ESTA

[Dr Jekyll]

Does anyone know of someone getting an ESTA refused? A workmate is anxious to get an ESTA before booking a US trip in the BA sale, I reckon the risk of refusal is so low he might as well book the trip while the low fare is available.

No criminal record so far as I know, no visits to anywhere Donald regards as dodgy, no previous US travel so no danger of a discrepancy in the application. Is there any other reason an ESTA might be refused?

[eliot]

Apply now, you will need an address of a hotel where you intend to stay - you can update it after

[Doggleg]

By the time he worries about it, it'll probably have been approved. Each time I've applied/renewed it is approved very quickly. Never heard of anybody being refused it but one of the guys here at work used to get questioned regularly when going into the country (which he did fairly regularly).

[Lemanandbeyond]

As above he would be very unlucky to be refused, I wouldn't worry about it and book.

[craigjm]

He probably isn’t gonna tell you if he has any reason why it may be refused. Friend of mine had one refused because he had a caution for canabis possession 25 years ago

[djc206]

Dr Jekyll said:

Does anyone know of someone getting an ESTA refused? A workmate is anxious to get an ESTA before booking a US trip in the BA sale, I reckon the risk of refusal is so low he might as well book the trip while the low fare is available.

No criminal record so far as I know, no visits to anywhere Donald regards as dodgy, no previous US travel so no danger of a discrepancy in the application. Is there any other reason an ESTA might be refused?

No. I really wouldn’t worry about it, I always renew mine as close to my pre booked holidays as possible to get the most life out of them whilst allowing enough time to pop up to London to the embassy in the event that they do refuse for some spurious reason.

[The Leaper]

The ESTA application fee is $14. If he goes ahead and books the flight with BA during their sale (the tickets are not fully flexible) and his ESTA application is refused, he will be liable for BA's cancellation costs which can be considerable.

R.

[Sheepshanks]

djc206 said:

........ whilst allowing enough time to pop up to London to the embassy in the event that they do refuse for some spurious reason.

I don’t know the current situation but it was taking 6 months to get an appointment.


If the OP’s mate is concerned then just get the ESTA - they’re not as instant as they used to be (this has caused issues for people who forget because you can't do them at the airport anymore) but generally they get approved in a couple of hours.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Wednesday 22 January 09:45

[MrThomo]

Just renewed yesterday. Submitted circa 6pm, confirmation at 7:30pm. I would just apply for it

[Puggit]

The Leaper said:

The ESTA application fee is $14. If he goes ahead and books the flight with BA during their sale (the tickets are not fully flexible) and his ESTA application is refused, he will be liable for BA's cancellation costs which can be considerable.

R.

This - it will only cost him $14 to find out, which is considerably less than the cancellation or the cost difference he's saving.

[Dave Brand]

Just tell him to make sure he applies on the official website:

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

and to check his application carefully before submitting.

There's lots of third-party websites who will charge an exorbitant fee for providing a "service" which does absolutely nothing.

[Sheepshanks]

..and include middle name if shown on passport. The application asks for "First given name" but apparently they now want to see any other names that are on the passport.

[djc206]

Sheepshanks said:

I don’t know the current situation but it was taking 6 months to get an appointment.


If the OP’s mate is concerned then just get the ESTA - they’re not as instant as they used to be (this has caused issues for people who forget because you can't do them at the airport anymore) but generally they get approved in a couple of hours.

Edited by Sheepshanks on Wednesday 22 January 09:45

Wow! In which case yeah just apply for an esta now. I think my last one was approved in hours.

[designforlife]

Unless he's hiding something, the odds of being declined are pretty minimal. The last couple i've applied for have been approved on the same day.

They last 2 years and are good for multiple trips to different destinations, no need to get a new one each time.

[Sheepshanks]

djc206 said:

Wow! In which case yeah just apply for an esta now. I think my last one was approved in hours.

To be fair I just looked at the US Embassy visa appointment wait time and it's currently showing as one day for London, 14 days for Belfast. There's still the application and processing time on top.

[The Leaper]

Sheepshanks said:

..and include middle name if shown on passport. The application asks for "First given name" but apparently they now want to see any other names that are on the passport.

My wife completed an ESTA application three weeks ago. She did not include all her other Christian names that are shown on her passport and she received her ESTA authorisation, no problem.

One thing I will say about completing the ESTA application onine is make sure you do not make a mistake because going back and correcting it is not always possible. For example, I made an error when completing the section about the social media that I use but I could not correct it. The only way forward was for me to come out of the website and go back in later and complete the application without making the same error.

And always print a copy of the application in case something does go wrong during the authorisation process, and also print the ESTA authorisation once received because it's the only evidence you have that you have obtained the authorisation.

R.

[thainy77]

I've been denied an ESTA but that was because i'd been to half of the restricted countries on the list. Before that i'd get approval within 15 minutes on average.

[rossub]

eliot said:

Apply now, you will need an address of a hotel where you intend to stay - you can update it after

I've never understood that. We're usually only there for about 15 hours as a first stop out of a 3 week holiday.

Just as well they don't want all the other places listed though.

[valiant]

rossub said:

eliot said:

Apply now, you will need an address of a hotel where you intend to stay - you can update it after

I've never understood that. We're usually only there for about 15 hours as a first stop out of a 3 week holiday.

Just as well they don't want all the other places listed though.

Whilst they ask for an address you don’t have to immediately provide one. Indeed you may not even have one as you may be doing road trips and whatnot where your itinerary is fluid.

Done mine a few wells back without putting in any addresses and got it no problem.

[TheHighlander]

Just ensure he has not lied/does not lie.

My wife and I own a Travel Agents and recently had a customer get approved, was on route and when he landed at JFK was refused entry and had his ESTA revoked.

Turned out he had been arrested many years ago for drunk & disorderly and a bit of fighting, safe to say his new GF was no impressed as he was told to about turn and head back home and is now banned from entering the USA for 5 years.

If he does have any convictions we find they generally reject it straight away and you then apply for a visa which 9/10 gets accepted unless you have drug charges etc.

Hope that helps, if you have any other questions feel free to get in touch.