members unless they qualify in their own right. However, qualifying American Indians residing in the United States are considered to be lawfully admitted for U.S. permanent residence and therefore may file a petition for their spouse and dependent children, subject to statutory numerical limitations and a potential backlog of applications. Summary of visa exemptions Restricted entry or visa issuance COVID-19 pandemic To travel to the United States by air from November 8, 2021, or by land from January 22, 2022, nonimmigrant foreign nationals age 18 years or older must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19, with exceptions for crew members, military, government officials, medical contraindications, humanitarian, emergency or national interest cases, and nationals of countries with limited availability of COVID-19 vaccines not traveling for tourism or business. For this purpose, a person is considered fully vaccinated two weeks after taking a single-dose vaccine authorized by the FDA or WHO, the second dose of two-dose vaccines authorized by the FDA or WHO (the two doses may be of the same or different vaccines), or the full series of a vaccine in certain clinical trials. From December 1, 2022, the vaccination requirement no longer applies for travel to American Samoa. In addition, from January 5, 2023, people age 2 years or older traveling to the United States on direct flights from China (including Hong Kong and Macau), or from Seoul–Incheon, Toronto–Pearson or Vancouver airports after being in China (including Hong Kong and Macau) in the previous 10 days, regardless of nationality or vaccination, must present a negative test result for SARS-Cov-2 taken within 2 days before departure, or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 within 90 days before departure. Sanctions The United States has suspended the issuance of certain types of visas for certain people from certain countries as sanctions for their lack of cooperation in accepting the return of their nationals deported from the United States. As of 2023, these sanctions apply to nationals of Eritrea and to certain government officials and their family members of Cambodia, China (also under separate sanctions), Laos, Myanmar, Pakistan and Sierra Leone. The United States has also suspended the issuance of visas in Cuba and Venezuela due to the ordered departure of U.S. government personnel, but nationals of these countries may still apply for visas at U.S. embassies or consulates in other countries. Outlying islands Visits to the United States Minor Outlying IslandsBaker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis