As a result of the global rapid rate of spread of the latest COVID-19 variant, Omicron, new federal vaccination requirements for inbound U.S. travel by land and ferry were announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on January 20, 2022. Crucially, this announcement and a pair of Federal Register notices (87 FR 3429, 87 FR 3425) published on January 24, 2022, together entail a policy change that negates an exemption from providing proof of full vaccination that was previously granted to nonimmigrant student visa holders traveling through the Canadian and Mexican borders as an "essential travel" exception.
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