$10 to enter the US - to help promote tourism

alanrowell

"Only in `Alice in Wonderland' could a penalty be seen as promoting the activity on which it is imposed," the European Commission's Ambassador to Washington, John Bruton, said in a statement Friday.

The bipartisan bill, which has 53 co-sponsors, cleared a key hurdle when senators approved a motion 80-19 that will allow senators to consider final passage of the bill as early as Wednesday afternoon.

This is going to affect everyone who enters the USA under ESTA / VWP - so effectively it's a visa fee just like the similar fees in many 3rd World countries

PolishBigSpender

I wouldn't be surprised if the Schengen zone at least imposes a $10 fee in return - visa fees tend to work on the basis of "if you charge, we will too" - and I really can't see many EU countries being happy about being charged to enter the US, yet American citizens not being charged to come into the Schengen zone.

Then again, visa waiver issues don't concern me...still need a visa for America, and so I won't be visiting anytime soon.

lfc321

dinkydog wrote: »

I can see a lot of API countries doing this, including Australia. QUOTE]

Australia used to charge but abolished the fee.

If the US charge $10 for the life of the Esta (2 yrs) then I won't care too much. If it's $10 per entry it will be a different story. Does anyone know which one it is?

alanrowell

lfc321 wrote: »

If the US charge $10 for the life of the Esta (2 yrs) then I won't care too much. If it's $10 per entry it will be a different story. Does anyone know which one it is?

It's a charge on entry to the US - effectively a visa on entry like Turkey & Egypt - in order to help tourism.

Any ESTA charges will be separate

jackieblack

alanrowell wrote: »

It's a charge on entry to the US - effectively a visa on entry like Turkey & Egypt - in order to help tourism.

Any ESTA charges will be separate

according to that link....
"Early, this year, however, the United States began requiring people traveling to the United States under the visa waiver program to register online at least 72 hours before travel and renew their registration every two years. If the new proposal is passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, it would require all visitors to pay the fee when they register."

lfc321

jackieblack wrote: »

according to that link....

Thanks - I hadn't even realised that was a link...

lfc321

alanrowell wrote: »

It's a charge on entry to the US - effectively a visa on entry like Turkey & Egypt - in order to help tourism.

Any ESTA charges will be separate

Thanks for your reply Alan, - what's your source for this? All of the news items I've managed to find say its a charge on registering for Esta

lfc321

Here's a link to a summary of the legislation: http://dpc.senate.gov/dpcdoc.cfm?doc_name=lb-111-1-85

The $10 is described as an "ESTA fee", so presumably it would be applied per application, not per entry into the US.

The reason it says this:

dinkydog wrote: »

The U.S. may also assess a fee to pay for the cost of operating ESTA at a later date."

is that the $10 is being used to fund a new PPP which is being created to promote US tourism. Presumably if in future they decided that the ESTA system itself also needed to be paid for through fee income they would increase the $10 charge.

Nordictat2

Well...I think if the US does it then Americans should pay too (I'm American).

I mean with all the money ya save with shopping or atleast those who save alot by buying clothes etc over there...a $10 isn't that big a deal but $20? That's pushing it lol.

Cade_Foster

Can remember a few years ago paying $20 AUD to go to Australia before evisitor so isnt so bad.

Have to laugh, watching the news in vegas though, saying foriegn tourists spend more, tip more ect, but still they want to charge us, just add it to the aiport taxes nobody will notice then anyhow.

Voyager2002

I have a visa for the USA, issued back in 1986 but valid for the rest of my life. Can I avoid this fee by using the visa instead of the visa-waiver process or whatever they call it now?