Fully vaccinated travelers from the US don’t require a test on arrival or need to quarantine
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced countries for the past two years to update travel guidelines based on the rapidly changing risk the virus continues to pose.
While many Indian visa holders for America have been struggling for the past many months figuring out safer and easier ways to travel to the US during the pandemic, India too has released new travel guidelines for international arrivals effective from Oct. 25.
So, if you are planning to travel to India from America or are planning to reach India transiting via any other country, it may be important to go through these revised guidelines for traveling to India.
According to the guidelines, all individuals planning to enter India must submit a self-declaration form on the online Air Suvidha portal.
Read: US eases restrictions on travel from India from Nov. 8 (October 26, 2021)
A negative Covid-19 RT-PCR test report must be uploaded, provided the test was conducted 72 hours before the journey, with self-declaration form taking responsibility of the authenticity of the test report.
More importantly, during these times, before planning any travel, one must check the admissibility criteria from one country into another.
According to the new Indian guidelines, the approach of requiring additional measures for travelers from certain countries (based on the Covid outbreak) will be continued.
Currently travelers from these countries are required to undergo additional measures upon arrival in India, including post-arrival testing – Countries in Europe, including the UK, South Africa, Brazil, China, New Zealand among others.
While the US is not in this list, those traveling from the US to India via a third country in Europe, will have to undergo a Covid test again.
The guidelines also enlist countries with which India has an agreement on mutual recognition of vaccination certificates of nationally recognized or WHO recognized vaccines.
Read: Indian govt lifts COVID quarantine rules for international travelers starting today (October 25, 2021)
Then there are countries listed as category ‘A’ countries which do not have such recognition, but exempt fully vaccinated Indians with nationally recognized or WHO recognized vaccines.
It may be noted that the US does not fall into the Category ‘A’ country or at risk country. So, for travelers from the US, there is no need to quarantine or require a test. However, it is important to watch the symptoms for 14 days.
2 Comments
Does anyone know what age group is required to be fully vaccinated for children ?
In the UK they are only mandating one vaccine for under 17 year olds so anyone under 17 cannot get two vaccines currently. Have not been able to find the rules for this age bracket coming into India ?
I’m a US citizen who wants very much to return too India. When will the suspension on existing tourist visas be lifted? I still have 8 years left on my 10 year visa. This 30 day single entry is of no interest to travelers like me. Please reinstate our tourist visas now!!!