ESTA And New Passport

Toki

I'm going to the US in March 2015 and already have a valid ESTA and passport expiring in April 2015.


If I applied for a new passport in say January would my old passport still be valid for travel in March until expiry date or would I have to use my new one and get a new ESTA?


Or should I hold off in applying for a new passport until after I return?


Thanks in advance.

silvercar

You can only have one UK passport at a time, unless you can justify the need for 2 (frequent traveller with a lot of visa applications etc).

If you are renewing your current passport the unexpired portion will be added to the validity of the new passport, so you don't lose out by applying a few months before expiry.

Once your new passport is issued the old one becomes invalid and so you would need to apply for ESTA again. AFAIK you cannot just update passport details on your ESTA but have to re-apply.

[STRIKE]USA requires 6 month validity on your passport, so sticking with a passport expiring a month after your travel date is not an option.[/STRIKE]

Sorry folks I got this last bit wrong. Your passport only needs to be valid for the length of your stay.

jackieblack

The above is half right :cool:

If you renew your old passport will be cancelled and you will get a new passport with a new passport number. You will then need to apply for a new ESTA.

But you do NOT need 6 months left on your passport for travel to the USA (several threads on this recently), the passport only needs to be valid for the duration of your stay.
An ESTA (which expires when the passport expires) only needs to be valid on date of entry

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/entry-requirements

http://www.usembassy.org.uk/visaservices/?p=485

If your passport doesn't expire until after your return then there's no need to renew before you go.

Toki

Thanks Jackie, I'll renew after I return. Just wanted to double check. I did check the validity as you mention.

photome

silvercar wrote: »

You can only have one UK passport at a time, unless you can justify the need for 2 (frequent traveller with a lot of visa applications etc).

If you are renewing your current passport the unexpired portion will be added to the validity of the new passport, so you don't lose out by applying a few months before expiry.

Once your new passport is issued the old one becomes invalid and so you would need to apply for ESTA again. AFAIK you cannot just update passport details on your ESTA but have to re-apply.

USA requires 6 month validity on your passport, so sticking with a passport expiring a month after your travel date is not an option.

I dont understand why this is repeatedly posted.

Why do many people believe this 6 month rule when all the official sites clearly state differently

dzug1

To be fair, the official site is not 100% clear. It is if you read it ALL, but if you read bits of it in isolation, and stop reading there, you could get the impression that 6 months is needed

photome

dzug1 wrote: »

To be fair, the official site is not 100% clear. It is if you read it ALL, but if you read bits of it in isolation, and stop reading there, you could get the impression that 6 months is needed

the first paragraph


Entry requirements
Passport validity

Your passport should be valid for the proposed duration of your stay. You don’t need any additional period of validity on your passport beyond this.


seems pretty clear to me