Entry restrictions
Update: October 2008

The Congressional entry restriction had been lifted, but that a second entry restriction remained - contained in administrative law (regulations) published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

There have been two developments since then:

1. In the media it was mentioned a process announced by George W. Bush on World AIDS Day 2006 to extend the four categories under which an HIV entry waiver is easily available (business, medical treatment, conferences and visiting friends/family) to include a fifth streamlined category for pleasure travellers.

A year and ten months later, DHHS finally announced this process has been completed and HIV-positive tourists can now access the streamlined process by contacting the US Embassy in Australia.

2. It was also reported it was likely the DHHS would remove the second entry restriction contained in regulations listing HIV as an 'inadmissible condition'. This has been confirmed by the Director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr Julie L. Gerberding, in a letter to the Washington Post on Mon 6 Oct 2008. However, just as changing the waiver process took about 22 months, it will take some time for the rule change to be drafted, published for public comment, and finalised.

Update: August 2008

In August, an Act of Congress containing a provision lifting the HIV entry restriction was passed by Congress and signed into law by the president. The provision was inserted by Democrat Senator Barbara Lee into a bill authorising continued American international aid for HIV prevention (including abstinence education) and treatment programmes in developing countries. This was a fairly clever move on Lee's part because the President was hardly going to veto (block) an Act providing funding for a programme he initiated himself.

However it has since been discovered there is ANOTHER entry restriction, imposed by the US Department of Health and Human Services in administrative law, which has not been removed yet. There is reason to believe it may be removed soon, because the DHHS is also the home of the Centers for Disease Control, which has advocated strongly against the entry restriction, and also because the removal of the congressional entry restriction means the departmental restriction is no longer required by law.

Continue to take care if you are travelling to the States!
Special Waiver

The United States of America is one of the countries that prohibit HIV-positive foreigners to enter its borders. HIV-positive people must request a “special waiver” to be granted entrance to the US. This waiver, pictured above and referred to as “Waiver of 212(A)(1)”, is stamped into an HIV-positive person’s passport as a permanent record of his or her HIV status.

We believe that people living with HIV/AIDS have the right to full enjoyment of their human rights, including the right to privacy, confidentiality and protection from stigma and discrimination. Short-term travel policies of any country, in which disclosure of HIV status is required for prospective visitors, treat HIV-positive people seeking entry on short term visas differently on the basis of their HIV-positive status. These are not only discriminatory, but also contribute to fuelling national and international stigma against people living with HIV/AIDS.