Parents plan to visit students in US as travel ban relaxed

Parents plan to visit students in US as travel ban relaxed

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai:22.09.2021

November may be over a month away but for Avnika Sarkar whose daughter left for Cornell University, preparations for what must be bought and packed started as early as Tuesday.

With the United States relaxing the travel ban in November for air travelers from 33 countries including China, India, Brazil and most of Europe who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, parents are planning their maiden trip to campuses where their wards have recently started classes. The frenzy to fly out to the USA is higher among parents of freshmen who have gone for their undergraduate education.

“My daughter completed her first year online from home. She flew out in February and is now in the second year. But as soon as the travel ban is lifted, we are leaving for the US to be with her,” said Sarkar.

The White House on Monday said it was easing the tough pandemic-related restrictions that started early last year.

While a precise start date for the new rules is not out, the White House stated that they would be eased from “early November”; many details of the new policy are still being decided.

“The US consulate must resume B1 and B2 visa applications so that parents who want to visit their children can do so. Many students would be graduating in December and parents will definitely not want to miss being a part of their convocation. The pandemic has been difficult and many parents were very uncomfortable sending their children out during this time but yet they did so. It is only fair that they now want to fly out and see how their children are doing,” said international education counsellor Karan Gupta.

“There are some parents whose visas have expired and they will be looking at making fresh applications. The consulate should start accepting fresh applications as well,” added Gupta.

Many students would graduate in December and parents wouldn’t want to miss attending their convocation, said said Karan Gupta, an education counsellor