Since March 20, 2020, the U.S., Mexican, and Canadian governments have collaborated in restricting non-essential travel across their shared land borders. These restrictions were subsequently extended multiple times, and on March 19, 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced another extension of these restrictions for Canada and Mexico. 

Per the most recent announcement, the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico land borders will continue to be closed to non-essential travel through April 21, 2021. The restriction expressly exempts air, freight rail, or sea travel (but not ferry services); however, some CBP officers continue to question the “essential” nature of travelers through pre-flight inspection stations in Canadian international airports. 

The published definition of “non-essential travel” remains unchanged and includes traffic for tourism or recreational purposes.  Travel for work and the movement of goods and services should continue to remain exempt from these restrictions as the travel would be considered essential travel and so the restrictions would not apply. However, in some cases, CBP appears to be evaluating whether individuals applying for admission (entry) to the United States for work purposes would be essential workers, and some officers are not allowing entry to those foreign nationals whom they consider to be non-essential workers.       

Foster will continue to monitor travel restrictions and other actions related to COVID-19 and will provide additional updates on the immigration-related impacts of COVID-19 via our firm’s website at www.fosterglobal.com.