On Monday, September 20th, the U.S. government announced the cancelation of the travel restrictions for foreign travelers in November, impacting FSS international students and their families. Passengers who were fully vaccinated do not need quarantine, but they should provide Covid-19 negative test results within three days before the flight.

Shirley Wang ’22, one of the international students from China, says, “This is my last year at FSS and I would love for my family to come to the U.S. to join me on my graduation day. I was worried about whether my family would be able to come to the U.S. before the travel ban was lifted, but now that the ban is canceled, it’s good news for me and my family. It means they can come to the U.S. to see me after November this year. We can be reunited”. 

The travel ban limited foreign travelers which created problems not only with reuniting families but also with international student enrollment.

Anita Bailey, Senior Gifts Officer, says, “The biggest impact the international travel ban has had on FSS is on our enrollment.  For our international families who were out of the country when the ban was in place, their Visas were often denied which made it impossible to attend FSS and they deferred enrollment for one year.”

On the other hand, Anita explains, “For our families who were planning to take on new jobs in another country and therefore not continue enrollment at FSS, they were unable to travel and therefore remained in the states and continued enrollment at FSS.” 

Cindy Liao ’23, another international student, says, “This year, my mother couldn’t come and stay with me due to the travel restrictions, and I had to stay with the host family. I missed my family even more because I took care of myself in the U.S. Then the restriction made it hard for international students to buy airplane tickets, and those tickets were generally more expensive than the previous ones.”