Disaster! - ESTA rejection (for no good reason) - now need to cancel NY trip!

blameyourelf

This is a bit of a sob story, but also incredibly ridiculous.

Booked a trip to New York with my girlfriend a few months ago, flights and hotel through Opodo, 5 nights, leaving 10th January. Was going to do the ESTA visa waiver a while ago, but didn't have a credit card (required), only Visa debit, so put it off, thinking there wouldn't be a problem!

Applied though ESTA on Monday/Tues, girlfriends application was accepted straight away, mine was pending, and 2 days later I got a message saying travel not authorised. I applied again, thinking I might have filled in the details incorrectly (I hadn't), and again, it was rejected. I have no criminal record, only been in the US once, in the late 1990s (on a school exchange trip) no probs with that. Was able to answer 'no' honestly to all their questions on the form. My passport has never been lost/stolen, and is valid until 2017.

So, phoned the US embassy in London today, who gave me a US DHS number to phone to find out why my application was rejected. Phoned them, and the woman, after taking my name and passport number, and putting me on hold for a few seconds, asked me whether I'd ever thought that having such a common name was a problem, and basically went on to say that because so many people have the same name as me, some of them might have committed offences, and for that reason they want me to have a face to face interview for a visa!

When I challenged her about how daft this was, and that my DOB/passport number/name combination must be pretty unique, she said 'oh, now your going to go and tell everyone that I told you you were rejected because of your name.' and backtracked a little, saying she didn't have access to all the details, but she was just surmising that that was the reason behind the rejection. When I told her I have a middle name too, that isn't as common, and I would have used that if the form asked me, she said that I should have put that in the application too, 'like other people do'. I have checked the application form again, it specifically states that you should give first name only, and NOT to enter any middle names (and I had of course read that at the time of filling in the form too)!

And my name... Osama Bin Laden? Saddam Hussain? Barak Hussain Obama?

No. It's James Smith. Yes, common. No, not a good reason to be denied travel to the USA!

I would, presumably, fly through a visa interview, but there simply isn't time for me to do it (the have a 4 day processing time after the interview).

Bottom line, and this is the money saving bit, any idea how likely am I to get the money spent on flights/hotel through Opodo refunded? My girlfriend is understandably not keen to go without me (although I did offer her that option!) I will of course phone Opodo, but the office is closed until tomorrow morning. It looks like the hotel offers pretty much a full refund if cancelled >24hours before the first night. Main question is with the flights though: they are BA flights, it's not clear to me, following a quick read of their website, how willing they are to refund, and what circumstances are required.

Also, do you think we could still use the Glasgow to London portions of the flights to get to London and then fly somewhere else on a last minute deal, while cancelling the london to NY flights?

And finally, any good ideas for last minute holiday deals (somewhere in the EU or that doesn't have an obtuse visitor visa system!)

I'm guessing I won't have much redress to sue the US DHS for damages/losses!

Thanks for your time, sorry for the long message!

dmg24

Opodo will not refund you. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the right to enter your destination country. The refund rules that the hotel have may be completely different from those that Opodo do, and all you will get back from the flight is the taxes.

With regard to the flight, if you are booked on a through ticket you will not officially be able to leave the light at LHR. If you have hand luggage only you should be able to get away with it on the outbound, but you will not on your return.

dmg24

Did you try to use your visa debit to pay? In the US they often use the term credit card as a cover all.

blameyourelf

Ah, that's not good news!

Can't remember if I went as far as trying to use the debit card, think I may have been put off when it didn't give me the debit option.

dmg24

Even if it a debit card had worked, you would still have struggled to get an appt in time.

It would be worth asking if you can reschedule the trip, but I am guessing that the fees would cost as much as the holiday again. Nightmare.

duchy

Have you tried reapplying with your middle name on the app or will the system not let you do it ?

Chances are there is another James Smith flagged up-doesn't need to be a terrorist-a drugs conviction would be enough. My uncle had the same problem-He was an Irish passport holder and had the same name (and didn't have a middle name) as a wanted IRA terrorist -again another common name . He had a terrible time convincing the US authorities they had the wrong Paddy Mc+++++ and to get them to grant him a visa to attend his daughter's wedding in the US.

You could try and (literally) buy some time to get it sorted -depending on the fare you have you *might* be able to change the dates of your holiday to later in the year (will cost amendment fee if it is possible ) and get an appointment with the US embassy in the meantime to sort out the mess.
Too late for this holiday but at least you wouldn't lose all the money you've paid that way.

EDIT Don't just assume dmg is correct-I've changed US flights for £150 in the recent past-definitely worth checking

misa.blue

dmg24 wrote: »

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the right to enter your destination country.

I agree with that.. Don't think you have much chance getting money back..

Check about changing dates of flights, sometimes it could be "only" £150 but BA does set fee plus fare difference..

dmg24

duchy wrote: »

EDIT Don't just assume dmg is correct-I've changed US flights for £150 in the recent past-definitely worth checking

Had you read my posts correctly, you will see that I did suggest that the OP checked their options! However, if it is possible to make changes BA charge £180 plus the change in fare for change a ticket, add to that Opodo's admin fee of £50 per person, plus any charge by the hotel ... and you are getting towards the cost of a new holiday!

blameyourelf

Have you tried reapplying with your middle name on the app or will the system not let you do it ?

I was thinking of doing this. I think it would be possible. My only concern would be that a third rejection might make them think I'm trying it on, and potentially ruin my chances of getting into the US ever again.

And it does ask for first name only (although you would be able to put in more than one name on the form).

If I thought I had nothing to lose, I would try it.

Sounding gloomy all round in terms of recouping money then. The most gutting thing is that, yes, I could have tried sorting out the ESTA thing sooner, but I had no reason to think that there would be a problem, I've done nothing wrong here (other than having a common name seemingly), and I'm losing out big time. 2 years ago you filled out the green card on the plane! So much for the special relationship between UK and US!

dmg24

blameyourelf wrote: »

2 years ago you filled out the green card on the plane! So much for the special relationship between UK and US!

Whilst it may seem little consolation, at least now you have hit the problem before you leave, rather than once you reach immigration after a seven hour flight.

blameyourelf

Maybe I'm being naive, but at least a person at the border might be able to rationalise things and see that I look just like the picture in my passport, and none of the details there, other than perhaps my first and last name, match those of anyone with a dodgy history. The automated computer system has no such discretion presumably.

Worst thing is I've just retried the application with my middle name included (travel again not authorized (sic)), and used my debit card, which was accepted! I could have known about this and sorted it out months ago if I'd known I could use my debit card.