USA visa difficulty

ginjaflux

I travelled to Detroit from Manchester earlier this year, on arrival i was refused entry & immediately sent back to the UK as i had failed to obtain an ESTA form prior to travel. As i no longer qualify for the Visa Waver Program & to enable admission to the States i need to acquire a visa from the American Embassy in London. How do i go about this? What does it involve? What reasons could i be refused a visa? How much does it cost? Do i need an appointment? Hope you can help

dmg24

Have you looked at the website for the American Embassy? All the answers are there!

Voyager2002

After a horrible experience like that, I would visit another country instead. There are plenty of places that welcome visitors, so if the USA does not welcome you take your money somewhere else.

jammin_2

Voyager2002 wrote: »

After a horrible experience like that, I would visit another country instead. There are plenty of places that welcome visitors, so if the USA does not welcome you take your money somewhere else.

Quite right. Pesky yanks.

lfc321

ginjaflux wrote: »

I travelled to Detroit from Manchester earlier this year, on arrival i was refused entry & immediately sent back to the UK as i had failed to obtain an ESTA form prior to travel.

Can I just ask how this happened? Wasn't it picked up at check-in in Manchester? It really should have been

[no I am not saying you have a claim against the airline, just that I would have expected this to be noticed]

jammin_2

lfc321 wrote: »

Can I just ask how this happened? Wasn't it picked up at check-in in Manchester? It really should have been

How would the airline have known if a passenger has an ESTA or not?

terryya

I've heard that the US is replacing the ESTA scheme with SAE scheme. Basically you go on the website and request a SAE which they courier to your home address. You then stuff the SAE with the money you would spend whilst visiting the USA, post it ti the embassy and then just stay at home.

The Americans then get the money they want without having to deal with all these pesky tourists.

lfc321

jammin wrote: »

How would the airline have known if a passenger has an ESTA or not?

They usually ask you - most airlines have a screening person before before you get into the main check-in queue who goes through this stuff with you. (And when you check in online with most airlines you tick a box to say that you have done ESTA.)

When ESTA first came in I saw loads of people in the check-in queue being sent to the airport internet cafe to do it.

I don't know whether or not airlines know if you have ESTA approval from their computer systems, but they do normally ask.

realised

When I went to New York in December (AA), they never once mentioned ESTA to me or my partner. The only way I ever found out about ESTA was when it was first posted on MSE.

A friend of mine is going to America in August and I casually mentioned ESTA and she had no idea what I was talking about! She thought the Visa she had for a country in the East would be enough to get her into America too.

ginjaflux, I don't see why you would have any problems in acquiring a Visa but do check the American Embassy website for all the information. There may also be a few threads regrding this topic if you do a quick search

Best of luck!

lfc321

realised wrote: »

When I went to New York in December (AA), they never once mentioned ESTA to me or my partner. The only way I ever found out about ESTA was when it was first posted on MSE.

Interesting. I can't actually recall whether or not I was asked last time I flew with AA, although as I recollect they do usually have a screening person in the queue - maybe you were missed somehow?

I definitely remember on my last two flights to US (one with US Airways, one with United) having to confirm I'd done ESTA as part of online check-in. Indeed the US Airways boarding pass had 'ESTA OK' printed across it in massive letters. On both occasions I was then asked again at bag-drop.

But maybe this is something the airlines aren't being so consistent on now that ESTA has been in place for quite a while(?)

SnowWhiterThanWhite

lfc321 wrote: »

They usually ask you - most airlines have a screening person before before you get into the main check-in queue who goes through this stuff with you. (And when you check in online with most airlines you tick a box to say that you have done ESTA.)

When ESTA first came in I saw loads of people in the check-in queue being sent to the airport internet cafe to do it.

I don't know whether or not airlines know if you have ESTA approval from their computer systems, but they do normally ask.

I disagree! I've travelled many many times to the USA after the ESTA became mandatory & have never been asked at check-in. Whether this be face to face at the airport, or checking in on-line.
Even when booking flights, the ESTA is not mentioned??