Our tip in advance: To be completely on the safe side, it is recommended to hire a professional ESTA visa agency to handle your ESTA application, as well as the questions. A visa agency will ensure that you get proper verification, live support and personalized help for your ESTA application.
In this short article you will learn what 5 things are important when applying for an ESTA. You will need this if you want to enter the United States of America without a visa. ESTA stands for Electronic System for Travel Authorization and is an electronic travel authorization system. What there is to consider when applying for the ESTA, we now explain step by step.
Step 1: Qualifying your citizenship
The first step is to make sure your citizenship is even eligible to apply for ESTA. To do this, you must be a citizen of a country that participates in the ESTA “Visa Waiver Program”. This is a program for traveling with tourist or business intentions in the United States.
In the following, we have compiled for you a list of countries that participate in the ESTA “Visa Waiver Program”and whose citizens are eligible to apply for ESTA:
Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
Germany and Switzerland were already admitted in 1989 and Austria isalso a current member country of the ESTA “Visa Waiver Program” since 1991. Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cyprus as well as Israel, Poland, Romania, Turkey and Uruguay are currently still on the application list of the ESTA “Visa Waiver Program”
Step 2: Timely application submission
Next, you should make sure to submit your ESTA application on time. Missing the deadline will result in you not receiving your ESTA visa. This deadline is 72 hours before your departure. However, it is best to apply for ESTA directly once you have booked your travel or flights.
Step 3: Possession of an electronic passport
In addition, it is mandatory that you have an electronic passport. You absolutely need this for your ESTA application. This also applies to the application of minors or children. Not only provisionally issued passports, but also children’s passports are not permitted for the ESTA application.
Step 4: Completeness and correctness of data
Of course, it is particularly important that all the information contained in the passport is complete and correct in the application. This also includes other first names, as well as other citizenships, in case they are available. In addition, you must specify former or old citizenships.
Caution: When filling out any questions in the ESTA application, especially the security questions must be answered truthfully without exception. Otherwise, it may result in the application being rejected. In the worst case, a total ban on entry into the United States of America.
Step 5: Presenting your ESTA visa
After you have followed the first four steps completely as well as thoroughly and your application meets the expectations or requirements for an ESTA visa, you can expect to receive your entry clearance within the next few days. However, this article does not end there.
Becausenow the presentation requirement applies in order for you to be allowed to board the plane at all and for your entry into the United States to actually be granted. Therefore, you should print out your ESTA visa or at least save it as a screenshot on your smartphone. We recommend you do both to be on the safe side.
Thereby nothing should stand in the way of your successful entry into the USA. If you have forgotten your ESTA application, there is still a possibility. Because your online visa agency can send you a copy within a very short time in case of commissioning, so it is sometimes advantageous to run the application through an ESTA agency.
