USA Visa Waivers

bucksmjb

Firstly - I apologise if this topic has been raised before but I am new here.

Secondly I freely admit to having made an error of judgement and I want to try and warn others not to do the same thing.

I need an ESTA (US Visa waiver) for my trip in May this year. I Googled "us visa waiver" and was presented with a selection of sites. The FIRST of those looked ok so I Began the porcess and took it through to conclusion. I was a bit surprised by the cost (about £!28) but everything goes up so i carried on! The site claims to get the waiver done within 24hours but as yet I have received nothing. The contact email address gets returned as not known. There are no phone numbers apart from one in Florida which doesnt sound like a company at all - just a divert to voicemail message. The website involved is:
usvisawaiver .com

This site gives me every indication being bogus and/or a scam SO I urge everyone to steer clear of it. To get a Visa Waiver - go to the US Customs and Border protection Site - its £14.00 !

InsideInsurance

bucksmjb wrote: »

Firstly - I apologise if this topic has been raised before but I am new here.

Search button works for new and old alike.

Anything governmental in nature should be done on a .gov site for USA, .gov.uk site for UK etc

Unfortunately some countries dont have specific TLDs and their official sites actually look really amateur

Murphy_The_Cat

bucksmjb wrote: »

This site gives me every indication being bogus and/or a scam SO I urge everyone to steer clear of it. To get a Visa Waiver - go to the US Customs and Border protection Site - its £14.00 !

better/worse than that - its $14.00, not £14.00

Archergirl

Have they taken the money?

ChristineL

Just to help any others avoid this trap, the official site is
https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

bagand96

They probably will apply for your ESTA and you will get it. They just use the details you provided and put them into the official website (charging you £28 for the privilege.)

However, one thing their website does say:

Your ESTA visa approval in 24 hours, or your money back!

You could contact your card issuer perhaps. State that the website gave a guarantee that they haven't fulfilled and now you cannot contact them. See if the card issuer will do a chargeback.

Also, you can check the official website to see if your ESTA has been applied for and issued:

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/application.html?execution=e1s1

You don't need the application number and will be able to check with only your passport details.