Postpone your US visa interview if you have been to China recently

As per a Proclamation issued by the White House on January 31, 2020, in view of the Coronavirus outbreak, the US finds the “unrestricted entry” of certain specific people into the US to be “detrimental to the interests of the United States”. Keeping this in view, the present Proclamation has been passed so that their entry into the US be subjected to “certain restrictions, limitations, and exceptions”.

The Proclamation under discussion has the official name of Proclamation on Suspension of Entry as Immigrants and Nonimmigrants of Persons who Pose a Risk of Transmitting 2019 Novel Coronavirus.

The Proclamation is to be effective from EST 1700 hours on February 2, 2020.

As per Section 1: Suspension and Limitation on Entry, the entry into the US of nonimmigrants and immigrants that were physically present within the People’s Republic of China – excluding Macau and Hong Kong that come under the Special Administrative Region – in the 14-days period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the US is suspended and limited.

According to the Proclamation, during the Fiscal Year 2019, more than 14,000 travelled to the US from China, via direct and indirect flights. In view of the inability to effectively monitor and evaluate all those arriving from China as well as the potential for the infected individuals arriving in the US from China causing widespread transmission of the virus, the US has decided to take action.

All appropriate and required measures are to be taken by the US for facilitating orderly medical screening. Quarantine, or the time period that a person is kept in isolation to prevent transmission, will be imposed wherever found to be required.

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], the US’s leading service organization protecting public health, is closely monitoring the developments.

A respiratory illness, the Coronavirus outbreak is caused by a new, also called ‘novel’, Coronavirus named “2019-nCoV”. First detected in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province of China in December 2019, there have been many reported cases of person-to-person spread of the virus outside China as well.

The US had the first confirmed case of person-to-person transmission of the Coronavirus on January 30, 2020. The Proclamation was issued the very next day.

It was on January 30 that the World Health Organization [WHO], taking view of the gravity of the situation, declared the Coronavirus outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern” [PHEIC].

As of now, around 114 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV have been reported from 22 countries other than China.

IMPORTANT

If you have –

• Resided in China, OR
• Traveled to China recently, OR
• Have the intention of traveling to China

before your upcoming planned trip to the US, it is recommended that you postpone the visa interview appointment until 14 days after your date of departure from China.

As per the CDC, the incubation period of the Coronavirus ranges from 2 to 14 days.

As the situation is evolving, it is advisable to stay updated about the CDC’s travel health notices with regard to the Coronavirus outbreak.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate Overseas, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No. 1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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