U.S. will allow land entry again as soon as border crossings open on Nov. 8

The United States will reopen its land border to fully vaccinated travellers as soon as ports of entry open on Nov. 8, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced at a press briefing on Tuesday.

That means ports of entry open 24 hours will accept vaccinated travellers when the clock strikes midnight, while the others will accept travellers as soon as they open that day. 

The U.S. has kept its shared land border with Canada closed to non-essential travel since the start of the pandemic in March, 2020. But on Nov. 8, for the first time in 19 months, the U.S. is set to welcome back travellers by land and passenger ferry — as long as they're fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 

CBP confirmed travellers entering by land will not have to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test, but said they should be prepared to verbally attest to their vaccination status, and present their vaccination documentation upon request.

To be considered fully vaccinated, travellers must have all recommended doses of a COVID-19 vaccine authorized by U.S. regulators or the World Health Organization.

WHO-approved vaccines include Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca and its Indian-made counterpart, Covishield. The U.S. will also accept any combination of these vaccines, such as a mix of AstraZeneca and Moderna. 

Children under 18 years of age will be exempt from the vaccination requirement.

CBP says its border crossings will be staffed at pre-pandemic levels starting on Nov. 8, but warns there could be longer than normal wait times. 

"For travellers making the trip to the United States, we ask for patience with our officers," said Matthew Davies, the executive director, admissibility and passenger programs, with CBP. "To help reduce wait times and long lines, we encourage travellers to have the correct documentation ready." 

In March 2020, Canada and the United States agreed to close their shared land border to non-essential travel to help stop the spread of COVID-19. 

It was widely assumed that — when the time was right — the two countries would announce a joint reopening of the land border. 

But that didn't happen. 

Instead, Canada reopened its land border to fully vaccinated Americans on Aug. 9, 2021 while the U.S. remained silent on its border plans. That sparked anger and frustration among Canadians who wanted to cross into the U.S. by land, including those with family in U.S. border towns. 

Now that the land border is reopening, it has provided relief to many, including Canadian snowbirds who want to drive to the U.S. sunbelt for their winter stay.