ESTA tip

[Enforcer]

Hi all,

 

I have placed this thread here as I am unsure where else to put it.

 

Four of us have recently returned from a cruise in the USA to the UK. When we flew from the UK we all had valid ESTA's, one of our party had renewed his passport as it had run out but didn't realise that the ESTA was attached to the passport that had expired instead of being personal to him.

 

Luckily he was able to obtain an ESTA while at the airport.

 

It was a very stressful time at the airport as we were unsure if he would be able to travel.

 

Just something to bear in mind.

 

Pete

[NMLady]

I'm glad it all worked out. There is a CC forum for UK cruisers. You might want to post that information there.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=683

[Enforcer]

Hi Mary Kay,

 

I considered posting it there but as it is an issue that can be encountered from any country I didn't want to limit it to UK cruisers.

 

Pete

[Host Walt]

If you don't already know, this is required for visitors to the USA from Visa Waiver countries.

[NMLady]

Hi Mary Kay,

 

I considered posting it there but as it is an issue that can be encountered from any country I didn't want to limit it to UK cruisers.

 

Pete

 

Thank you for calling me Mary Kay. I can't tell you how many people ignore the Kay and just call me Mary.

 

Thank you for the explanation. I had only heard of Esta referred to by people from the UK so I didn't realize other countries also had that kind of visa.

[kerryincork]

Also I just flew through Miami and if you have an ESTA you can self process now at kiosk provided. It was brilliant ☺

From the plane landing To us sitting in taxi to hotel was an hour! The fastest i''ve through an American airport ever😊

[jocap]

Thank you for calling me Mary Kay. I can't tell you how many people ignore the Kay and just call me Mary.

 

Thank you for the explanation. I had only heard of Esta referred to by people from the UK so I didn't realize other countries also had that kind of visa.

 

Hi, Mary Kay :)

I'm not sure at all about visa requirements for the USA, for many countries, but I think that an ESTA costing $14 is required instead of a visa for visitors from European countries. There will be many more countries in the world who will have to buy a full visa to enter the States. :cool:

[Nigella]

Hi, Mary Kay :)

I'm not sure at all about visa requirements for the USA, for many countries, but I think that an ESTA costing $14 is required instead of a visa for visitors from European countries. There will be many more countries in the world who will have to buy a full visa to enter the States. :cool:

 

Actually it's not just European countries. There are more than 30 visa waiver countries, most of them are indeed in Europe but Australia, Singapore, South Korea eg are all visa waiver countries so citizens can go the ESTA route instead of full visa.

[Nigella]

Also I just flew through Miami and if you have an ESTA you can self process now at kiosk provided. It was brilliant ☺

From the plane landing To us sitting in taxi to hotel was an hour! The fastest i''ve through an American airport ever😊

 

Agree, it's hugely improved in the last year.

Miami airport used to be notorious for some of the longerst waiting times of any U.S airport. I travelled through there a lot and around 90 minutes was usually the quickest time to process before they got the new machines set up. I'm flying in later this year and am actually NOT dreading it for a change:)

[NMLady]

Hi, Mary Kay :)

I'm not sure at all about visa requirements for the USA, for many countries, but I think that an ESTA costing $14 is required instead of a visa for visitors from European countries. There will be many more countries in the world who will have to buy a full visa to enter the States. :cool:

 

For Australia we get an ETA which is electronic but for countries requiring a Visa I don't think we have visa waivers. I know it cost us ovef $100 for a Brazilian visa. That is probably why I'd never heard of visa waivers or ESTA.

 

I'm glad to add to my travel knowledge.