ESTA FAQs
Is an ESTA the same as a visa?
The answer is no. An ESTA is different from a visa in a number of aspects. An Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA), for example, allows individuals to travel to the United States without necessarily requesting for the traditional non-immigrant visitor visa. However, individuals travelling with the valid visas do not have to apply for an ESTA as a visa will serve the purpose for which it was issued. What this means is that an ESTA is not legally sufficient to serve as a visa in the United States. Travellers will need a visa where the United States law demands so.
Who is required to apply for an ESTA?
An ESTA is used to determine the eligibility of travellers to the USA under the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP). This means that individuals travelling to the United States by sea or air and do not have a visa must be authorised for entry into the US through an ESTA application. This includes non-ticketed infants and children. Each traveller is entitled to a separate ESTA application and fee. Also, third parties are authorised to complete an ESTA application on behalf of a VWP traveller.
For how long is an ESTA valid?
An ESTA is valid for two years from the authorisation date or to the expiration date of your passport. Once you have completed your ESTA application, the authorisation date of your ESTA is displayed on the Authorisation Approved screen. However, if revoked, the validity of your ESTA is terminated.
Note that your ESTA is fit for use throughout multiple trips during the two-year validity period. This means that it is not necessary to reapply for ESTA within this period. In case your ESTA expires while in the US, you still stand a chance to travel back to your country as its expiration does not affect your departure. However, it is essential to know that even though your ESTA remains valid for 2 years, this does not give travellers a leeway to stay in the US for that long. Your stay in the US as per the VWP requirements goes for at most 90 days. If you have intentions to stay longer than 90 days, then you might want to consider obtaining a visa from a Consulate or U.S Embassy.
Also note that a change in your passport details, such as country of citizenship, gender, or your name will result in the invalidation of your current ESTA. This means you will be required to apply for a new ESTA, which comes at a fee of 14 USD. Although DHS will not need a copy of your ESTA, it is essential to keep a copy of your application for record purposes.
What is a Visa Waiver Programme (VWP)?
VWP, an initiative managed by the Department of Home Security, is a program that allows individuals from specified countries to travel to the United States without obtaining a visa. Travellers under VWP are allowed to enter the USA for pleasure, business, or any non-work agenda for a period of at most 90 days.
What are the disadvantages of enrolling for the Visa Waiver Programme?
While VWP comes with various benefits to its participants, it is essential to consider conditions that regulate the programme to weigh your options. Some of these conditions include;
- If you are allowed to travel to the US via VWP, you may not be in a position to extend or change your non-immigrant status.
- A violation of your admissibility terms denies you the right to appeal or review of any removal action drawn from your ESTA application. This condition is only an exception if your application is for asylum.
- A rejected admission to the US denies the right to appeal a determination pertaining to your admissibility.
What are the participating countries for the Visa Waiver Programme?
Only individuals from the 39 participating countries are eligible to apply for an ESTA via the Visa Waiver Programme. The participating countries include the following;
- The United Kingdom
- Taiwan
- Switzerland
- Sweden
- Spain
- South Korea
- Slovenia
- Slovakia
- Singapore
- San Marino
- The Republic of Malta
- Portugal
- Poland
- Norway
- New Zealand
- Netherlands
- Monaco
- Luxembourg
- Lithuania
- Liechtenstein
- Latvia
- Japan
- Italy
- Ireland
- Iceland
- Hungary
- Greece
- Germany
- France
- Finland
- Estonia
- Denmark
- Czech Republic
- Chile
- Brunei
- Belgium
- Austria
- Australia
- Andorra
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Must I apply for ESTA when travelling to the United States under WVP?
To enhance security in the Visa Waiver Programme, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was mandated to implement an ESTA. This followed an amendment of Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Act of 2007. Basically, ESTA is an advanced security measure that enables the DHS to verify the eligibility of individuals travelling to the US under the VWP. With ESTA, the DHS can eliminate any possible threat to law enforcement or travel security posed by the programme.
Does an ESTA guarantee entry to the United States?
An approval of your ESTA application does not guarantee your entry into the United States. The application only validates your eligibility to travel to the US via the VWP programme. On arriving in the United States, travellers under VWP are inspected by the Customs and Border Protection Officer. The inspection involves a review of your documents to establish whether or not you are admissible to the United States under VWP based on certain travel laws. Individuals travelling via international flights must also undergo the regular proceedings of customs and immigration processing.
Is an ESTA application necessary when am transiting the United States en route to another country?
When you are travelling to a third country that is not the United States, you are considered to be a traveller on transit. In such cases, you are required to apply for an ESTA if your country of origin is in the list of participating parties of the Visa Waiver Programme. When filling out the ESTA application form, the traveller travelling to another country through the United States must declare that they are on transit. This declaration is also accompanied by an indication of your destination country.
Do I need to fill out Form I-94W if I already have an ESTA approval?
Before the implementation of the electronic system for travel authorisation, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) depended on Form I-94W to monitor the movement of non-citizens in and out of the United States. However, the establishment of ESTA enabled DHS to eliminate unnecessary paperwork such as the use of I-94W to validate to admit travellers under the VWP into the US. Today, individuals who have already received an ESTA approval will not get the I-94W departure coupon attached to their passports.
Are there passport requirements for travelling with an ESTA?
Yes, there are passport requirements necessary when travelling under the Visa Waiver Programme. Some of these requirements include;
- VWP passports issued before 26th October 2005 must have machine-readable zones on the biographic pages.
- VWP passports issued on or after 26th October 2005 must come with a digital photo.
- VWP passports issued on or after the 26th of October 2006 must be electronic. This means that they must have a digital chip that contains biometric information about the owner of each passport.
- Temporary and emergency passports from VWP countries must also be electronic, effective from 1st July 2009.
Every citizen travelling to the United States from the following VWP countries are obliged to present an electronic passport that contains a chip;
- Greece
- Hungary
- South Korea
- Estonia
- Slovakia
- Latvia
- The Republic of Malta
- Czech Republic
- Lithuania
Citizens from the rest of VWP countries are obliged to present machine-readable passports.
When should I get a visa to travel to the United States?
You will be required to obtain a visa to travel to the United States;
- If you are travelling for any other purpose other than business and short-term visits.
- If your travel visit is intended to exceed 90 days.
- If you intend to travel to the United States via a non-signatory air carrier. This refers to an air carrier that uses an airport for which it is not a signatory.
- If you know that the grounds of inadmissibility as stipulated in the Immigration and Nationality Act Section 212 (a) apply to your case. In this case, you will need to apply for a non-immigrant visa for your travel to the US.
When is the ideal time to make an ESTA application?
Although anyone can submit their applications any time prior to a travel to the US, Customs and Border Protection recommends travellers to make an ESTA application as they book a travel. This should particularly be done 72 hours before the travelling time.
What if a Visa Waiver Program applicant cannot be admitted?
There are regulations as to how individuals who are found to be inadmissible to the United States under WVP should be treated. For example, if you are determined to be inadmissible, your ESTA application is denied. You are then either returned to your home country, aboard the carrier through which you travelled to the United States, or taken back to a third country where you have a round-trip ticket.
Don’t the extra ESTA questions equate it to a visa?
There is, no. The legal prerequisites that come with the application of a visa are quite complex, and they cannot compare with the ESTA requirements. An application for a non-immigrant travel visa, for example, will require you to attend an interview at the U.S Embassy or Consulate. You will also be required to submit specified information, such as personal biometrics and additional biographic details. These are requirements that will not be stipulated when making an ESTA application.
How long does it take to complete the ESTA application process?
To complete the application process of an ESTA, you will spend an average span of 20 minutes. However, if you have all the necessary documents at hand, including a credit card and passport, you can spend as little as 10 minutes. It is also important to know that the processing times of your ESTA may be influenced by various factors, including technical issues linked to the CBP systems. Other issues such as payment processing and website problems may affect the ESTA processing time.
How long does the approval of an ESTA application take?
Since ESTA applications are processed and completed online, most of these applications are approved within the first minute of submission. However, the approval of some applications may be delayed by up to about 72 hours. Once your ESTA application has been approved, an approval notification will be sent to your email or web browser. This notification contains such details as ESTA expiration date, authorisation number, and any information used when submitting the application.
Do I need to apply for ESTA if I want to drive to the United States from Mexico or Canada?
Citizens of VWP countries do not need ESTA when travelling from Mexico or Canada to the United States by land. Here are important points to consider when travelling to the US by land;
- If you are entering the US through the land border for the first time, you will go through a manual entry process after filling out the I-94W form. This is particularly so if you do not have a valid ESTA.
- On the other hand, you will go through a manual entry process at the US land crossing border without necessarily filling out an I-94W form. This applies if you are entering the US via the land border for the first time with a valid ESTA.
- In the event you are re-entering the US via land border, then your entry process will be facilitated without having to fill in a new I-94W form. This is applicable if you already have a valid stamp on your passport or valid I-94W.
- Ferries travelling between Victoria, British Columbia and Vancouver and the State of Washington are considered to be a land border port. Therefore, citizens of VWP countries entering the United Sates via these ferries will not require an ESTA application.
Is there a specific software needed to submit an ESTA application?
As far as computer configurations in the submission of an ESTA application are concerned, here are the specified thresholds necessary;
- An internet browser. Most of the major browsers are supported for submission of ESTA applications.
- Such browsers should support 128-bit encryption.
- A reliable browser should accept cookies, up to date, and JavaScript enabled.
When should I renew my ESTA permit?
Upon expiration of your ESTA, it would be essential to have it renewed. However, there are certain circumstances that demand you to compulsorily renew your ESTA permit. Here are some of these mandatory cases;
- Renewal or the acquisition of a new passport. An ESTA permit is only valid under a single passport. If you obtain a new passport then you should also apply for renewal of your ESTA permit.
- Passport changes. If there are changes made on your passport then the renewal of your ESTA application is necessary. These include changes in your name, gender, and residence or country of citizenship.
- A change in the underlying circumstances of your responses to the ESTA application’s ‘YES/NO’ questions.
What data can I modify in my ESTA application?
Once you have completed and submitted your ESTA application, you are not allowed to make changes on your passport issuing country and passport number. However, you can modify information on either of the following areas;
- Telephone Number
- Email Address
- Your United States Address
- Carrier Information
- City Where You are Boarding
What should I do if my passport has expired?
Your passport is the identification document that validates your movement or stay in the United States as a foreigner. You must, therefore, ensure that your passport is valid for the period you intend to stay in the US. An ESTA, on the other hand, is the travel permit that determines your admissibility into the US, and your ESTA is linked to your passport. This means that an expiration in your passport results in the expiration of your ESTA permit. It is, therefore, essential to renew your ESTA once you renew your passport.