Coronavirus and travel: Here are the places where Americans can still visit
A passport from the United States of America doesn’t open as many doors as it used to. In fact, it only opens 79.
American visitors are considered a risk not worth taking for much of Asia, Europe, and Oceania because of the pandemic.
The COVID-19 crisis in the U.S. dwarfs the global outbreak, with the U.S. notching the highest confirmed cases and mortality rate the world over. With those two somber distinctions, other countries are reluctant to welcome Americans, even when it means passing on the tourism dollars that Americans pump into foreign economies.
Despite the U.S. Department of State’s advisory first issued in March advising Americans against international travel, 60% of frequent flyers plan to return to the skies within the next six months. But they have limited options for destinations and some countries require visas in advance or negative COVID-19 results. Additionally, the invitation is only good for a three-month stay in most places.
Here is where Americans can go.
Albania
Antigua and Barbuda
Barbados
Belarus
Burkina Faso
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Comoros
Croatia
Cuba
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guayana
Haiti
India
Ireland
Jamaica
Jordan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan
Lebanon
Lesotho
Madagascar
Maldives
Mauritania
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Nicaragua
Nigeria
North Macedonia
Palau
Palestinian Territories
Philippines
Rwanda
St. Lucia
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leona
Singapore
Somalia
South Korea
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Zambia
Zimbabwe
The following welcome American visitors but aren’t recognized by the United Nations because they are sovereign territories overseas.
Aruba
Bermuda
French Polynesia
Puerto Rico
St. Barts
St. Maarten
Turks and Caicos
The travel bans due to COVID-19 have dragged the strength of the U.S. passport down to No. 20, below Moldova and above Malaysia, according to the Passport Index. In relation to the country’s North American neighbors, a passport from Canada ranks third and Mexico’s is No. 29. Japan and New Zealand are tied for No. 1.
The index ranks the 199 countries and territories recognized by the United Nations in terms of mobility, accessibility to other countries, and a metric on the country’s perception abroad.
Stephanie is a reporter for Yahoo Money and Cashay, a new personal finance website. She can be reached at stephanie.asymkos@yahoofinance.com. Follow her on Twitter @SJAsymkos.
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