ESTA - US Point of contact? - Do they check with the staying place to confirm this??

DTDfanBoy

jackieblack wrote: »

You don't need to put anything on the form, it's optional and changeable (if you change your mind).

It isn't optional, you can't complete the ESTA application with the contact field blank

However if you follow the instructions on their website and enter UNKNOWN into the field you can complete the ESTA application process

MABLE

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

There is however a guarantee that if you get caught telling porkies on your ESTA by a US border officer you've just greatly increased the chances of you being refused entry

If you don't know simply put UNKNOWN on the form, don't starting making things up :eek:

You certainly do not want to upset the border officials. They can certainly be very, very unpleasant. The most aggressive ones i found are at JFK.

jackieblack

DTDfanBoy wrote: »

It isn't optional, you can't complete the ESTA application with the contact field blank

However if you follow the instructions on their website and enter UNKNOWN into the field you can complete the ESTA application process

Then it must have changed recently, when I did my last one (last April/May time?) I just put my mobile and email address
Never worried about hotel details (I hadn't decided when I made the application)

victor2

jackieblack wrote: »

Then it must have changed recently, when I did my last one (last April/May time?) I just put my mobile and email address
Never worried about hotel details (I hadn't decided when I made the application)

Likewise, I just put my email address. But it was a few years ago.

jackieblack

MABLE wrote: »

You certainly do not want to upset the border officials. They can certainly be very, very unpleasant. The most aggressive ones i found are at JFK.

Personally, although I've never flown into JFK, I've never found any border official rude or unpleasant.
They're not 'chatty' or 'smiley', always very serious and matter of fact, but then they do a serious job.

pollypenny

Border officials are chatty sometimes. I once had to explain Christmas pudding in Philadelphia Airport. The Tampa officials were always lovely.

Had a grumpy guts in Philadelphia recently. Things weren't running very smoothly, though and we were over an hour getting through.

callum9999

jackieblack wrote: »

Personally, although I've never flown into JFK, I've never found any border official rude or unpleasant.
They're not 'chatty' or 'smiley', always very serious and matter of fact, but then they do a serious job.

In the US I've had incredibly aggressive border officials (as in so aggressive I was expecting to be denied entry...), chatty agents, smiley agents and "serious matter of fact" agents.

You can't judge a workforce of almost 20,000 employees based on your tiny handful of experiences!

jackieblack

callum9999 wrote: »

In the US I've had incredibly aggressive border officials (as in so aggressive I was expecting to be denied entry...), chatty agents, smiley agents and "serious matter of fact" agents.

You can't judge a workforce of almost 20,000 employees based on your tiny handful of experiences!

Of course not, just offering an alternative experience
Maybe I've just been lucky.

Unfortunately, I know people who have been put off visiting the USA because of stories about aggressive border staff.
I'm not saying there aren't any, just that I've never encountered any.

The chap who admitted us at Seattle was quite friendly, the ones at Newark and Dulles most serious. Everyone else at all various other points of entry, have been somewhere in between, but not rude, unpleasant or aggressive.

PompeyPete

I'm only transitting Houston Airport for a couple of hours on the way to Nicaragua. A little peeved at having to get an ESTA.

PeacefulWaters

baza52 wrote: »

just wait until you have decided which hotel your staying at.
As long as you don't have any convictions etc the visa will be granted in about half an hour if doing it online. maybe less

I have no convictions and mine too three days to come through.