In Travel News for September 21st, 2022 we talk about Canada, U.S. Passport Renewals, and Cuba.
Canada to Relax Entry Restrictions
While much of the world has dropped pandemic entry restrictions for travelers, a few countries are still holding on to these safety protocols. Our neighbor to the north, Canada, is one such country, but that might be about to change. It’s being reported that Canada plans on dropping the vaccine requirement for visitors starting September 30th. Along with this the ArriveCAN app, which is where visitors submit documentation about vaccination status to get approval to enter, will also be phased out. There is no official word yet from the government, and with the month almost over if this is true then I’d expect an announcement in the next few days.
U.S. Passport Renew to be Available Online
In December 2021 President Biden signed an executive order authorizing the State Department to create an online Passport Renewal system. Now, after three successful tests the United States Department of State has announced that starting in 2023 U.S. citizens will be able to renew their passports online. One of the goals of this new system is to decrease the time it takes for a passport to be renewed and the timing couldn’t be better. For the last year when a spike in renewal applications occur wait times have increased, sometimes to as long as 18 weeks.
U.S. Department of Transpiration Allows More Flights into Cuba
The United States Department of Transportation has issued approval for American Airlines and JetBlue Airways to add more routes from the U.S. to Havana, Cuba. Travel to Cuba is relatively new, travel from the U.S. to Cuba wasn’t allowed for about 50 years following the communist revolution. It wasn’t until President Obama that travel to Cuba was relaxed for U.S. citizens. His successor, President Trump rescinded the order that allowed travel, and now President Biden has re implemented the order from Obama administration again allowing travel to Cuba. Travel to Cuba still isn’t easy or straight forward, there are conditions that need to be met for a U.S. citizen to legally visit the island. For more information on traveling to Cuba give us or your Travel Advisor a call.