On November 26, 2021, President Biden signed a new proclamation suspending indefinitely the entry into the U.S. as nonimmigrants of noncitizens who pose a risk of transmitting the coronavirus disease. Except for immediate family members of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents and others excluded in section 2, this proclamation suspends the entry into the United States, as nonimmigrants, of noncitizens who were physically present within Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States. The proclamation was effective at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on Monday, November 29, 2021 except for any aircraft that already departed prior to this effective time.
At this time we are not aware of any national interest exemptions that may apply to F-1/J-1 students or scholars coming from these countries. As soon as we learn more about this, we will communicate with you immediately. In the interim, we encourage you to monitor news coverage of the latest Omicron coronavirus variant and how it is affecting international travel, particularly as the winter break fast approaches, and we prepare for the Spring 2022 semester.