Recent travel experience during Corona Virus

[UserDrmr]

Hi,

Can you anyone who has traveled on F1 OPT and entered the USA share their experience at port of entry? 

I am traveling back to the US from India and would like to know what the current situation of entry is? Like was anyone denied just because you are traveling from India?

Thanks in advance!

[newacct]

There are currently no restrictions on people who've been to India. There are only restrictions on people who've been to Mainland China, Iran, the Schengen Area, and (starting Mar 17) the UK and Ireland within the last 14 days. This also means that if you are traveling from India to the US, you do not want to transit through the Schengen Area or UK/Ireland.

[gc_c_ker]

Hi,

Seeking help on behalf of a person I know;

Initially, he had a ticket to travel via the Netherlands to the USA but due to Travel restrictions, he rebooked ticket from Chennai to Abu Dhabi to Chicago. Rebooked confirmation date March 14th, 2020.

March 21st he boarded the flight in Chennai and in Abu Dhabi he was denied boarding flight to Chicago. No proper reason was given. He does have Valid H1B and Visa. Any insight on this or anyone with a similar situation?

[User099]

On 3/22/2020 at 3:46 PM, gc_c_ker said:

Hi,

Seeking help on behalf of a person I know;

Initially, he had a ticket to travel via the Netherlands to the USA but due to Travel restrictions, he rebooked ticket from Chennai to Abu Dhabi to Chicago. Rebooked confirmation date March 14th, 2020.

March 21st he boarded the flight in Chennai and in Abu Dhabi he was denied boarding flight to Chicago. No proper reason was given. He does have Valid H1B and Visa. Any insight on this or anyone with a similar situation?

Was this only for your friend or others who were not US citizens also stopped from boarding the flight? Looks like they are implementing something which is not official. 

[Gautham_B]

I have the similar issue, on March 21st, Emirates has stopped me baording the flight to Chicago from Hyderabad and said CBP issue and i need to contact US Embassy in india to clear the CBP denial before taking the next flight to USA. Not sure when will the US embassy functions fully in India. and Yes my onward journey form USA to India was thru Amsterdam in the month of February.

Does any one know whats CBP issue?

Edited April 1, 2020 by Gautham_B

[gc_c_ker]

On 3/24/2020 at 12:40 PM, User099 said:

Was this only for your friend or others who were not US citizens also stopped from boarding the flight? Looks like they are implementing something which is not official. 

My friend was not allowed to board and they immediately provided assistance to book flight back to india. There were other Non-USA citizens too who were allowed to enter preclearance but most of them returned with their visa denied and where sent back to India. 

For my friend, no reason was given just told him as they got instructions to deny boarding USA flight. He has no prior illegal travel history or other issues.

[gc_c_ker]

On 4/1/2020 at 11:45 AM, Gautham_B said:

I have the similar issue, on March 21st, Emirates has stopped me baording the flight to Chicago from Hyderabad and said CBP issue and i need to contact US Embassy in india to clear the CBP denial before taking the next flight to USA. Not sure when will the US embassy functions fully in India. and Yes my onward journey form USA to India was thru Amsterdam in the month of February.

Does any one know whats CBP issue?

For my friend, they didn’t mention anything as CBP issue, if i have any questions, asked me to contact embassy . Please let me know if you find any answer for this situation. 
will be very helpful. Thank you! 

Edited April 23, 2020 by gc_c_ker
Change of text

[kora123]

On 3/24/2020 at 11:10 PM, User099 said:

Was this only for your friend or others who were not US citizens also stopped from boarding the flight? Looks like they are implementing something which is not official. 

Does this mean they had some information about Executive Order and Unofficial implementation was already in place?

[kora123]

On 4/23/2020 at 7:13 PM, gc_c_ker said:

For my friend, they didn’t mention anything as CBP issue, if i have any questions, asked me to contact embassy . Please let me know if you find any answer for this situation. 
will be very helpful. Thank you! 

Did they stop all Indians(H1Bs) ?

[gc_c_ker]

On 4/26/2020 at 12:02 AM, kora123 said:

Did they stop all Indians(H1Bs) 

Not sure if all were H1-B, but a few who are , their H1B visa denied and no reason was given.  So my question is before boarding the flight again this time, he has to clear things up in embassy even though his visa js still good? He also emailed to CBP/DHS as instructed and still waiting for reply. 

Edited May 11, 2020 by gc_c_ker

[gc_c_ker]

On 3/22/2020 at 2:46 PM, gc_c_ker said:

Hi,

Seeking help on behalf of a person I know;

Initially, he had a ticket to travel via the Netherlands to the USA but due to Travel restrictions, he rebooked ticket from Chennai to Abu Dhabi to Chicago. Rebooked confirmation date March 14th, 2020.

March 21st he boarded the flight in Chennai and in Abu Dhabi he was denied boarding flight to Chicago. No proper reason was given. He does have Valid H1B and Visa. Any insight on this or anyone with a similar situation?

Sharing this information if it will be helpful to anyone - As soon as he submitted the Dhs trip request he received  Redress control number(save this number). 
He got reply from DHS to submit Form 591 and 590(if you want to authorize anyone on your behalf submit this form) along with his identification documents. 

After a week received  final determination letter Saying there might be many reasons which caused this but nothing directly related to him and asked to link the redress control number while booking the ticket.  

Here is the important part when he booked his ticket he entered Redress control number, link this number to your itinerary for ensured safe travels.  He also carried hard copy of the DHS final determination Just in case for any further reference. 

Thats all, if there no wrong from your end all you need is wait for final determination letter from DHS and link your ticket to Redress control number.