ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION (ESTA)

The United Kingdom is part of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), which enables citizens of the U.K. to visit the United States without applying for a B-2 Tourist Visa in advance. Individuals traveling under the VWP are eligible to visit the United States for either business or pleasure. Currently, 35 countries participate in the Visa Waiver Program and eligible travelers must first apply for a travel authorization, called ESTA. As a citizen of the United Kingdom you also need to have a machine-readable passport, or ePassport, before you can apply for your Travel Authorization (ESTA). An approved Travel Authorization has been required since January 12, 2009. With your approved Travel Authorization (ESTA) you can travel to the United States and ask for permission to enter. However, it is a United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer that will make the final decision of whether you will be allowed to enter the United States. Understand that almost all individuals who apply for a Travel Authorization are approved, and if you have legit reasons to enter the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) – you will most likely be granted entry. However, if you lie to obtain an approved ESTA Travel Authorization, you may be banned from entering the United States again. For this reason it is strongly recommended to apply for ESTA yourself and not use an un-authorized “web agent” to complete the application on your behalf. Download the ESTA Travel Authorization Application Guide today and submit your own application for your Travel Authorization.


	Required for UK Citizens
	Online Application System
	Mandatory starting January 12, 2009
	Required for Visa Waiver Travelers
	Beware of ESTA Scams

The ESTA Application process takes less than 10 minutes. Apply Now!

Entering the United States Under the Visa Waiver Program
When passport holders from the United Kingdom arrive at a U.S. border, they will have to be cleared by a United States Customs and Border Protection officer. You may be asked about your travel arrangements, your return ticket, your purpose of stay, and the type of work you do back home. If, for some reason, the CBP officer feels that you need to explain the purpose of your trip in further details, you will be sent for a secondary inspection. At this stage you will be asked to open your suitcase for inspection, as well face additional questions about your reasons for visiting the United States. There are many different reasons for why you may be selected for a second inspection; however, if you follow the Visa Waiver Program rules and regulations you should not have anything to worry about. All searches are done in a courteous manner, and you can always ask to have a supervisor present if you feel the need for it.

In most cases, the hard copy version of Form I-94W (the green form) is required to be completed. This means that you must first apply for a Travel Authorization (ESTA) at home before you check in. On the plane, you will be given the hard copy version (Form I-94W). If for some reason your ESTA itinerary and the information you complete on Form I-94W differ, you should expect to explain the difference to a CBP officer. For these reasons you are strongly recommended to submit your own application for a Travel Authorization, and not let anybody do this on your behalf. After you apply yourself, it may take up to 72 hours before you receive notification of whether you are approved to travel or not. You are recommended to apply as early as possible since no flight or hotel booking is needed for the initial application. You can easily update your existing Travel Authorization once you have made your bookings. Again, you should only do this yourself, so you can explain everything about your application to the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) officer.

Below you will find some of the most common terms related to ESTA and the Visa Waiver Program:

ESTA: Otherwise known as the "Electronic System for Travel Authorization." ESTA is an online system operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pre-screen travelers from visa waiver countries before they are allowed to travel to United States via air or sea.
ESTA Application Number: A unique number linked to each Travel Authorization. You should keep a record of your ESTA number in a safe place, as you will need to update your ESTA record prior to each trip to United States.
e-Passport: An e-Passport issued on or after October 26, 2006 by Visa Waiver countries contains an integrated computer chip. The chip stores the same biographic information as on the data page of your passport. Passport holders from any of the new Visa Waiver Program countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Republic of Korea and the Slovak Republic) must have an e-Passport to enter under the Visa Waiver Program.
Visa Waiver Program: The Visa Waiver Program (WVP) is a U.S. government program that enables citizens and nationals from the 35 Visa Waiver Countries to enter the United States for tourism or business purposes for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa.

Beware of Scams: Beware of fraudulent websites that collect your private information and claim to submit the application on your behalf. Submitting your own ESTA Application is the only way to be 100% sure that your application is submitted properly. Travelers with an invalid ESTA Travel Authorization may be denied entry by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Learn how to submit your own ESTA Application in only 10 minutes.