Covid Vaccine Requirement for K1 Visa (merged)

[stag 51]

32 minutes ago, Gauchos said:

I suspect this is a consulate-level decision. Originally we were told that it could be done in the US, but that changed after the announcement that non-citizens would need the vaccine before traveling to the US. My fiancee has the first shot and will need to forward proof of the second shot once she has it. This is especially annoying because you can't just walk into a pharmacy like you can in the US. She has to wait until she's eligible according to whatever rationing rules they are using.

The proclamation says "This suspension and limitation on entry applies only to air travelers to the United States and does not affect visa issuance."

 

You should contact the consulate because apparently it's affecting visa issuance in your case.

 

Btw is it the second shot or two weeks after second shot?

[stag 51]

Here you can see the vaccines US will accept for entry: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/proof-of-vaccination.html#covid-vaccines

 

Surprised to see that the Chinese vaccines are good for US entry.

[Gauchos 52]

Just now, stag said:

The proclamation says "This suspension and limitation on entry applies only to air travelers to the United States and does not affect visa issuance."

 

You should contact the consulate because apparently it's affecting visa issuance in your case.

 

Btw is it the second shot or two weeks after second shot?

The second shot. Apparently there is a government-approved COVID vaccine app in Brazil. Once my fiancee sends the results from the app to the doctor then she will send the medical report to the consulate. The doctor seems to be aware of the general vaccine requirements because there are other vaccines that my fiancee needs, but won't be required until AOS. The consulate in Brazil is allowing medical results to arrive after the interview so it looks like this will only delay us about three weeks. We will still interview on Monday.

[stag 51]

9 minutes ago, Gauchos said:

The second shot. Apparently there is a government-approved COVID vaccine app in Brazil. Once my fiancee sends the results from the app to the doctor then she will send the medical report to the consulate. The doctor seems to be aware of the general vaccine requirements because there are other vaccines that my fiancee needs, but won't be required until AOS. The consulate in Brazil is allowing medical results to arrive after the interview so it looks like this will only delay us about three weeks. We will still interview on Monday.

Oh that's good news because my fear is that if we get an interview early, the vaccine time frame (28 days) could make us have to postpone interview which would be really bad. If results can be sent after interview that's a relief. 

[slavaskii 885]

2 hours ago, stag said:

Hm, okay I had seen a source about those 3 being accepted but this article says "WHO-authorized" https://www.axios.com/travel-rules-covid-vaccine-testing-requirements-6036674d-86d3-4b66-8d9d-4d6b37f81463.html

From my understanding, the administration will be requiring only a WHO-authorized vaccine, which includes the previous three you mentioned plus Astra-Zeneca, Sinopharm and Sinovac (I believe the last two are spelled correctly, always get confused with the various Chinese shots). Sputnik is the 'biggest' vaccine that won't be accepted, though there are also many other 'regional' vaccines (like ones from Cuba and Kazakhstan) that also won't be recognized under the directive. 

[stag 51]

22 minutes ago, slavaskii said:

From my understanding, the administration will be requiring only a WHO-authorized vaccine, which includes the previous three you mentioned plus Astra-Zeneca, Sinopharm and Sinovac (I believe the last two are spelled correctly, always get confused with the various Chinese shots). Sputnik is the 'biggest' vaccine that won't be accepted, though there are also many other 'regional' vaccines (like ones from Cuba and Kazakhstan) that also won't be recognized under the directive. 

Yes you are right, the official CDC website lists Sinopharm and Sinovac as accepted: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/proof-of-vaccination.html#covid-vaccines

 

Honestly if you already got sick, those seem to be the best ones, since they use a deactivated virus. 

[slavaskii 885]

1 minute ago, stag said:

Yes you are right, the official CDC website lists Sinopharm and Sinovac as accepted: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/proof-of-vaccination.html#covid-vaccines

 

Honestly if you already got sick, those seem to be the best ones, since they use a deactivated virus. 

I'll reserve my comments on the Chinese vaccine as I know of many Chinese citizens who came to the US openly denouncing it, but I digress  

 

I did want to add that when you sift through the legalese in the White House post, there's an exemption under 4(a)(v) for citizens of countries where there is either less than 10% fully vaccinated rate or an approved vaccine is not available. A list of these countries is to be distributed soon. This is extremely interesting to note because this is a massive exemption they never hinted at before, and would cover those with Sputnik and the likes. Very pleased to see this, though I certainly foresee many issues; i.e., a Russian boarding a flight to New York after transiting in Frankfurt, and being met with a confused gate agent who believes they should be subject to requirements from Germany and not Russia. 

 

In any case, 4(a)(v) appears to put many of your worries to permanent rest, and considering this is only for non-immigrants, I wonder if the immigrant restrictions will be even more lax.

[philipbla 0]

1 hour ago, slavaskii said:

I'll reserve my comments on the Chinese vaccine as I know of many Chinese citizens who came to the US openly denouncing it, but I digress  

 

I did want to add that when you sift through the legalese in the White House post, there's an exemption under 4(a)(v) for citizens of countries where there is either less than 10% fully vaccinated rate or an approved vaccine is not available. A list of these countries is to be distributed soon. This is extremely interesting to note because this is a massive exemption they never hinted at before, and would cover those with Sputnik and the likes. Very pleased to see this, though I certainly foresee many issues; i.e., a Russian boarding a flight to New York after transiting in Frankfurt, and being met with a confused gate agent who believes they should be subject to requirements from Germany and not Russia. 

 

In any case, 4(a)(v) appears to put many of your worries to permanent rest, and considering this is only for non-immigrants, I wonder if the immigrant restrictions will be even more lax.

This is the case with my fiancé whose K1 was approved in Managua today but they won’t return his passport for three weeks, making travel to the US before Nov 8 impossible. Nicaragua only has Sputnik and Cuban vaccines available so getting an approved one would take weeks of travel to nearby countries. Nicaragua only has 2% COVID vaccination rate though so would seem to fall under this exemption of 50 such countries when the CDC publishes this list. I hope they do so soon and the border agent accepts this too when the time comes.

[Gauchos 52]

13 hours ago, stag said:

Oh that's good news because my fear is that if we get an interview early, the vaccine time frame (28 days) could make us have to postpone interview which would be really bad. If results can be sent after interview that's a relief. 

I'm not sure if every consulate is allowing this, but the consulate in Rio only recently began interviewing again and their local panel doctor is entirely booked. My fiancee went to one of the other three approved doctors in an attempt to get the medical done prior to the interview.

 

My fiancee went to the panel doctor yesterday to review the results from last week and she was told that they (the panel doctors and the consulate) are having a meeting soon to discuss the vaccine requirements. Apparently, they are confused about the actual requirements so they are being conservative by holding back her medical results until she has the second shot. It's possible that they change the policy, but I doubt it will be resolved before our interview next week.

[Pokua Monique 3]

My fiance's medical was yesterday, they told us they will forward the results to embassy in one week. His interview is in two weeks. They didn't say anything about covid vaccination, we are in Ghana. I will call them tomorrow.

[Pokua Monique 3]

9 hours ago, Pokua Monique said:

My fiance's medical was yesterday, they told us they will forward the results to embassy in one week. His interview is in two weeks. They didn't say anything about covid vaccination, we are in Ghana. I will call them tomorrow.

Ok so, at the appointment, they gave him the first shot of covid vaccine but they said he can get the second once he gets to USA. They told us they are sending medical report to embassy within a week. So we will just see what happens at the interview. I'll update to let you all know. It was a little weird because my fiance said the nurse didn't tell him it was a visa requirement, he said she told him that they vaccinate all patients regardless of travel plans, unless the patient refuses.