The USA is among a few countries that faced the worst outcomes of Covid 19. With 33.4 million cases, and 559 K death is what’s haunting people to book non stop flights from USA to India and direct flights from India to the US. And people are just traveling for emergency purposes.
No matter whether you are traveling to the USA for emergency purposes or taking your much-needed break. This ultimate guide on “how can I book India to USA flights and is a covid test required?” has got you covered.
Who is eligible to book flights to the USA?
To book a flight ticket from any part of the world to the US, you must be one of the following-
- US citizen, a legal permanent resident, or a foreign national holding a US Visa.
- A US Green Card Holder
- Indian passport holder with a valid US visa.
But if you have a travel or transmission history in the last 2 weeks or 14 days, of any of the below countries then you are not allowed to enter the US.
- Iran,
- China,
- UK,
- European Schengen Area,
- The Republic of Ireland, and
- Brazil
So after traveling or being transmitted from any of the above countries you must wait for a 14 day period to pass before flying to the USA. Otherwise, you won’t be allowed to enter the country.
Besides this, due to the outbreak of Covid 19 second wave in India, the US government has banned many nonstop flights from USA to India, starting from 25th june 2021. If a nonimmigrant was present in the country(India) during the time of Covid spread then he is not permitted to enter into the US, except for certain exceptional cases. These exceptions are for-
- Citizens of the US or its permanent residents,
- Noncitizen national of the US,
- Spouse of the citizen of the US or its permanent resident,
- Parents or legal guardians of the citizen of the US or its permanent resident, the citizen or the permanent resident, in this case, must be unmarried or have an age below 21 years,
- A sibling or real brother and sister of the citizen of the US or its permanent resident, the citizen or the permanent resident and his/her siblings must be unmarried and should be 21 or less.
- A child of the citizen of the US or its permanent resident. Here the definition of child includes foster child and wards. It also includes any adoption-seeking child, and they are allowed to enter the country in pursuance of either,
– Preference immigrant Visa,
– The H4 nonimmigrant visa classification.
- A noncitizen traveling to the US on the offering of the US government or for containment and mitigation purposes of the coronavirus.
- Non-Citizen pilots and attendants of planes and ships having D, C-1, or a C-1/D visa.
- A noncitizen transmitted or seeking entry into the USA having any of the below Visas.
– A-1, C-1, A-2, C-3
– E-1
– G-1 to 4, NATO 1-4, and NATO-6,
– Travels falling under section 11 of the United Nations Headquarters agreement.
- Member of the United States Army and their spouse, the mother of a United States army person child is also exempted to travel to the United States of America.
- A member who is invited or whose presence is beneficial to the country. This is decided by the secretaries of the State Department and Homeland Securities or by its designees.
- A person who seems important for the country and its law enforcement objectives is allowed to enter the United States of America. This person is determined by the secretaries of the State Department and Homeland Securities or by its designees. Recommendations for the choice of this person are provided by the attorney general of the United States or his designees.
If you are someone that is not exempted under the above list, don’t worry. You can still fly to the United States of America. All you have to do is apply for a National Interest Exemption. For this, you must contact the United States Consulate in India. And apply for a Visa for the US under an appropriate category. Don’t select a category that you don’t comply with just to get a Visa. Because you will surely not get a visa this way.
Who isn’t eligible to fly to the United States of America?
Students that are flying to the United States for education purposes and are the holder of the F-1 visas aren’t eligible to fly to the country if
- If the validity of his Visa is less than or equal to 6 months, and
- New admission to any institute, school, or university of the United States of America whose admission process was completed after the covid 19 outbreak in India.
You can take direct flights to India from the USA if you are thinking of flying back to India.
The reason behind this is the nonoperational nature of most of the schools, institutes, and universities of the United States of America due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country. If you are still persistent to fly to the US then wait for the opening dates of these institutions. And then book a Cheapairlines flight from India to the US closer to the opening dates. And you might get permission to travel to the country as soon as these institutions become operational.
Is Covid 19 test necessary to visit the US?
According to the latest update, updated on 26th January 2021 by the government of the United States of America, a person older than 2 years of age must provide a negative covid-19 report to the authorities. If a person fails to do so, he/she will not be allowed to enter the country. The test must be taken within 3 days before your flying date from India to the United States.
