In response to the COVID-19 “Omicron” variant outbreak unfolding in several southern African regions, President Biden has issued a Proclamation that, effective November 29, 2021, suspends entry into the U.S. for certain nonimmigrants who were physically present in Republic of Botswana, the Kingdom of Eswatini, the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Republic of Malawi, the Republic of Mozambique, the Republic of Namibia, the Republic of South Africa, and the Republic of Zimbabwe during the fourteen (14) day period preceding their entry or attempted entry.

In a Proclamation effective November 8, 2021 at 12:01am, President Biden revoked U.S. bans against nonimmigrant travelers from several countries and created a new global vaccination requirement for all U.S. nonimmigrants arrivals by air. A synopsis of the Proclamation and related travel requirements follows:

In response to the tragic COVID-19 outbreak unfolding in the Republic of India (“India”), President Biden has issued a Proclamation that, effective May 4, 2021, suspends entry into the U.S. for certain noncitizens who were physically present in India during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry. This new restriction largely mirrors those already in effect for travel from Brazil, People’s Republic of China, Iran, Ireland, countries in the European Schengen Area, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

Public health officers in seven counties of the San Francisco Bay Area issued orders on March 16, 2020 directing residents to shelter in place for three weeks and avoid all non-essential travel and business activities to limit the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus as much as possible. The orders take effect at midnight on March 17, 2020 and are scheduled to last through April 7, 2020 unless otherwise modified.

Since the World Health Organization declared the Coronavirus outbreak an international public health emergency in January, there have been more than 105,000 confirmed cases in more than 100 countries, with the majority in China, which has reported nearly 81,000 confirmed cases. In the U.S., as of March 9, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed more than 150 cases and eleven deaths across more than a dozen states.