One-Day Testing Requirement for All International Air Travelers Destined for the United States

Home Home | News & Events | One-Day Testing Requirement for All International Air Travelers Destined for the United States

Health Alert – U.S. Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei (December 7, 2021)

Location:  Worldwide

Event: Effective 12:01 EST December 6, all air travelers aged two and above will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 viral test taken within one calendar day prior to departure, or documentation of recovery in the past 90 days.  This supersedes previous testing requirements, which differentiated between vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers.

On December 2, the CDC issued an amended order, available at https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/fr-proof-negative-test.html, requiring all inbound air travelers aged two or older, regardless of nationality or vaccination status, to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 viral test (PCR, antigen, or certain at-home tests) taken within one calendar day prior to departure, or documentation of recovery in the past 90 days.  Rapid antigen tests and proctored home tests are acceptable for travel, and requirements can be found on the CDC website.  U.S. persons must provide to airlines an attestation of their negative test status as well as information to aid in contact tracing efforts.  Non-U.S. person, nonimmigrant travelers must comply with these requirements and also attest to their vaccination status.  This order goes into effect at 12:01a.m. EST on December 6.

Foreign National Travelers:  Per Presidential Proclamation 10294 and the accompanying CDC orders, non-U.S. citizen, nonimmigrant travelers must also present proof of full vaccination and proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within one calendar day of departure to airline personnel to board a U.S.-bound aircraft.

Requests for Pre-Departure Testing Exemptions:  As the Order has been updated to prevent the further introduction, transmission, and spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 into the United States, including the Omicron virus variant and other new virus variants, the CDC has instructed that the criteria for exemptions be narrow and that the urgency must be readily apparent.  In the initial days following implementation, CDC may consider exemption requests from U.S. citizens in countries that lack one-day testing capacity.

Requests for Pre-Departure Testing and Vaccination Exemptions:  U.S. and non-U.S. persons may request a waiver to the testing requirement through the Embassy, and non-U.S. persons may also request a waiver of the vaccination requirement through the Embassy.

For each passenger requesting an exemption, please provide:

  1. Type of humanitarian or emergency request
    • Exception from predeparture testing requirement; and/or
    • Exception for requirement for proof of being fully vaccinated
  2. Name (family name/surname, given name), passport number, and nationality
  3. Cell phone number, including country code, of passenger or head of household if family unit
  4. Email address of passenger or head of household if family unit
  5. U.S. destination address
    • Is U.S. destination home address?
  6. Flight itinerary, including any connecting flights
    • Airline
    • Flight #
    • Departure airport and date of departure
    • Arrival airport and date of arrival
  7. Vaccination Status
    • Fully Vaccinated
      • Name of vaccine product (or products if a combination)
      • Date of first dose
      • Date of second dose (if a two-dose series)
      • PDF or photograph of vaccination record
    • NOT Fully Vaccinated
  8. Purpose of travel to the United States (provide brief explanation of why urgent travel is needed, and how travel will contribute to the health and safety of passengers(s))
  9. As applicable:
    • Justification for humanitarian exception for testing requirement (e.g., no testing available where passenger is located)
    • Justification for humanitarian or emergency exception to providing proof of being fully vaccinated (e.g., vaccine availability, passenger ineligible for vaccine at location, insufficient time to become fully vaccinated)
  10. Documentation to support justification for exception if provided (e.g., medical records or orders for medical evacuation)
  11. Information regarding any other solutions that were sought prior to application (e.g., flight changes, testing en route, assistance in obtaining testing/vaccination, etc.)

All legal authority for approving or denying exemption requests rests with the CDC.

Actions to Take:

Assistance:

By | 7 December, 2021 | Topics: Alert, Messages for U.S. Citizens, News, U.S. Citizen Services, Visas

Suggested for You

Footer Disclaimer

This is the official website of the U.S. Embassy in Brunei Darussalam. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.

American Flag