USA Holiday - ESTA Problems.

[Ecosseven]

Morning all,

My partner and I have booked a holiday to the USA in May 2026. We have been to the USA severely times with our last visit being in April 2024.

We applied for our ESTA’s on Friday 19th September and my partners was processed in a few hours – this quick processing time has been our experience on all the other occasions we have applied for ESTA’s over the last 10 years. However, my application is still shown as “pending”. The guidance on the website is that they aim to process all ESTA applications within 72 hours. I sent them a message over the weekend but just received a standard automated response to say that my application was pending.

Has anyone else experienced this delay? There was nothing contentious in my application and the only thing that has changed since my last ESTA is that I have a new passport due my old one having expired.

If I don’t hear anything by Friday of this week I was thinking I may need to give phone them to understand what the issue is.

Any advice welcomed!

Thanks in advance.

[nvubu]

I think I'd do what you suggest and follow-up by the end of the week.

At least you have applied for it in good time - unlike a YT video I saw a few weeks ago about a lady who renewed her ESTA a week or two before her trip - and it was issued the day she arrived back in the UK. Meanwhile she had tried to get across the border from Canada into Niagara Falls, and told a couple of lies to the border guy - and was strongly advised not to try to enter. YT video "I was DENIED entry to the United States with a British passport!". Comments didn't exactly go the way she was expecting.

[Slow.Patrol]

We had a similar thing with Canada last year.

Partner had an instant response, mine took about 48 hours.

The only thing we could see that was different was my passport was older.

[TheHeadhunter]

We go to the US a lot. Family over there.

I redo our ESTAs all together, and they almost always have one taking longer than the others, usually my wife's. Sometimes 2 or 3 weeks later.

[C5_Steve]

Did mine this year, my family had theirs back straight away and mine took a few days. No rhyme or reason that I could tell. Wouldn't worry about it.

[Cupid-stunt]

Give it a week.

We had a similar issue when 4 of us applied and my wife's application was the only one that took more than 4hrs.
It did eventually appear in 4-5days.

[Ecosseven]

Thanks for the replies. Still no response on my ESTA application submitted on 19th September. I'll e-mail them again at the weekend and if no response by the following week, I'll give them a call.

[Alorotom]

The backlog will be huge for non-immediate acceptances given the rush of applications over the past couple of weeks to beat the 30/09 price doubling.

I renewed mine and my daughters on Monday and the whole system was down on a couple of tries, just portions of it on others, etc. and it took way longer to apply and pay than normally.

[hopeydaze]

I trust you filled out all the boxes correctly regarding social media accounts and the names you post as.

Interesting to see that if you don't tick any of the social media accounts listed on the form you then have to declare that you have no social media. Clever.

[Ecosseven]

Hi folks,

Just to close this out, my ESTA application was approved this morning, backdated to the date of submission of 19th September.

Thanks for all the replies.

[Petrus1983]

Ecosseven said:

Hi folks,

Just to close this out, my ESTA application was approved this morning, backdated to the date of submission of 19th September.

Thanks for all the replies.

Nice one - have a great trip

[Hill92]

hopeydaze said:

I trust you filled out all the boxes correctly regarding social media accounts and the names you post as.

Interesting to see that if you don't tick any of the social media accounts listed on the form you then have to declare that you have no social media. Clever.

The social media question on Visa Waiver Prograe ESTAs is optional IIRC unlike on visa applications.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

Slow.Patrol said:

We had a similar thing with Canada last year.

Partner had an instant response, mine took about 48 hours.

The only thing we could see that was different was my passport was older.

I have the same with Australia, mine always takes a few days which I thought was normal. My elderley neighbours were travelling to Australia for a holiday so asked if I could help with the visa. As I clicked the submit button I was explaining how it would take a few days, and 30 seconds later they got the approved email.

I can only assume it is because I lived there for a few years on a 457 visa and my application goes into the must be manually verified pile.