Sources have told the media that Canadian borders (land and air) will likely remain closed to non-essential travel for yet another month, extending the current measures through at least December 21, 2020.
Most foreign visitors are still banned from entering Canada and a 14-day quarantine requirement is imposed for those that do, including Canadian citizens.
When the Covid-19 crisis was in it’s infancy most governments have started a monumental effort to repatriate their citizens back home following border closures and cancellations by common carriers.
These repatriation flights aren’t usually free and some of the cost has to be covered by the passengers who sign a promissory note prior to the flight that they will reimburse the government at a determined cost – this is now causing big waves in Germany.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced in a televised address that England will undergo another one month nationwide lockdown from November 5th which will likely see all personal travel banned unless for essential/work purposes.
If approved the measures will be introduced at 00:01 GMT on Thursday 5 November and remain in place until Wednesday 2 December.
Coming Monday, November 2nd 2020 there will be another lockdown in Germany that’s in effect countrywide and will impact many parts of public life including the ability to stay at hotels.
Germany has seen a surge of Covid-19 cases in the last few weeks and the government on a federal and provincial level has started to float the possibility of another lockdown since then.
The Canadian border (land and air) will remain closed to non-essential travel for yet another month, extending the current measures through at least November 21, 2020.
Most foreign visitors are still not allowed to enter Canada and a 14-day quarantine requirement is imposed for those that do, including Canadian citizens.
More than half a year after Thailand started to lock down their borders to all international arrivals the country just saw the first group of Chinese Tourists arrive in Bangkok under the STV Special Tourist Visa scheme.
There is ongoing controversy about Thailand STV Visa program which undergoes constant amendments and still faces backlash among the local population if foreign tourists should be allowed to enter the country at all.
South Africa’s government has already opened the country to tourism again since October 1, 2020 and based on recent health situation updates the list of eligible countries has been updated yesterday.
As as October 19, 2020 there are only 22 countries on the red list who can’t enter South Africa but all remaining ones are clear to go if a visit to ZA is desired.
The first leisure air travel bubble between countries might be established between Hong Kong and Singapore as the two governments agreed today to initiate this option in the near future.
The Hong Kong Bubble would be applicable to the population without exception for purpose of visit or type of applicant and those seeking to travel would likely be tested prior to departure.
The Government of Canada has updated their entry requirements for foreigners in times of Covid-19 and implemented what the Prime Minister called a more compassionate approach especially for those who have been separated from family members for a longer period.
This also includes those individuals who are “in a committed relationship for at least a year” with a Canadian citizen or permanent resident (a notarized declaration has to be provided).
Today South Africa has reopened to select international visitors again following an announcement by the government two weeks ago that the country will open up to tourism as per October 1, 2020.
This came despite voices earlier in spring that it would take at least until 2021 for the country to open up again but South Africa has been suffering from the loss of all tourism revenue which is usually a substantial part of it’s GDP and there was lots of pressure to start opening the country up again.
The government of the Maldives has announced that it will roll out a loyalty program of sorts that will reward travelers for the frequency of traveling to the island nation.
While there have been no details about the actual benefits revealed yet the website says there will be three levels of membership and the points are accumulated based on the number of arrivals.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is set to open a new pre-clearance facility at Brussels airport after a signing ceremony yesterday.
Following the model in Canada and the Caribbean there have been additional overseas pre-clearance facilities opened in Dublin as well as UAE’s Abu Dhabi airport where all passengers leaving for the U.S. will be processed and then arrive in the U.S. like domestic passengers.
The Thai Government has made their first permanent decision to introduce measures in opening up the countries tourism sector again with the cabinet approving special tourist visas that are valid for 90 days and extendable twice.
Interested parties who are currently abroad and wish to apply for this visa can now contact the relevant entity in Thailand to signal their intentions and kick off the application process.
Thailand had a very generous visa amnesty for foreigners in place that saw themselves unable to return to their home countries due to lack of flight options or deteriorating COVID situations back home.
This amnesty is now about to run out on Saturday, September 26th and in the last couple of days both Thai Immigration as well as the embassies in Bangkok have been telling foreigners it’s time to prepare for their departure or avail themselves to a visa extension if eligible.
