Between the absence of European tourists and the inability of expatriates to make round trips, the closure of the American borders, as a health precaution, worries in view of the summer.
Concern is mounting among expats in the United States. Thousands of them are stranded today, separated from their families who cannot come to see them because of the restrictions still imposed by Washington while in Europe, vaccinated Americans are now welcome. The subject could be raised this weekend on the sidelines of the G7 in England .
If nothing changes, Céline, her husband and her son will perhaps take a radical decision, “we decided to leave the United States this summer and to relocate in France at the start of the school year, but it is not so simple that that “, she admits. Their 19-year-old daughter lives in France. Vaccinated for a long time, they could return but impossible to return to the United States where they built their life.
And this situation is complicated when it comes to renewing your visa, almost a year of waiting for an appointment at the embassy . “When we discovered that the first appointment at the American embassy to redo our visa was in February 2022, for more than a week I was in shock, I was in denial,” admits Céline.
The need of European tourists
Travel and tourism represent 8% of US GDP. Célia Belin, a researcher at the Brookings Institute in Washington, recently published an article to alert the authorities. The economic argument could be a tipping point, she said.