Category: China

Negative COVID-19 test required for travelers from China effective January 5, 2023

1/2/2023

Effective January 5, 2023:

According to the CDC announcement, travelers from China, Hong Kong, and Macau to the United States must present a negative PCR or rapid antigen test administered by a healthcare provider no more than 2 days before departure. The requirement applies to air travelers 2 years of age or older regardless of nationality or vaccination status. The requirement also applies to passengers traveling through Incheon International Airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport, and Vancouver International Airport on their way to the United States if they have been in China, Hong Kong, or Macau within the past 10 days, as well as to passengers who are merely transiting through the United States en route to another destination.

Passengers who tested positive more than 10 days before the flight can provide documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in lieu of a negative test result. Airlines will be required to confirm the negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery for all passengers before they board or deny boarding to the passenger.

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/none/china

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DHS is considering new requirements for F1 Foreign Students

7/10/2017

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DHS is considering a new rule that would require foreign F1 students to reapply for permission to stay in the United States every year, which would create new unnecessary costs and paperwork for thousands of visa holders, international students, who are paying full tuition (which in turn is used to fund scholarships for American students).

The plan is in the preliminary stages and could take a minimum of 18 months. The plan may also require agreement from the State Department, which issues visas. The officials say the proposal seeks to enhance national security by more closely monitoring the students.
The discussions are emerging at a time when foreign student enrollment has reached a historic high in the United States and is injecting billions of dollars into the economy.
The changes could lead to fewer foreign students coming to the United States and greater administrative costs for the schools to keep their students’ paperwork up to date, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The most recent stats, as of May 2017, Asian students accounted for 77 percent of international students this year, according to a recent ICE report. China has 362,368 students in the United States this year, the most of any country, according to ICE. India, which has one of the fastest-growing populations of citizens on student visas in the United States, has 206,698.

Read here.

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DHS and the IRS are investigating Chinese "birth tourism" and agencies bringing Chinese mothers to the USA.

5/14/2015

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As reported by Bloomberg Business News, birth tourism from China to the US is booming. Although it’s not illegal to travel to the U.S. to give birth, it’s illegal to lie about the purpose of a visit when interviewed by American Consul or by immigration or customs officers at the US airport—or coach someone to do so.

If a woman says she’s traveling to the U.S. to give birth, the consular and customs officers may request proof that she can pay for her hospital stay. (The same would be asked of anybody seeking medical treatment in the U.S.)

Department of Homeland Security and the IRS have been investigating the growing business of “birth tourism,” which operates in a legal gray area, since last June. The industry is totally unregulated and mostly hidden.

No one knows the exact number of Chinese birth tourists or services catering to them. Online ads and accounts in the Chinese-language press suggest there could be hundreds, maybe thousands, of operators. A California association of these services called All American Mother Service Management Center claims 20,000 women from China gave birth in the U.S. in 2012 and about the same number in 2013. These figures are often cited by Chinese state media, but the center didn’t reply to a request for comment. The Center for Immigration Studies, an American organization that advocates limiting the scope of the 14th Amendment, estimates there could have been as many as 36,000 birth tourists from around the world in 2012. Estimated fees paid by Chinese birth tourists to the agencies catering to them are around USD30,000 to USD60,000.

Department of Homeland Security declined to discuss the investigation because it is ongoing, but the agent in charge said: “Visa fraud is a huge vulnerability for the country. These women allegedly lied to come have a baby. Other people could come to do something bad. We have to maintain the integrity of the system.”

Read the story here.

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Negative COVID-19 test required for travelers from China effective January 5, 2023

DHS is considering new requirements for F1 Foreign Students

DHS and the IRS are investigating Chinese "birth tourism" and agencies bringing Chinese mothers to the USA.

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