With a month in office, the Biden Administration is taking steps
to reveal its COVID-19 policy approach to international students
and academics. On January 25, 2021, the President announced
Proclamation #10143, which extended the previous
administration's limitation on travel to the U.S. from the
Schengen Area, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. On February 10,
2021, the Department of State confirmed that national interest
exceptions (NIE) to the travel ban, first issued in October 2020,
will remain in place in the new administration.
Those exceptions are as follows: 1) Students traveling from one
of the areas identified above with a valid F-1 or M-1 visa do not
need to contact a U.S. consular post to obtain an NIE, and any
students applying for an F-1 or M-1 visa will automatically be
considered for an NIE; and 2) Academics and J-1 students who have a
valid visa, an ESTA authorization that was issued prior to the
March 2020 proclamation date, or who are seeking to
