Covid-19 Travel and Immigration Updates
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22 SEPTEMBER 2020 | 11:00 AM BST COVID-19 TRAVEL AND IMMIGRATION UPDATES CONTENTS DOCUMENT SUBTITLE For ease of use, please click on any of the countries listed below to jump to the related content. Change Log 10 European Union 11 Albania 12 Algeria 13 Angola 13 Antigua and Barbuda 13 Argentina 14 Armenia 15 Aruba 15 Australia 16 Austria 18 Azerbaijan 19 Bahamas 20 Bahrain 20 Bangladesh 21 Barbados 21 Belgium 23 Belize 26 Bermuda 26 Bolivia 27 Bosnia & Herzegovina 27 Botswana 28 Brazil 28 2 COVID-19 Travel & Immigration Updates | 22 September 2020 © 2020 Newland Chase | A CIBT company Brunei 29 Bulgaria DOCUMENT SUBTITLE30 Burkina Faso 31 Burundi 31 Cambodia 31 Cameroon 32 Canada 32 Cape Verde 36 Central African Republic 36 Chad 36 Chile 36 China 37 Colombia 42 Congo-Brazaville 43 Costa Rica 43 Côte d’Ivoire 46 Croatia 46 Cuba 46 Curacao 47 Cyprus 47 Czech Republic 49 Democratic Republic of Congo 51 Denmark 51 Djibouti 54 Dominica 54 Dominican Republic 54 Ecuador 55 3 COVID-19 Travel & Immigration Updates | 22 September 2020 © 2020 Newland Chase | A CIBT company Egypt 55 El Salvador DOCUMENT SUBTITLE56 Equatorial Guinea 56 Estonia 56 Ethiopia 57 Fiji 57 Finland 58 France 60 Gabon 63 Gambia 63 Georgia 63 Germany 64 Ghana 66 Greece 66 Guatemala 68 Guyana 69 Honduras 69 Hong Kong 70 Hungary 71 Iceland 73 India 75 Indonesia 77 Iraq 80 Ireland 80 Israel 83 Italy 84 Jamaica 86 4 COVID-19 Travel & Immigration Updates | 22 September 2020 © 2020 Newland Chase | A CIBT company Japan 87 Jordan DOCUMENT SUBTITLE91 Kazakhstan 91 Kenya 92 Kyrgyzstan 93 Kuwait 94 Laos 95 Latvia 95 Lebanon 96 Liberia 96 Lithuania 96 Luxembourg 97 Macau 98 Madagascar 98 Malawi 99 Malaysia 99 Maldives 103 Mali 103 Malta 104 Mauritania 105 Mauritius 106 Mexico 106 Moldova 107 Mongolia 107 Montenegro 107 Morocco 108 Mozambique 109 5 COVID-19 Travel & Immigration Updates | 22 September 2020 © 2020 Newland Chase | A CIBT company Myanmar 110 Namibia DOCUMENT SUBTITLE110 Nepal 111 Netherlands 111 New Zealand 115 Niger 119 Nigeria 120 North Macedonia 121 Norway 121 Oman 123 Pakistan 123 Panama 124 Papua New Guinea 125 Paraguay 125 Peru 125 Philippines 126 Poland 130 Portugal 132 Qatar 133 Romania 135 Russia 136 Rwanda 140 Saint Lucia 140 Saudi Arabia 140 Senegal 141 Serbia 141 Seychelles 141 6 COVID-19 Travel & Immigration Updates | 22 September 2020 © 2020 Newland Chase | A CIBT company Sierra Leone 142 Singapore DOCUMENT SUBTITLE142 Slovakia 150 Slovenia 151 Solomon Islands 153 Somalia 153 South Africa 154 South Korea 156 Spain 160 Sri Lanka 162 Sudan 162 Suriname 162 Sweden 163 Switzerland 164 Taiwan 168 Tajikistan 170 Tanzania 170 Thailand 171 Togo 173 Trinidad and Tobago 173 Tunisia 174 Turkey 175 Uganda 175 Ukraine 176 United Arab Emirates 177 United Kingdom 179 United States 183 7 COVID-19 Travel & Immigration Updates | 22 September 2020 © 2020 Newland Chase | A CIBT company Uruguay 191 Uzbekistan DOCUMENT SUBTITLE191 Venezuela 192 Vietnam 192 Zambia 195 Zimbabwe 195 How can we help? 196 8 COVID-19 Travel & Immigration Updates | 22 September 2020 © 2020 Newland Chase | A CIBT company Introduction DOCUMENT SUBTITLE COVID-19: TRAVEL AND IMMIGRATION DISRUPTION [UPDATED 22 SEPTEMBER 2020] It is an unprecedented time. As a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, many countries have implemented restrictions on entry and exit, visa and work permit issuance, closed borders, tightened quarantine rules and taken other measures in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19. These restrictions may affect international business travel and assignment plans. Some countries have also introduced immigration concessions to facilitate applications; for example, moving to online applications, accepting soft copies of documents, granting automatic extension approval and more. However, these concessions must be reviewed country by country as the requirement to make a notification or other applications is often still in place. CIBTvisas and Newland Chase are here to help you. This comprehensive guide gathers together the knowledge and data we have on entry restrictions, immigration restrictions (office closures, visa suspensions, etc.) and immigration concessions, worldwide. We also invite you to attend or to download and listen to our webinars, which address changes both globally, regionally and country by country. We are glad to offer you follow up white papers, discussion guides and FAQ sheets to support you with the conversations you need to have with your colleagues, employees and clients. We can do more, too. Contact us today for a free 30-minute consultation on your specific needs and requirements. We are glad to help. Disclaimer We have aggregated information about some immigration-related restrictions imposed by some countries in response to this situation. The information contained in this document has been abridged from laws and administrative rulings and should not be construed or relied upon as legal advice. 9 COVID-19 Travel & Immigration Updates | 22 September 2020 © 2020 Newland Chase | A CIBT company CHANGE LOG DOCUMENT SUBTITLE • 22 September 2020: Argentina, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Israel, Lithuania, New Zealand, Spain, Uzbekistan. • 21 September 2020: Canada, Finland, Greece, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United States. • 18 September 2020: Argentina, Colombia, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Norway, South Africa, Vietnam. • 17 September 2020: Aruba, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Netherlands, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom, Vietnam. • 16 September 2020: Hungary, India, Ireland, Malaysia, Mauritania, Netherlands, Poland. • 15 September 2020: Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Israel, Kenya, Kuwait, Lithuania, Slovakia, Vietnam. • 14 September 2020: Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Georgia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia. • 11 September 2020: Belgium, Brunei, Finland, India, Japan, Latvia, Malaysia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Switzerland, Uganda. • 10 September 2020: Angola, Belgium, China, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Malta, Norway, Panama, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States. • 9 September 2020: Demark, Italy, Netherlands. • 8 September 2020: China, Finland, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, New Zealand, Oman. • 7 September 2020: Bahrain, China, Estonia, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mozambique, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland. • 4 September 2020: Argentina, Australia, China, Czech Republic, Ireland, Latvia, Nigeria, Singapore, Ukraine. • 3 September 2020: Estonia, Germany, Jordan, Macau, Malaysia, Malta, Netherlands, Russia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Vietnam. • 2 September 2020: Belize, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, India, Japan, Laos, Malta, Philippines, Poland, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, United Kingdom. • 1 September 2020: Bahamas, Belgium, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Kuwait, Macau, Malaysia, Russia, Ukraine. • 31 August 2020: Argentina, Canada, Chile, El Salvador, Ghana, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, Peru. • 28 August 2020: China, Costa Rica, Estonia, Japan, Latvia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Ukraine. • 27 August 2020: Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Fiji, Germany, Hungary, India, Mongolia, Namibia, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay. • 26 August 2020: Belgium, Bolivia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Taiwan, Ukraine. • 25 August 2020: Cyprus, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland. • 24 August 2020: Belgium, China, France, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Panama, Portugal, Singapore, United States, Vietnam.. 10 COVID-19 Travel & Immigration Updates | 22 September 2020 © 2020 Newland Chase | A CIBT company EUROPEAN UNION DOCUMENT SUBTITLE • Effective 8 August, the European Council has removed Morocco from the list of countries for whose residents it recommends travel restrictions should be lifted by Schengen countries. • Effective 31 July, the European Council has removed Algeria from the list of countries for whose residents it recommends travel restrictions should be lifted by Schengen countries. • On 16 July, the European Council updated the list of countries for whose residents it recommends travel restrictions should be lifted by Schengen countries. Montenegro and Serbia have been removed from the list. • On 30 June, the European Council adopted a recommendation to Schengen member states (including prospective members Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania) and the four Schengen Associated States (Iceland, Lichtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) on the gradual lifting of the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel into the EU. Travel restrictions should be lifted for countries listed in the recommendation, with this list being reviewed and, as the case may be, updated every two weeks. o Based on the criteria and conditions set out in the latest recommendation, as from 1 July member states should start lifting the travel restrictions at the external borders for residents of the following third countries: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay (and China, subject to confirmation of reciprocity). o The Council recommendation is not a legally binding instrument. The authorities of the member states remain responsible for implementing the content of the recommendation. They may, in full transparency, lift only progressively travel restrictions towards countries listed. o A Member State should not decide to lift