Custom tailored special services offered for elderly Indians traveling to the US via Mexico
The ongoing travel ban to the US for travelers from India continues to pose problems for many who hold valid US travel visas. A lot of those on work visas applied for National Interest Exception and traveled back to the US.
But as uncertainty around the lifting of the ban continues some people are considering a third country quarantine route to bring their parents on B1- B2 visas into the US.
As Mexico has lately emerged as the most popular route for many to enter the US, it looks like Indians are doing everything possible to make their parents’ stay as comfortable as possible.
In Mexico City, now it is possible to order home cooked Indian meals delivered right into the hotel you are staying in three times a day.
Read: Indians seek travel companions for parents coming via Mexico (June 8, 2021)
Since the US requirement is that an individual must not have been in India for the past 14 days before entering into the US, everyone who is traveling now is taking the option of spending 14 days in Mexico.
Sudha Nair, who knows a couple who recently got their elderly parents to the US via Cancun in Mexico says, “With the Covid situation in India and the possibility of a third wave a lot of people working in the US are feeling more comfortable calling their parents here.”
“And since the current restriction means that the travelers will have to spend up to two weeks in a third country, for elderly it gets a little difficult to manage food as well as lodging etc due to language problems.
Read: From India to the US via Mexico: travel in the time of pandemic (May 25, 2021)
“A lot of groups have come up who are trying to facilitate Indian food as well as a language guide to help them spend those two weeks in relative ease,” Nair says.
A lot of WhatsApp and telegram groups with interesting names such as, ‘Let’s bring them Home,’ and ‘India to US via Mexico’ have come up. These groups are serving as travel guides where people are providing each other all the necessary information.
From the names of the hotels near Indian restaurants to the addresses of Indian grocery stores to names of people who are delivering Indian food to hotels, the newly sprung groups are trying to set up everything possible to make it easy for the elderly to stay in in Mexico.
Some of the most popular cities are Cancun and Mexico City as now a large number of parents often traveling in small groups of 4-5 are seen arriving together in these cities.
Some groups have also managed to arrange for pure vegetarian food services in Mexico. So, until the travel ban between India and the US is lifted, it looks like Mexico will remain the new travel pit stop for elderly Indians.