[Anonymous]

[Free Lance]

“International travelers who are seeking to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) are now subject to enhanced security requirements.

On August 1, 2008, the Department of Homeland Security began accepting voluntary registrations from qualified VWP travelers under the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). From January 12, 2009, ESTA becomes mandatory for all qualified VWP travelers entering the United States on or after that date with the exception of citizens of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and the Republic of Korea for whom ESTA is mandatory if entering the United States on or after November 17, 2008. ESTA applies only to those VWP travelers entering the United States by air or sea. Travelers entering by land either from Canada or Mexico are not required to register before traveling.

Travel Authorization is obtained through an online registration system known as ESTA. If your registration is successful, it will be valid for multiple applications for two years or until the date on which your passport expires, which ever comes first.”

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/cons_new/visa/niv/esta.html

I take it that if you already have a visa you don’t need to apply for this? And just out of interest, what happens if you apply for this AND you already have a visa?

If you are travelling from the UK as a tourist, and thus under the VWP, you need to complete the ESTA online registration, but I bet plenty of people don’t know this.

Are airlines warning people of this when they book tickets and, if not, what happens if they arrive at the airport and haven’t made the application online? Will the US be refusing entry to all these people or will they still provide them with a paper form to fill in?

And how does it work after you have made a successful application and are therefore “valid for multiple applications for two years”? Do you still have to apply everytime you make a trip to the US? Or does that mean you don’t.

I am confused. Can anyone offer clarification?

[dubtraveller]

All I know is that I when I did LHR-JFK this Sunday, I also had to fill in the usual green immigration card, which was processed in the normal way by immigration inside the airport. So maybe the online system isn’t quite ready yet?

[j.ph.fco]

you need the “onlne” application valid for 2 years. Every time you go to the US you must amend it with your new details (flight number, address in the US…). You’ll still need to fill the green form as usual. In the future the online application should replace the green form. It’s all well explained in the ESTA website.

[starflyer]

If you are in possession of a VALID US Visa you do not need to register as you are not travelling under the Visa Waiver Programme. All others from eligible countries travelling without a visa must have an ESTA registration. If you fail to do so you may not be allowed to travel.

All major airlines and travel agents have information on their web sites.

[LondonGuy]

Hey DChandler,

The ESTA is for all passengers travelling to the US who do not require a visa (under the visa waiver programme) for a stay of up to 3 months.

This does not apply to all passengers – it is only for people who can travel to the US without needing a visa. For example, all GBP passport holders with machine readable (with the barcode at the bottom of the photo page) do not need a visa to enter the US for under 3 months and so they must fill out the ETSA form online. This is valid for 2 years and as j.ph.fco says, you’ll need to update the flight and address information everytime.

Where previously, the passengers had to add APIS (Advanced Passenger Information System) to their flight details, the ETSA replaces this.

However, for people who do need a visa to enter the US, they do not have to fill out ETSA as this is for the visa waiver programme only.

Let me know if you need any other info.

[Author]

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