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March 12th 2020, US banned immigration from people who has been in the Schengen area for the past 14 days.

Does this ban also apply for someone arriving from the Schengen area to Puerto Rico?

Kate Gregory
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JonathanReez
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  • Just curious - why would you think it does? – Xnero Jul 02 '20 at 17:24
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    @Daniil: I think the question is whether a person who has been in the Schengen Area can enter Puerto Rico – user102008 Jul 02 '20 at 17:25
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    @Daniil because Puerto Rico is partially under US immigration law – JonathanReez Jul 02 '20 at 17:29
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    Puerto Rico is under US immigration law. There's no such thing as a Puerto Rican visa or travel authorization. If you can enter the US then you can enter Puerto Rico, if you aren't allowed in the US then you can't enter Puerto Rico because doing so would constitute being in the US. – Robert Columbia Jul 02 '20 at 17:35
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    not sure why this got closed as a dupe. "Is Puerto Rico subject to the same immigration controls as the rest of the US" is not answered by the linked question. The answer might seem obvious if you already know the answer, but it's not hard to believe that someone might not know it. – mlc Jul 03 '20 at 01:31
  • I vote to reopen this as it is not a duplicate of the other question, as @mlc has commented – Midavalo Jul 03 '20 at 02:46
  • @gerrit I know, others have already told me – Xnero Jul 03 '20 at 08:44
  • Are they still banned? Because Schengen banned visitors from the US now... – user253751 Jul 03 '20 at 09:24
  • Also realistically to get to PR you’d surely come through the continental US. USA has no such thing as visa-free transit areas, which means you’re hitting immigration in NYC Miami etc. Then you re-check bags and re-clear security, and Miami-PR is a domestic flight. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Jul 03 '20 at 13:17
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    @Anyon yes, normally there are flights to San Juan from Madrid and Frankfurt (in addition to a number of non-US airports in Latin America and the Caribbean), but SJU is not one of the limited number of airports authorized to receive flights containing passengers who have been in the Schengen area while the current restrictions remain in effect. – mlc Jul 03 '20 at 20:13
  • @mlc that's right. I've been to Puerto Rico and the immigration counters there are ordinary USCIS checkpoints. If you fly from Germany to PR, once you pass passport control you are in the US immigration zone and can fly domestically to Miami, NYC, or Honolulu. You must still maintain your legal status but immigration officials in Miami won't subject you to another entrance interview. – Robert Columbia Jul 04 '20 at 11:37

1 Answers1

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Yes, the restrictions on entry to the United States for people who have been in the Schengen Area (or Mainland China, Iran, the UK, Ireland, or Brazil; see this question) also restrict entry to Puerto Rico, because Puerto Rico is part of the "United States" for immigration purposes.

INA 101(a)(38) (8 USC 1101(a)(38)) defines "United States" for the purposes of the Immigration and Nationality Act:

The term “United States”, except as otherwise specifically herein provided, when used in a geographical sense, means the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

user102008
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    Does it not apply to American Samoa (not included in your quote)? – gerrit Jul 03 '20 at 08:40
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    @gerrit I was surprised to see that too, and ended up doing a bit of reading about American Samoa on Wikipedia - indeed it does not include American Samoa as the status of AS is quite different to other territories – Midavalo Jul 03 '20 at 15:00
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    @gerrit: The situation with American Samoa is not so clear. American Samoa is outside the US immigration system, so that, e.g. birth in American Samoa doesn't confer US citizenship; US visas can't be used to enter American Samoa -- it has its own entry permits; you can't get a green card in American Samoa -- it has its own residence permits; etc. – user102008 Jul 03 '20 at 17:57
  • @gerrit: The proclamation says "entry into the United States", and the underlying legal authority, INA 212(f) says "entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States", so it should be bound by the definition of "United States" in the INA, which doesn't include American Samoa. – user102008 Jul 03 '20 at 17:59
  • @gerrit: I am not sure if anyone has tried to test this by going to American Samoa during this pandemic when they have been in one of the banned countries. I suspect that the American Samoan authorities probably have other means to deny entry if they have to. – user102008 Jul 03 '20 at 18:03
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    @gerrit Only American Samoa residents are permitted to travel there, but as far as I can tell all potentially-usable flights are currently suspended anyway. – mlc Jul 07 '20 at 19:57