The current situation of the world is certainly not looking the greatest. With the onset of the Omicron variant, it looks like we might be on for another long phase of the battle. It is true that international travel is currently on.

However, there are certain rules and regulations that everyone must follow according to the country they are visiting from as well as to.

The embargo of foreign regular commercial flights in India has been extended until January 31, 2022, according to India’s Director General of Civil Aviation. “In partial modification of circular dated 26-11-2021, the relevant authority has agreed to continue [India’s] suspension of Scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 hours of 31st January 2022,” according to the air transport body’s memo.

Non – contact self-declaration through the Air Suvidha Portal has been made necessary for the purpose of contact tracing by India’s Civil Aviation and Health Ministry as of December 7, 2021. Waiver forms from the Air Suvidha webpage are no longer available.

Here are the respective guidelines for each country mentioned. You should still go through the entire website of the concerned country you are visiting, to know more about the details.

Travel Guidelines for Students amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

 

Australia

Travel restrictions are currently in effect for anyone who has spent the previous 14 days in 

• South Africa
• Lesotho
• Eswatini
• Namibia
• Botswana
• Zimbabwe
• Mozambique
• Malawi

Australian citizens, permanent residents, or direct family members entering Australia who has spent the previous 14 days in any of these countries must undergo supervised quarantine for 14 days, in accordance with state and territory laws. This is true regardless of whether or not you have been vaccinated.

Other visitors who have visited these countries within the past 14 days are not authorized to enter Australia. This is true even if they have a travel exemption, a qualifying visa, or are entering under a safe travel zone arrangement.

Restrictions are subject to change at any time. All travelers should examine the rules of their destination state or territory, including quarantine and testing procedures.

Canada

Two conditions must be satisfied in order to enter Canada as a student:

1. You must have a current study permit or a letter of introduction proving that you have been granted for a study permit.

2. You must be enrolled in a designated learning institution (DLI) that has a COVID-19 preparedness plan that has been authorised by the province or territory.

Even if you are completely vaccinated, you must have a 14-day quarantine plan in place before entering Canada. The ultimate judgment on whether you qualify as a fully-vaccinated passenger will be made by the border services personnel.

U.S.A

The White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that beginning December 6, all international air passengers traveling to the United States will be needed to make a COVID-19 negative test within one day of their departing, irrespective of national origin or vaccination status. 

With winter break approaching, we highly advise you to keep an eye on the CDC’s foreign travel recommendations, since new travel limitations and requirements might emerge fast.

Germany

Several programs at German universities will resume classroom instruction in the winter semester of 2021/2022. Students must demonstrate that they have been vaccinated, healed, or came back negative to participate. 

Each city in Germany has a test center where you may get tested. Since mid-October, the tests have been subjected to a cost. Overseas students who have been vaccinated with a vaccine that has not yet been authorized by the EU are exempted. The Corona tests are still available for free for them until the end of 2021.

U.K

All visitors to the United Kingdom must:

• Conduct a coronavirus test (COVID-19 test) three days before your trip and acquire a negative result.

• Retain your original test results to present when you check in for your flight and at the UK border – this may be printed or an email or text message on your phone. If you’re going to use your phone, make sure it’s fully charged.

• Your test results must be in one of three languages: English, French, or Spanish. It is your obligation to guarantee that the test fulfils the UK Government’s requirements.

• Purchase and pay for a travel testing package. COVID-19 tests will be required on or before day two and on or after day eight of your quarantine in the UK. This is presently £210.

• Fill out the online passenger locator form 48 hours before you arrive in the UK with your travel and contact information.

• When you submit the passenger location form, you will receive an email confirmation with a document attached.

• At UK border control, present either a printed copy of the document or a downloaded copy of the document on your phone.

• Wear a facial covering and observe social distancing standards when arriving at an airport, port, or train station.

• Observe the national lockdown guidelines of the United Kingdom.

The excitement for living and studying overseas has waned significantly in recent months, owing to a variety of factors such as:

• The emerging COVID-19 variants
• Key travel constraints
• The continuing mass vaccination drives
• Prolonged visa postponements

These are for many of the world’s six million international university students, over one million of whom study in the United States. 

These obstacles have not only lowered excitement, but have also shifted student priorities, impacted family support, and influenced university choice selections.

As colleges ‘digitalized’ a large portion of their education in 2020, we observed firsthand how vital on-campus and the full-time college experience is for a comprehensive and residential college batch of youth, teachers, and establishments. 

A New Wake for Studying Overseas

As a result, Australia and Canada immediately enacted considerable measures to assist institutions that have lost overseas students due to the “pandemic effect,” while also enhancing demographic diversity. Nonetheless, several colleges are actively preventing students from studying abroad.

While the United States remains sanguine about the future appeal of the immigrant as well as domestic students, especially at highly particular and financially strong institutions that maintain an annual average of international enrollments of 20% or more, declining enrollments in 2020 has harmed small and more flimsy universities and communities.

Unfortunately, some of them have had to put a limit on their past, their heritage, and their mission. Meanwhile, in the UK, several private high schools are facing financial challenges with the recent drop in student numbers from China, France, and the US and some universities are sharing the cost of travel and ‘accommodation to avoid the risk of decreasing the income stream of “international schooling“.

However, one unintended consequence of the epidemic of foreign enrollment is that students are now applying to more universities than ever before. In the context of the Bologna Process, which strives to bring greater uniformity to higher education institutions throughout Europe.

There is expected to be a rise in applications to regional centers like the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Students that apply to colleges in their geographical areas have a shared

• History
• Culture
• Customs
• Beliefs
• Language
• Ability to pursue higher education at a lower cost

Science and knowledge are international components of human production in and of themselves. They serve as an intellectual portal through which curriculums in all disciplines might adopt an internationalized perspective. This enables educators:

• To identify common ground across institutions
• Regardless of nationality
• To include teachers, students, and staff equally.

This is perhaps a healthier and more successful means of keeping internationalization alive in these uncertain times of regional and national isolation; a way of ensuring institutions practice internationalization for all students, including those who stay at home and those who travel abroad.

Hopefully, the epidemic will shed light on innovative approaches to worldwide higher education. When tackling the accessibility of students, teachers, and staff to globalization, universities should shift from a transactional and credit-bearing paradigm to a relational and social model. 

They must be able to coordinate not just resources, energy, and efforts, but also ideas and concepts to consolidate transcultural knowledge, human immersion, and long-term experiences abroad.