This is a departure from our usual Paris talk but as it seems to be big talk on the Continent I thought it would be useful for our European readers. As an American citizen I had no idea that travel from Europe to the US was still banned. It seems odd because there are so many flights to Europe, I never realized that they were flights full of American citizens (and green card holders).

Currently one loophole to this is flying to the US by way of Croatia, which entails spending 14 days in Croatia before being allowed to fly. Unfortunately that loophole seems to have come to an end. US Customs and Border is now stopping Europeans with valid US visas from boarding flights. They call this a system hiccup but it’s costing some people a lot of time and effort. For instance I met two Italians, one who tried to fly back to the US, she attempted it 4 times, and was denied each time. Another was attempting to board with his wife but his wife was denied so he stayed with her until they could leave together. Apparently this occurrence is becoming the norm and is forcing people to separate, to stay in Croatia longer than expected, and forcing them to try to get on multiple different flights. 

Until this hiccup is fixed I’ve learned of a few tips. One, make sure you are staying 14 nights. 14 days isn’t enough. Also ensure that you are getting your passport stamped and scanned. And lastly ensure you turn up early for your flight. If the system tries to bump you (which is what leads to you being kicked off), this will ensure that Boarder agents have enough time to do a check to ensure that it is just a system glitch. If you show up and they have no time, of course they are going to kick you off until they can properly verify.