Potential lifting of EU travel ban brings hope to Arizona man whose fiancée is in France

Name: Europe travel ban could be lifted, bringing hope for Arizona man with French fiancée
Uploaded: 2021-04-29T04:40:52-07:00
Description: FOX 10's Stephanie Olmo reports.

Europe travel ban could be lifted, bringing hope for Arizona man with French fiancée

 FOX 10's Stephanie Olmo reports.

PHOENIX - Travel to Europe has been on hold for the last year due to COVID-19, but that could soon be changing.

The European Union may soon lift its travel ban and allow vaccinated Americans into its member nations.

News of the potential unbanning comes as a big relief for a Valley man whose fiancée lives in France.

Billy Carson and his French fiancée, Charlie, got engaged in 2019, and they thought they would be happily married by now.

The COVID-19 pandemic, however, changed all that.

"It's really scary thinking about it every night and be like, 'Well, does this still work? Does this still go on?" Carson said.

In December 2020, Carson got an exemption that allowed him to travel to France. Prior to that, the couple had not physically seen each other for months.

"That was the longest we’ve been apart," said Carson. "We usually spend three, four months at most without seeing each other."

Carson was left with many questions.

"Was there any news on the travel ban? Is there any news on this? Is there any chance that I'm going to see my fiancée, who would have been my wife by now? Is there any chance that she'll finally be able to come over here, and we can take our life off pause?" Carson said.

Carson said what kept their relationship strong through these trying times was communication.

"We're talking on FaceTime with each other, whenever we could," said Carson. "Whenever we had problems, we would talk to each other. We would try to watch movies together. Just ways to constantly be keeping each other in each other's lives."

Many other couples have had their relationships tested this past year as well, and the idea that fully vaccinated travellers can again visit Europe during summer 2021 is giving hope to many.

"if there’s a way to start easing the travel restrictions and letting couples reunite, I think that's fantastic because I was able to do that thanks to the French government in December," said Carson. "It's a lot. It's been over a year. It's getting closer to a year and a half they have not been able to be with their significant others."

Tune in to FOX 10 Phoenix for the latest news:

Get the latest coronavirus news by downloading the FOX 10 News App. Our promise is that our alerts are there to inform you - not scare you.

Sign up for FOX 10 email alerts, newsletters