With all of the risks of COVID-19, the United States enacted multiple travel bans in hopes of limiting infections and preventing mutated strains from entering the country. Many international students here at Milligan have been greatly impacted by these travel restrictions, but they have something to look forward to as President Biden recently announced that those restrictions will be lessening in November.
When the ban was first put into place, many students were unsure where they stood.
“Coming back from the Christmas break was stressful because there was no mention of international students in the exemption of the ban,” said Lauren Davies, a junior from Dublin, Ireland. “It was a waiting game and a big relief once we heard the news that we could travel back.”
Even once students were allowed to travel to the U.S for school, the inconveniences continued. Brandon Hammond, a senior from England, had to overcome the obstacles of these travel restrictions several times.
“It’s made travelling a lot more stressful and the whole process of getting to America has been more difficult each time,” he said. “Also, it has cost a lot of money as I’ve had to get COVID tests every time I travel which in England costs about $130 per test.”
England isn’t the only place where COVID-19 testing made travelling difficult..
“I was able to travel back home last December, but I had to cut my trip short because the mandate for a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of boarding to enter the United States was starting and Brazil didn’t have tests that would for sure give a result within that time frame.” said Caroline Nascimento, a senior from Brazil.
With the U.S. opening up to more travel later this year, there are many things to look forward to. While many of the students could eventually travel, their friends and family typically were unable to unless they had dual citizenship.
This was a problem for Nathan Baker, a graduate student from Northeast England whose family was unable to come to his graduation last spring.
“My parents were planning on coming to the United States for my graduation, but due to travel restrictions they couldn’t enter the country so they had to watch online on the livestream,” he said.
Thankfully, Baker’s friends and family may be able to come to his graduation in May 2022 for his MBA.
While international students have faced plenty of hardships throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the future is looking brighter as the travel restrictions are set to change in November.