New Visa Requirements for the USA
Up until the 12th January 2009, certain passport holding travellers(by air or sea) were required to apply in advance for B1 Visitor or B2 tousrits visas. Other countries were part of the Visa Waiver programme, which meant that visas were not required prior to travelling, but a Visa Waiver form was completed on board the aircraft.
A list of the 35 Visa Waiver countries is below:
• Andorra-Australia-Austria-Belgium-Denmark-Brunei-Finland-France-Germany-Iceland- Ireland-Italy-Japan-Liechtenstein-Luxembourg-Monaco-Netherlands-Norway- Portugal-San Marino-Singapore-Slovenia-Spain-Sweden-Switzerland-New Zealand-United Kingdom-Czech Republic-Estonia-Latvia-Lithuania-Hungary-Republic of Korea-Slovak Republic-Malta-Greece
From the 12th January 2009, these changed. After this date it is mandatory for all Visa Waiver travellers to apply for a Travel Authorization and pre-register the trip (visit or transit under the Visa Waiver Program) to the United States
There are additional passport and travel requirements that must be fulfilled in order to visit the United States under the Visa Waiver Program.
This new system is called ESTA.
ESTA stands for Electronic System for Travel Authorization. And is processed on line and operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). visitors must apply for a Travel Authorization in advance in addition to having a machine readable passport (e-passport).
The purpose of ESTA is to let the US Department of Homeland Security (Immigration!!) pre-screen all Visa Waiver Travellers before they leave their respective countries. U.S. bound travellers are recommended to apply for a Travel Authorization at least 72 hours prior to departure, although it can still be applied for after this time. The Travel Authorization is not a visa. It is just part of a screening process, and an approved Travel Authorization does not guarantee entry to the United States. However, it is a prerequisite to travel to the United States by air or sea carrier. If you are not approved, you must apply for a visitor visa.
Persons from non-visa waiver countries should not attempt to apply for a Travel Authorization. They must go through the proper visa application channels
There are companies online that offer to apply for the visa for you, for a price, but it is simple:
Once you have finalised your travel plans go to the following link:
https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta.html
Here you will be given instructions. Just follow these and unless there is something wrong with you or your travel documents your visa will be approved instantly. Once you have filled in the online forms you will be given a serial number…keep this handy as you can use it to find out the status of your approval if you do not receive the authorization immediately. Once submitted, the approval should come back within a couple of minutes. Although you don’t have to show this paperwork, it is advisable to print out the forms along with the approval…just for safety.
If you do not have the ESTA approval, your carrier may not let you board the flight. It would be advisable to apply for the Travel Authorization before paying for your air/sea ticket in case of problems with your approval. If your application is denied you must apply for a B1 Visitor Visa or B2 Tourist Visa, and these can take weeks or months to process.
The Travel Authorization is valid for two years and can easily be updated for future visits.
