ESTA

To strengthen the security of travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program, requirements to travel visa-free have been enhanced. Nationals of Visa Waiver Program countries will still be eligible to travel without a visa but will have to obtain an approved travel authorization prior to their travel to the United States.

Here is how the travel authorization process works:

The Department of Homeland Security and the United States Customs and Border Protection have provided a secure public Web site with an automated form for you, or a third party, to complete in order to apply for a travel authorization. Once you enter the required biographic, travel, and credit card information on the secure Web site, your application is processed by the system to determine if you are eligible to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program without a visa. The system will provide you with an automated response, and prior to boarding, a carrier will electronically verify with the United States Customs and Border Protection that you have an approved travel authorization on file.

All passengers traveling under the Visa Waiver Program are required to have an approved travel authorization prior to traveling to the United States by air or sea. Even non-ticketed infants are required to have an approved travel authorization, if they do not have a visa for travel to the United States. An application may be submitted by a third party on behalf of a Visa Waiver Program traveler.

If your electronic travel authorization is approved, this approval establishes that you are eligible to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program, but does not guarantee that you are admissible to the United States. Upon arrival in the United States you will be inspected by a Customs and Border Protection officer at a port of entry who may determine that you are inadmissible under the Visa Waiver Program or for any reason under United States law.

No, an approved travel authorization is not a visa. It does not meet the legal or regulatory requirements to serve in lieu of a United States visa when a visa is required under United States law. Individuals who possess a valid visa will still be able to travel to the United States on that visa for the purpose for which it was issued. Individuals traveling on valid visas are not required to apply for a travel authorization

Unless revoked, travel authorizations are valid for two years from the date of authorization, or until your passport expires, whichever comes first. The Authorization Approved screen displays your travel authorization expiration date.

Applications may be submitted at any time prior to travel to the United States. The Department of Homeland Security recommends that travel authorization applications be submitted at least 72 hours prior to travel. Unless revoked, travel authorizations are valid for two years from the date of authorization, or until your passport expires, whichever comes first.

Visa Waiver Program travelers are not required to have specific plans to travel to the United States before they apply for a travel authorization. If a traveler's destination address in the United States is unknown when he or she completes the application in ESTA for the travel authorization, the traveler should enter the name of the hotel or approximate location he or she intends to visit. Travelers may update this information when their plans are finalized, but they will not be required to update their destination addresses or itineraries should they change after their travel authorization has been approved. DHS recommends that applications for travel authorization be submitted in ESTA as early as possible, as soon as, or even before travel is planned. ESTA will accept applications from last minute and emergency travelers those Visa Waiver Program travelers that arrive at the airport without an approved ESTA.

Eligible nationals or citizens of countries that participate in the Visa Waiver Program require either a travel authorization or a visa to transit the United States. If a traveler is only planning to transit through the United States en route to another country, when he or she completes the travel authorization application in ESTA, the traveler should enter the words "In Transit" and his or her final destination location in the address lines in the Address While In The United States field on the application.

No. Each Visa Waiver Program traveler must have an approved travel authorization for the passport they plan to use before they travel to the United States. If a traveler obtains a new passport, they must submit a new travel authorization application in ESTA using the new passport. A processing fee will be charged for each new application submitted.

The implementation of the ESTA program allowed DHS to eliminate the requirement that Visa Waiver Program travelers complete an I-94W prior to being admitted to the United States. CBP has transitioned to paperless processing for Visa Waiver Program travelers arriving by air or sea who have obtained a travel authorization. Most carriers are now capable of receiving and validating messages pertaining to the traveler's ESTA status as part of the traveler's boarding status. Travelers entering the United States under the Visa Waiver Program who have an approved travel authorization will no longer be given a green I-94W departure coupon in their passport.

If you receive a Travel Not Authorized response to your travel authorization application, but wish to continue with your travel plans, please visit the United States Department of State Web site at www.travel.state.gov for additional information about applying for a visa. The denial of a travel authorization only prohibits travel under the Visa Waiver Program and is not a determination of eligibility for a visa to travel to the United States. In the event you are not approved for a travel authorization, no court shall have jurisdiction to review an eligibility determination under ESTA.

The "Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007" (9/11 Act) amended Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), requiring that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) implement an electronic travel authorization system and other measures to enhance the security of the Visa Waiver Program. ESTA adds another layer of security that allows DHS to determine, in advance of travel, whether an individual is eligible to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program and whether such travel poses a law enforcement or security risk.

The Visa Waiver Program allows foreign nationals from certain countries to travel to the United States for business or pleasure, for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. Travelers admitted under the Visa Waiver Program must agree to waive their rights to review or appeal, as explained in the Waiver of Rights section of the Application screen. See Who is eligible to apply for admission under the Visa Waiver Program? for further information.

For further information refer to ? 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. ? 1187, and 8 C.F.R. ? 217

Andorra | Estonia | Ireland | Monaco | Singapore | Taiwan Australia

Finland | Italy | Netherlands | Slovakia | United Kingdom Austria | France

Japan | New Zealand | Slovenia Belgium | Germany | Latvia | Norway | South Korea Brunei | Greece | Liechtenstein | Portugal | Spain Czech Republic | Hungary Lithuania

Republic of Malta | Sweden Denmark | Iceland | Luxembourg | San Marino | Switzerland

You are eligible to apply for admission under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) if you:

• Intend to enter the United States for 90 days or less for business, pleasure or transit
• Have a valid passport lawfully issued to you by a Visa Waiver Program country
• Have authorization to travel via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization
• Arrive via a Visa Waiver Program signatory carrier
• Have a return or onward ticket
• Travel may not terminate in contiguous territory or adjacent islands unless the traveler is a resident of one of those areas
• Are a citizen or national of one of the Visa Waiver Program countries listed in the previous section
• Establish to the satisfaction of the inspecting United States Customs and Border Protection officer that you are entitled to be admitted under the Visa Waiver Program and that you are not inadmissible under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
• Waive any rights to review or appeal of the admissibility determination of the United States Customs and Border Protection officer, or contest, other than on the basis of an application for asylum, any removal action arising from an application for admission under the Visa Waiver Program.
• Reaffirm, through the submission of biometric identifiers (including fingerprints and photographs) during processing upon arrival in the United States, your waiver of any rights to review or appeal of the admissibility determination of the United States Customs and Border Protection officer, or contest, other than on the basis of an application for asylum, any removal action arising from an application for admission under the Visa Waiver Program.
• Obtain an Authorization Approved determination following a travel authorization application.
• Not pose a threat to the welfare, health, safety, or security of the United States.
• Have complied with all conditions of any previous admission under the Visa Waiver Program.

Visa Waiver Program requirements are:

• The passport must have a machine-readable zone on the biographic page.
• Issued on or after October 26, 2005 ? Each Visa Waiver Program passport issued on or after this date must have a digital photo.
• Issued on or after October 26, 2006 ? Each Visa Waiver Program passport issued on or after this date must be an electronic passport with a digital chip containing biometric information about the passport owner.

EXCEPTION: > To be eligible for the Visa Waiver Program, persons presenting United Kingdom passports must possess the unrestricted right of permanent abode in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man

>EXCEPTION: > Citizens and nationals of Slovenia may use only the red cover Slovenian passport for admission under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

>EXCEPTION: > Effective July 1, 2009, Visa Waiver Program countries? emergency or temporary passports must be electronic passports.

• Citizens of the following Visa Waiver Program countries are required to present electronic passports:
• Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Slovakia
• Hungary
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Republic of Malta
• South Korea
• Greece
• Citizens from Visa Waiver Program eligible countries must present a machine-readable passport unless they are from:
• Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Slovakia
• Hungary
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Republic of Malta
• South Korea
• Greece
• A machine readable passport contains two lines of text with numbers and chevrons (<<<) at the bottom of the personal information page with the passport bearer's picture. Document requirements vary according to the date a passport was issued or renewed as follows:
• Machine-readable passports issued or renewed/extended before October 26, 2005 have no additional requirements.
• If a passport was issued or renewed/extended on or after October 26, 2005 and does not meet the following requirements, the traveler must obtain a visa:
• Machine-readable passports issued or renewed/extended on or after October 26, 2005 through October 25, 2006 must meet the following requirements: A digital photograph printed on the passport data page is required OR an integrated chip containing information from the data page (e-passport). A digital photo is one that is printed on the page, not a photo that is glued or laminated into the passport.
Machine-readable passports issued or renewed/extended on or after October 26, 2006 are required to be e-passports.
• For more information, please see the Customs and Border Protection Web site, CBP.gov, under Travel, For International Visitors, Visiting for Business or Pleasure, Visa Waiver Program.
• Taiwan passport holders must provide Passport Number and Personal Identification Number (PIN).

• If you intend to arrive in the United States aboard a non-signatory air carrier.
• If you intend to visit the United States for more than 90 days.
• If you believe any grounds of inadmissibility of the Immigration and Nationality Act ? 212(a) apply to you, you should apply for a nonimmigrant visa before traveling to the United States. Although you may be inadmissible to the United States, you may qualify for a non-immigrant visa and waiver, which may allow you to travel to the United States.
• If you are traveling to the United States for a purpose other than short-term tourism or business.

Before using the Visa Waiver Program, be aware of the following conditions that apply and carefully consider your options:

• If you are admitted to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program, you may not change or extend your non-immigrant status.
• If your admission is denied, you have no right to appeal a determination as to admissibility.
• If you are found to have violated the terms of your admission, you also have no right to review or appeal, other than on the basis of an application for asylum, any removal action arising from an application for admission under the Visa Waiver Program.

Travelers applying for admission to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program who are determined to be inadmissible to the United States will be denied admission and returned to their country of origin, or a third country from which the traveler holds a round-trip ticket, aboard the carrier on which the traveler arrived in the United States.

The "Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007" (9/11 Act) amended Section 217 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), requiring that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) implement an electronic travel authorization system and other measures to enhance the security of the Visa Waiver Program. ESTA adds another layer of security that allows DHS to determine, in advance of travel, whether an individual is eligible to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program and whether such travel poses a law enforcement or security risk.