White House extends COVID-19 travel ban to UK, Ireland

The White House issued a proclamation Saturday extending the European COVID-19 travel ban to the United Kingdom and Ireland beginning Monday night.

Key points:

• Foreign nationals who have been physically present in the United Kingdom or Ireland in the previous 14 days will be barred from entry to the U.S. For purposes of the travel ban, the U.K. excludes overseas territories outside of Europe.
• The proclamation takes effect Monday, March 16 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Passengers on board flights that are scheduled to arrive in the U.S. that depart prior to 11:59 p.m. EDT on March 16 are not subject to the ban.
• U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents (LPRs), spouses of U.S. citizens or LPRs, certain parents and siblings of U.S. citizens or LPRs, and a limited number of other foreign nationals are not subject to the ban, but they must enter the U.S. through one of 13 airports and undergo enhanced screening. They are also required to follow self-quarantine measures for at least 14 days. DHS has posted guidelines on the self-quarantine procedures here.
• The proclamation directs the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to adopt visa issuance and entry procedures in accordance with the travel ban.

Background: On Wednesday, the White House imposed a travel ban on foreign nationals from 26 European countries that took effect Friday. Today’s proclamation imposes a similar ban on travel from the U.K. and Ireland. Restrictions on travel from China and Iran remain in place.

BAL Analysis: Companies should account for affected personnel and reschedule travel if necessary. BAL is closely monitoring COVID-19 developments and will update clients as new information becomes available.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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