When you travel to America you need to make sure you have applied for your ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization).  The US government will then use that information to decide whether you can enter the country!  Even though I am squeaky clean I still got a bit nervous filling in my application!  I guess because its such an official process.

The ESTA Process

Your ESTA will last two years so at least if you have plan multiple trips in that time you don’t have to keep re-applying!  Plus, you feel like you get more value for your money the more trips you book!  We went to Florida in May 2018 and August 2019 (for our SeaWorld collaboration) out of our first ESTA application.  I love visiting Florida and all the amazing attractions, if I had the money, I would go lots of times each year!

We have booked to return early 2020 and would have managed to squeeze in three trips out of our ESTA application if we hadn’t applied for it as early as we did!  I think I was concerned it might take too long to come through and hold up our holiday plans.  But it was very quick!  I applied in January for a May holiday which was a bit of a waste really!  If I had held off until April, I would have had a few more months to fit in the next holiday on that ESTA application.  Fortunately, it’s not expensive otherwise I would be cross at myself for wasting money!

The ESTA is basically authorisation you are allowed into the country! It was made mandatory to have them from 2010.  They were originally free, then $10 and now $14 but given that they must process them I don’t think it’s costly.  Its small change compared to what I spend on food or attractions during my stay!  The less said about the money I splash out on those the better!

It’s not complicated to complete the ESTA digital form and it doesn’t take very long.  Sometimes it feels like another little hurdle to jump through when booking a break to the USA, but it really shouldn’t.  It’s quite a painless process.

What details do I provide?

You just add your contact details, name, gender, passport number, date of birth and parents’ names.  Then you have a few simple questions about whether you have been a citizen in any other country or if you have been issued a passport for another country.  You can include your social media details but that’s optional.  I didn’t as I don’t feel it was necessary.  Then you add where you will be staying in the USA.

After that you get to the eligibility questions in your ESTA application.  This asks about your physical and mental health, criminal record and whether you have engaged in any terrorist activities.  You also get asked about whether you have been denied access to the country before or basically overstayed your welcome.  Hopefully you can answer no to all these questions and move swiftly to the end of the application.

Here are a few tips for your ESTA Application

Don’t leave applying till last minute.  They can be authorised quite quickly, mine came through the same day.  But they can take longer so I prefer to leave a bit more time just in case!  I think we did them a bit too early for our trip, just to make sure we didn’t have any problems, but we were fine.  I guess you don’t want to do them too premature either otherwise your 24-month countdown until it expires starts far too soon!  Whatever you do don’t apply for one with less than 72 hours before you depart!

Don’t rush your application, double check you have filled everything correctly before submitting.  This article shows what can happen if you make a simple mistake.

If you have ever arrested, you could have issues!  Don’t book a holiday before making sure you will get your ESTA application approved.  An ESTA application isn’t very expensive, costing only $14 (about £9) it will work out cheaper that way round than booking a fancy holiday only to be denied access to the USA.

If you are denied an ESTA then you could possibly enter the country with a B2 or B1 visa.  So, you do have options.  But those options get a bit more complicated and involve a trip to the US embassy in London usually and the visa costs more.