To travel to the United States of America, you’ll need to apply for a travel authorization. Three documents are currently available: the Green Card, the non-immigrant visa and an ESTA. Dedicated to short stays in the U.S., the ESTA simply requires you to fill out an online form. Once completed, your file will be sent to the U.S. authorities for review. So you may be wondering how long it takes to receive your ESTA? We provide the answer in this article.
When to apply for ESTA?
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Are you planning a tourist or business trip of up to 90 days on American soil? If you’re a European citizen, you don’t need a visa to enter the USA. The ESTA is all you need.
ESTA authorization is much more flexible than the U.S. visa. Whereas a visa requires you to make arrangements several weeks or even months in advance, an ESTA application can be made up to 72 hours before your departure for the USA. However, to avoid unforeseen circumstances, we recommend that you apply several weeks in advance.
It is essential that you apply for authorization before departure, otherwise you may not be able to board.
How long does it take to apply for ESTA authorization?
The main advantage of the ESTA document is the way in which it is obtained. There’s no need to go to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate General, everything is done remotely. In other words, you save a considerable amount of time. To apply for ESTA, nothing could be simpler: just visit the official U.S. government website to access the online form.
The ESTA form is relatively quick to fill in, but it still requires a minimum of rigor to avoid making a mistake that could cost you the refusal of your application. Filling in the form takes around twenty minutes, and involves entering your marital status, the reason for your stay in the USA, and information from your electronic or biometric passport (passport number, date of issue, country of issue). The ESTA form ends with a series of 9 closed questions. You will be asked to answer yes or no to these questions, which relate to your criminal record, your health and your previous stays in countries considered risky by the American government.
The final step in validating your ESTA application is online payment by credit card. Once you have paid the required amount, your application is forwarded to the American authorities.
How long does it take to obtain ESTA?
From the time of submission, you will need to wait a maximum of 72 hours before receiving a reply on the final status of your application for authorization to travel to the USA. You may also receive a reply immediately, but this is more rare.
To check the status of your ESTA application, please have your passport number and your application number ready. If you haven’t taken note of this number, you can also find your file using your passport details: country of issue, date of issue, expiry date and, of course, the passport number…
At this stage, three hypotheses are possible:
- ESTA authorization is granted. Once ESTA approval has been granted, you can travel to the USA immediately via the Visa Waiver Program.
- ESTA authorization is pending. This means you’ll have to wait a few more hours. This does not mean that the American government has rejected your application and that you cannot travel to the United States. The reason for the hold may be that too many applications have been received, or that your information has been checked to ensure that your entry into the U.S. does not pose a threat to the country’s internal security.
- Authorization to stay in the United States is denied. When US Customs and Border Protection rejects an ESTA application, the first thing to do is to make sure that the rejection is not due to a simple typing error. If this is the case, you can reapply online. However, you will have to wait a further 10 days from the date of the first application. Refusal to issue an ESTA authorization may also be due to your ineligibility for the Visa Waiver Program. In this case, don’t hesitate to contact the US consulate or embassy to apply for a visa. You should also bear in mind that obtaining this travel document will require much more time and formalities than the ESTA.
How long is an ESTA valid for?
It’s important to distinguish between the duration of validity and the duration of stay. The ESTA is only valid for a temporary stay of up to 90 days, but is officially valid for 2 years. It is therefore possible to make several trips to the USA with the same ESTA, provided you never stay on American soil for more than 90 days.
The validity of the authorization may be shorter if the passport used expires before 2 years. The validity of the passport becomes the validity of the ESTA. Similarly, a new application must be made if a new passport is issued.
The renewal procedure does not differ in any way from that followed for an initial application. The same rules apply: the ESTA form is filled in with valid passport data, and the application is processed by electronic systems within 72 hours.