New Guide Discussion: Everyone needs ESTA for US travel

lynwlt

Trying to apply for ESTA's for two people for travel in June but the form refuses to recognise either the address or phone number of the place we are staying.
I've tried playing about with the formats but no success.
Any ideas please?

hupalapoop

I have been trying for weeks now to order an Esta and am finding it impossible to get into the US site?
- The official US government Esta website.
I've tried on my laptop, iPad and iphone! I've also written to them!!
I received the following reply on Tuesday
"Thank you for contacting the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Information Center.
We apologize for the inconvenience as our ESTA website may have been down for maintenance.
To apply for ESTA, please visit (the USA esta website address)
Still no good!!
Can anyone help?

EssexExile

The site's working fine. https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta.html

stevie11

lynwlt wrote: »

Trying to apply for ESTA's for two people for travel in June but the form refuses to recognise either the address or phone number of the place we are staying.
I've tried playing about with the formats but no success.
Any ideas please?

Never had a problem entering an address, are you using the official website? Try entering another address. If they ask you can always say you changed hotels at late notice. Not that I have ever been asked where I am staying and I never change address for further trips.

jayencee

I applied for group esta back in early April and got an email in return saying authorisation pending. I've tried logging back in to see if they have been approved but it now says it doesn't recognise the group ID no.
, I've tried doing it on the individual names with the same problem, does this mean I have to do it all again? I've checked my bank and no payment has been taken yet, how long does it usually take?

momist

I wish I'd known about the discussions on here . . .
It seems that if you tick any of the boxes wrong, your application will be rejected and you have to then go the Visa route, with a three day wait for an appointment and then another wait for your passport to be couriered back to you later. With a weekend and a bank holiday in the way, and the travel to London as well once I had the appointment made, there was no chance of me getting the visa in time for my family funeral.


What did I do wrong? The form asks "Do you have a physical or mental disorder" and I thought, yes, I have Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation, about every six months at random. I expected that having ticked the 'Yes' box, there would be some magic pop up or submenu to let me enter what the problem was. No. Just a flat refusal to grant an ESTA. Book an appointment for an interview to apply for a visa. No ESTA reapplications permitted.



I should have lied.


Will I be allowed to apply for an ESTA in two years time, or will I always have to apply for a visa? No way to know. You cannot telephone to ask for advice. There is no online chat service that I can find. Not even an email enquiry service? Can anyone help me?

jackieblack

momist wrote: »

I wish I'd known about the discussions on here . . .
It seems that if you tick any of the boxes wrong, your application will be rejected and you have to then go the Visa route, with a three day wait for an appointment and then another wait for your passport to be couriered back to you later. With a weekend and a bank holiday in the way, and the travel to London as well once I had the appointment made, there was no chance of me getting the visa in time for my family funeral.


What did I do wrong? The form asks "Do you have a physical or mental disorder" and I thought, yes, I have Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation, about every six months at random. I expected that having ticked the 'Yes' box, there would be some magic pop up or submenu to let me enter what the problem was. No. Just a flat refusal to grant an ESTA. Book an appointment for an interview to apply for a visa. No ESTA reapplications permitted.



I should have lied.

No, you should have checked before giving an inaccurate answer.
In the FAQs https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/application.html?execution=e2s1, under 'CAN YOU PROVIDE GUIDANCE AND CLARIFICATION FOR SOME OF THE ELIGIBILITY QUESTIONS?' it states
Physical or Mental Disorders
With regard to physical or mental disorders, answer "Yes" to this question if:

You currently have a physical or mental disorder and a history of behavior associated with the disorder that may pose or has posed a threat to your property, safety or welfare or that of others; or
You had a physical or mental disorder and a history of behavior associated with the disorder that has posed a threat to your property, safety or welfare or that of others and the behavior is likely to recur or lead to other harmful behavior.
Answer "No" if:
You currently have no physical or mental disorders; or
You have or had a physical or mental disorder without associated behavior that may pose or has posed a threat to your property, safety or welfare of that of others; or
You currently have a physical or mental disorder with associated behavior, but that behavior has not posed, does not currently pose nor will pose a threat to your property, safety or welfare or that of others; or
You had a physical or mental disorder with associated behavior that posed a threat to your property, safety or welfare or that of others, but that behavior is unlikely to recur.

Mistakes can be corrected right up until you click submit

Sorry that you missed the funeral but unfortunately it appears to be an error of your own making.



https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1088/kw/esta/session/L3RpbWUvMTUyNzY3Nzk2Ny9zaWQvd3dQNDVYTm4%3D
How do I correct a mistake on my ESTA application?

3. You answered a question about your eligibility to travel to the U.S. under the visa waiver program incorrectly and were denied authorization as a result.

If you discover that you are not eligible to come to the U.S. under the visa waiver program, because of a an arrest or conviction for a crime that resulted in serious damage to property, or serious harm to another person or govenment entity (such as fraud, or possession of narcotics), a violation of any law related to possessing, using, or distributing illegal drugs, or other reason, your only option is to apply for a visa. At that time your previous actions, along with your current situation will be assessed, and the embassy may determine that you are now eligible to come to the U.S. on a visitor or other type of visa. If you lie on your ESTA application and are able to board a plane because of the deception, when you arrive, you will be removed and banned from entering the U.S. for up to 5 years.

You can look here for a more detailed description of crimes involving moral turpitude (CIMT).

To email us about the eligibility portion of the application, please submit a question by clicking on the "Email us your Question" button from the current page at the top right column.

alanrowell

jackieblack wrote: »

How do I correct a mistake on my ESTA application?

3. You answered a question about your eligibility to travel to the U.S. under the visa waiver program incorrectly and were denied authorization as a result.

If you discover that you are not eligible to come to the U.S. under the visa waiver program, because of a an arrest or conviction for a crime that resulted in serious damage to property, or serious harm to another person or govenment entity (such as fraud, or possession of narcotics), a violation of any law related to possessing, using, or distributing illegal drugs, or other reason, your only option is to apply for a visa. At that time your previous actions, along with your current situation will be assessed, and the embassy may determine that you are now eligible to come to the U.S. on a visitor or other type of visa. If you lie on your ESTA application and are able to board a plane because of the deception, when you arrive, you will be removed and banned from entering the U.S. for up to 5 years.

That doesn't make sense - the question is about being denied an ESTA because you made a mistake and the answer is about getting an ESTA despite not being eligible for one.

They also can't spell "government"

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1088/~/i-made-a-mistake-on-my-esta-application

jackieblack

alanrowell wrote: »

That doesn't make sense - the question is about being denied an ESTA because you made a mistake and the answer is about getting an ESTA despite not being eligible for one.

They also can't spell "government"

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1088/~/i-made-a-mistake-on-my-esta-application

The bit not in bold doesn't apply to momist anyway.

But as they made an error in their answer to one of the eligibility questions, contacting them using the button, as suggested, can't make it worse and might possibly elicit an answer about future ESTA eligibility :huh:

Aldo14

My elderly parents have just took out an ESTA from a website they found using Google as the travel agent suggested (personally I don't see the point of travel agents if they cannot help them do these sorts of things.)

They were charged £135.50 from the website they found on Google. Now there application has been approved, but they aren't travelling until October 2018.

This website is not the website as said on this website and forum. My mother has since sent an angry email asking why she has been overcharged. Is there anyway she can get her money back? She used a debit card.

Thank you to anyone who can help.