Can I Book Flight from INDIA to USA & Is COVID Test Required

The COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt, restricting flights between countries. Even with many airlines now resuming operations, there are certain guidelines that travellers must be aware of and follow. Every country has specific eligibility criteria and requirements for travellers. Whether you are looking for cheap flight tickets to India or travelling from the country to the US, you need to keep in mind the travel criteria to be able to have a hassle-free travel experience.

Mint Fares is here to make your travelling easier by providing all the necessary information related to travelling in the current situation. Before booking a flight to India from the USA, it is important to ensure that you meet the requirements and have all the necessary documents in your possession.

Airlines operating from India to USA:

Some of the airlines that are currently offering cheap flights to the USA from all the major cities of India include:

Air India
Emirates
Etihad
United Airlines
Lufthansa
Virgin Atlantic

All of these airlines have their respective criteria for allowing passengers to board the flight. These airlines also offer flights from USA to India to ease travel between the two countries. Some of these airlines may impose some additional restrictions for which visa holders they allow to board and the forms that the passenger requires to submit before boarding the flight.

Who is allowed to travel from India to USA:

A lot of travel restrictions to the USA have been uplifted and now valid visa holders are allowed to travel between the two countries. To be able to travel to USA from India, you need to fall into one of the following categories:

US citizens & green-card holders
Indian citizens who are valid visa holders
Legal permanent resident and foreign nationals with US Visa

Which visas are allowed?

The US is allowing almost all visa holders to enter the country if they can produce the required documents along with negative test reports for COVID-19.

Visa holders, including B1/B2, H4, H1, L1, F1 with three months of validity are allowed to fly from India to the USA. H1B, F1 study visa, and L1 work visa should have a validity of at least one month for a person to be eligible to fly from India to the USA.

Travel restrictions from India to USA

There are certain restrictions for people who are looking to travel to the USA for educational purposes. This is because a lot of educational institutions in the USA are not open currently or not accepting international students who joined the institution during the pandemic. The following conditions make a passenger ineligible for booking a flight from India to USA:

If the F or M category visa has a validity of 6 months or less from the date of departure
A student with an F1 visa who did not join any educational institution in USA before the outbreak of COVID-19

For continuing students, it is advisable to find out the operational status of your institution before booking tickets from India to the USA. You will require written proof of the institution being operational if you are travelling for this reason. This is because a lot of schools are currently functioning online and do not allow international students to return to the campus.

Country-wise travel restrictions

There are additional restrictions for travelling to the US if you have physically been to a few countries in the recent past. You are not eligible to travel to USA if you have travelled from any one of the following countries in the past 14 days-

Iran
China
European Schengen Area
Brazil
United Kingdom
Republic of Ireland

COVID-19 test requirement

Although only a few airlines required passengers to carry RT-PCR reports earlier, a majority of them did not require any such test. There have been specific changes owing to the escalating condition of the pandemic in India. The new update, which came into effect on 26 January 2021, requires all incoming passengers (ages 2 years and above) to provide results of a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of their travel to the USA. Travellers can also provide proof from a licensed doctor of having recovered from COVID-19 in the 90 days before travelling.

After arriving in the USA, travellers should get tested within three to five days and self-quarantine for seven days post-travel. People who do not get an on-arrival COVID test are required to quarantine indoors for ten days. Some states may impose an additional quarantine period. You should go through the guidelines issued by the specific state that you are travelling to in the USA to avoid any confusion.

Pre-registration requirement

A pre-registration would vary depending on the airline that you choose for your flights From India to USA. Most airlines require a health declaration form to be submitted for contact tracing. Some additional forms are required to be filled by passengers travelling to New York, California and Massachusetts.

Rely on Mint Fares for accurate travel information

Since it is difficult to keep track of the specific requirements and the guidelines that are constantly being updated from time to time, you can rely on Mint Fares to provide you with accurate and reliable information about the travel. You can have hassle-free India to USA flights by obtaining all the necessary information from Mint Fares.

Booking flight tickets from India to USA

Once you acquire all the information related to travelling, the next step is to find affordable tickets. You can book flights to USA from India at extremely low prices through Mint Fares. You can also use this platform to choose between several airlines that are operating between the two countries and choose one that is the most suitable for you.

Mint Fares also offers cheap flights from USA to India for people looking to travel back to India. These reparation flights are offered by various airlines, and you can choose the most affordable ones out of these by comparing these airlines.

*Note: These guidelines may have changed since the time of writing this article.