COVID-19 News and FAQ

From November 08, 2021, most foreign national air travellers will be required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and provide evidence of such before boarding a flight to the U.S. Children under 18 years old are excepted from these requirements.

The vaccinations accepted for these non-citizen travellers will be U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and World Health Organization (WHO) emergency use listed (EUL) vaccines with full dosages administered greater than two weeks before U.S. travel.

Travellers (including unvaccinated children between 2- and 17-years old) will require a negative Covid-19 test within 3 days prior to travel to the United States.

Passengers will be required to provide contact information to the airline before boarding a flight to the U.S. for contact tracing to notify COVID-19 exposure. The airlines will be required to retain this information for 30 days and transmit the information to CDC as requested.

New enhanced masking requirements in indoor areas of public transportation travelling into, within, or out of the United States and indoors at U.S. transportation hubs, including airports will be enforced.

Besides children, there are only minimal exceptions to the vaccination requirements for foreign national travellers. These exceptions include the following foreign national travellers:

• Involved in specific COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials
• Medical contradictions that the CDC has approved
• Granted an exception by the CDC for humanitarian or emergency reasons
• Non-visitor (B-1 or B-2 visa or Visa Waiver Program) travel for travellers from countries as determined by the CDC with low-vaccine availability (the CDC will publish a specific list)
• Certain sea crew members travelling on a C-1 or D visa

The US Department of Labor (DOL) have guidelines outlining what happens when an employee may need to work from home as it relates to the Labor Condition Application (LCA).

If the E-3 worker's current home is within the “area of intended employment” as listed on the certified LCA then a new LCA filing is not generally going to be required as long as there are no changes in the terms and conditions of the employment.

In these situations, the employer must provide an electronic or hard-copy notice posting for 10 days to that worksite, including a home office. As well as update the Public Access File of the E-3 worker with new posting information.

Due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, the DOL has stated that their office “acknowledges employers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic may experience various service disruptions, the notice will be considered timely when placed as soon as practical and no later than 30 calendar days after the worker begins work at the new worksite locations.”

We will be releasing a blog on this topic soon and going into more depth about this topic. Please keep an eye on our blog page for this new article.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact us today. The team at Worldwide Migration Partners are here to help you navigate this critical and unprecedented situation.

If you are currently in the United States and your E-3 visa is expiring, the best option under the current situation is to extend your E-3 status within the United States. As long as you are extending your E-3 status with your same employer, you are allowed to file a petition to extend your E-3 status with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS).

Upon filing the petition to extend your E-3, you are given a continuation of authorised employment for 240 days. Typically, the extension of status will be reviewed during this time and you can continue working in the US while your case is pending.

If your current visa is expiring soon and you are not able to renew your visa at the U.S. Consulate, as is likely the case with the current situation, you may decide the best option available is to file an extension of your E-3 status or even a change of employer petition with the USCIS while you remain in the United States. This will allow you to stay in the United States in valid status and continue working until you can travel internationally to renew the visa at a U.S. Consulate.

We will be releasing a blog on this topic soon and going into more depth about this topic. Please keep an eye on our blog page for this new article.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact us today. The team at Worldwide Migration Partners are here to help you navigate this critical and unprecedented situation.

For those who are currently in the US after a valid admission on the Visa Waiver (ESTA), the first and most important step is to understand your period of admission. This is the maximum date you have been given to stay in the US.

This information on admission period is stated in the Form I-94 provided U.S. Custom and Border Protection (CBP). A foreign national should always check this date regardless of the date on your entry stamp in your passport. Foreign nationals can find their I-94 here.

We will be releasing a blog on this topic soon and going into more depth about this topic. Please keep an eye on our blog page for this new article.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact us today. The team at Worldwide Migration Partners are here to help you navigate this critical and unprecedented situation.

First, it important to consider if you can safely depart the US and return to your home country.

If a foreign national decides to stay in the US or cannot leave the US, then you need to understand US immigration law related to your stay.

It is important to understand there are no provisions to extend a Visa Waiver (ESTA) entry. Furthermore, generally a foreign national cannot change status to a different non-immigrant visa status from the Visa Waiver (ESTA) entry.

The only option would be called satisfactory departure from the US, which would give a foreign national after a Visa Waiver (ESTA) entry up to an additional 30 days to depart the US in an emergency. This is provided the foreign national is currently in status and within their current 90-day admission period. This is the only relief available currently, and the final decision is a matter of discretion.

We will be releasing a blog on this topic soon and going into more depth about this topic. Please keep an eye on our blog page for this new article.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact us today. The team at Worldwide Migration Partners are here to help you navigate this critical and unprecedented situation.