New Countries Added to NIE List: China, South Africa, Brazil, Iran and India

Updated May 6th 2021

Dear Stanford International Community,

The U.S. Department of State announced this morning (April 27, 2021) that the National Interest Exception (NIE) will be expanded to include F-1 students and J-1 Students and Scholars from South Africa, Iran, Brazil, China and India (India was announced on April 30th, 2021). These countries are added to the list which already includes the Schengen zone countries, the UK and Ireland.
F-1 Students and J-1 Students and Scholars from these newly-listed countries, whose programs begin after August 1, 2021, will now qualify to enter the U.S. without the 14-day quarantine period in another country prior to entering the U.S.

For students and scholars from South Africa, Brazil, Iran, China and India:
1.  F-1 students whose programs begin after August 1, 2021 will no longer need to quarantine in another country for 14 days before entering the U.S. from any country that currently has a COVID travel ban in place. F-1 students do not need to contact an embassy or consulate for the NIE as they will qualify automatically.
2. J-1 Exchange Visitors (J Scholars and Students) will still need to contact their nearest U.S. Consulate or Embassy abroad to initiate an exception request. The exception granted to students and researchers will be valid for 30 days.

Both F-1 students and J-1 Students and Scholars may enter the United States no earlier than 30 days before the start date of their programs.

F-1 students and J-1 Students and Scholars who have valid visas and whose program start dates are before August 1, 2021 (i.e. current students) are still required to travel to a third country for 14 days prior to seeking entry to the U.S. However, the operational capacity of the individual consular posts continues to lead to differences between countries (i.e. China v. India v. Brazil), so please check with the consulate or embassy in your country for NIE guidelines.

For more discussion about the NIE, please read our announcement from August 12, 2020.

For more discussion about the NIE, please read our announcement from July 6, 2021.