accept Sinovac.

Sinovac is currently approved by the WHO and the CDC and thus from what I can see is accepted by the US. Seems like starting on that right now might make more sense than waiting for Moderna.

 

Actually, "not routinely available" is a common vax exemption during the medical exam. What did the doctor tell your wife about it during the medical?

[emosborn 4]

1 minute ago, millefleur said:

Sinovac is currently approved by the WHO and the CDC and thus from what I can see is accepted by the US. Seems like starting on that right now might make more sense than waiting for Moderna.

 

Actually, "not routinely available" is a common vax exemption during the medical exam. What did the doctor tell your wife about it during the medical?

She had her medical exam in September - before the vax was required for the exam. So it didn't even come up during the exam. So she will have the visa in hand but only concern is getting denied entry to USA.

[millefleur 5,035]

2 minutes ago, emosborn said:

She had her medical exam in September - before the vax was required for the exam. So it didn't even come up during the exam. So she will have the visa in hand but only concern is getting denied entry to USA.

I see. It's an interesting point. Generally speaking, once the medical is cleared and she's issued the visa, it means she can enter the US because she's already gone through the necessary requirements. This new vax requirement is very annoying because it throws a wrench into that.

 

There's another thread with some useful info, see this:

Another thing is to just call/email the US Embassy and double check what the requirements are. Even consider calling the POE/CBP in the town where she plans to enter the US? Since it seems like no official CDC order has been released yet, you might want to just get the info straight from the source.

 

[emosborn 4]

3 minutes ago, millefleur said:

I see. It's an interesting point. Generally speaking, once the medical is cleared and she's issued the visa, it means she can enter the US because she's already gone through the necessary requirements. This new vax requirement is very annoying because it throws a wrench into that.

 

There's another thread with some useful info, see this:

Another thing is to just call/email the US Embassy and double check what the requirements are. Even consider calling the POE/CBP in the town where she plans to enter the US? Since it seems like no official CDC order has been released yet, you might want to just get the info straight from the source.

 

Good idea regarding contacting CBP in Las Vegas, although I get the feeling they won't even know the answer right now, probably have to wait until November. Lots of confusion surrounding this order, very frustrating.

I have emailed the embassy now and will see what they say

[millefleur 5,035]

10 minutes ago, emosborn said:

Good idea regarding contacting CBP in Las Vegas, although I get the feeling they won't even know the answer right now, probably have to wait until November. Lots of confusion surrounding this order, very frustrating.

I have emailed the embassy now and will see what they say

Let us know what they say if you're able to get an answer. It's true, they also might not know yet!

[Nelly_M 6]

I found this thread while trying to find out more on the same issue. My husband has just received his visa, which means his medical and interview were both done before October 1st. Now, my concern is if he will have any issues entering United States considering that he hasn’t been vaccinated yet as he was intending to complete vaccination once he arrives to US. I would appreciate any new information on this. Thanks a lot. 

[emosborn 4]

3 minutes ago, Nelly_M said:

I found this thread while trying to find out more on the same issue. My husband has just received his visa, which means his medical and interview were both done before October 1st. Now, my concern is if he will have any issues entering United States considering that he hasn’t been vaccinated yet as he was intending to complete vaccination once he arrives to US. I would appreciate any new information on this. Thanks a lot. 

Yep we are in similar boats. I will let you know if the embassy gives me any instructions. For now, my wife has just signed up to get Sinovac in the meantime. We would have preferred to get a better vaccine after moving but we'll just have to do a booster unless we hear otherwise from the embassy.

[Nelly_M 6]

14 minutes ago, emosborn said:

Yep we are in similar boats. I will let you know if the embassy gives me any instructions. For now, my wife has just signed up to get Sinovac in the meantime. We would have preferred to get a better vaccine after moving but we'll just have to do a booster unless we hear otherwise from the embassy.

Please let me know if you hear from them. It is so frustrating not having any specific information on this critical issue. 

[millefleur 5,035]

**One non-English post and reply quoting said post removed. @Oksana-K if you wish to post in Russian, please do so in the RUB forum, linked below.**

https://www.visajourney.com/forums/forum/98-russia-ukraine-and-belarus/

 

VJ Moderation

[Dr. Bob 48]

This requirement goes into effect on November 8, NOT November 1 as stated by the OP.

 

Quote

UPDATE

The White House announced that vaccines will be required for international travelers coming into the United States, with an effective date of November 8, 2021. For purposes of entry into the United States, vaccines accepted will include FDA approved or authorized and WHO Emergency Use Listing vaccines.

 

[Nelly_M 6]

16 hours ago, Dr. Bob said:

This requirement goes into effect on November 8, NOT November 1 as stated by the OP.

 

 

Right, but does this apply to spouses of US citizen who received their visa with interview date prior to October 1st when COVID vaccine wasn’t required for medical exam? This is what we need clarification on. 

[emosborn 4]

On 10/19/2021 at 11:09 AM, millefleur said:

Let us know what they say if you're able to get an answer. It's true, they also might not know yet!

FYI, the embassy confirmed that vaccination would be required for my wife to enter the US, even though she had her medical exam prior to October 1st. However, both CDC and WHO approved vaccines are accepted - so Sinovac/Sinopharm/AZ is okay.

[rndz 12]

10 hours ago, emosborn said:

FYI, the embassy confirmed that vaccination would be required for my wife to enter the US, even though she had her medical exam prior to October 1st. However, both CDC and WHO approved vaccines are accepted - so Sinovac/Sinopharm/AZ is okay.

The AZ vaccination has put us in an unusual situtation.  My wife had the second AZ shot in Thailand shortly before arriving here.  Now that we're interested in the recently-approved boosters, a couple of the big chain pharmacy clinics I've asked will not give her a booster because there's no guidance on non-US vaccines.