In light of the Coronavirus Omicron Variant, President Biden announced new travel bans for several African countries. Regardless of vaccination status, travelers from the following countries cannot enter the United States.
- Botswana
- Eswatini
- Lesotho
- Malawi
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- South Africa
- Zimbabwe
Travelers who have been in these countries for 14 days prior to entering the United States will not be allowed to enter. However, there are two notable exceptions to these new travel bans. First, nationals of these countries with permanent residence status (Green Card) in the United States can enter the country. Second, spouses of U.S. Citizens or Green Card holders can also enter the country.
The Impact on Employers
These travel bans were only announced last Friday. Consequently, employees are now stuck in these countries. Obviously, because of the short notice, many cannot make contingency plans. This certainly leaves both employees and employers in a lurch. The problem is compounded by the blanket bans. In other words, individual employee vaccination status does not matter. Hopefully, this is a minor setback, and the bans will soon be lifted in favor of individual vaccine status as it was with other regions of the world.
More Information
I discussed these new travel bans, and other immigration law issues, on LinkedIn this morning. So please check it out for more information. Or feel free to contact me. I am happy to discuss how these new travel bans impact your particular situation.
