ESTA cancelled - URGENT help please

System

HHarry wrote: »

Edit: With nothing better to do I've just sent a complaint to the Home Office. Lets see what they say (at some point within the next 15 days)

But it's the Americans that are doing this. Sod all to do with the UK and the Home Office.

peachyprice

HHarry wrote: »

Mine was issued in September 2006 and is an e-passport. Looks like someone has decided that Oct 2006 was the cut off.

I feel really sorry for those caught out with iminent travel plans.

Edit: With nothing better to do I've just sent a complaint to the Home Office. Lets see what they say (at some point within the next 15 days)

I think the problem is that some passport offices started issuing epassports as early as February 2006 but all offices were doing to by October 2006. So there's an 8 month lap over where you may or may not have received an epassport so the US have used the date that is a guarantee of an epassport rather than checking each individual application.

jackieblack

Markinjapan99 wrote: »

If we get her new passport do we have to change it to her married name? That would mean changing tickets and everything we've booked for in the U.S.

No, you don't need to change it. The name she was born with is still her name, whether or not she chooses to be known by her married name for some/any/all purposes.

HHarry

!!!!!! wrote: »

But it's the Americans that are doing this. Sod all to do with the UK and the Home Office.

True !!!!!!, but I would hope that the Americans have got the date of October 2006 from an official source - which should be the Home Office (rather than Wikipedia!)

Anyway, I got a standard reply which broadly said that if you have an valid e-passport you can use the ESTA system. And that if the US authorities won't let you, they can't offer any further advice.

At the very least they need to update their advice to reflect the changes made.

HHarry

peachyprice wrote: »

I think the problem is that some passport offices started issuing epassports as early as February 2006 but all offices were doing to by October 2006. So there's an 8 month lap over where you may or may not have received an epassport so the US have used the date that is a guarantee of an epassport rather than checking each individual application.

Fair enough. I guess like any change in policy that has the potential to affect a lot of people there will be some worse affected than others.

Well done to Virgin for giving their customers a bit of notice. Good luck to everyone who has got some running around to do in the next few weeks. And my commiserations to anyone who doesn't spot this and is refused permission to fly when they get to the airport.

paddyrg

Also, don't know if this is relevant, May 2006 is almost a decade ago, and some countries require you to have 6 clear months validity on your passport on entry - this is in case, for instance, you have an accident and end up in hospital for a couple of months so you don't go 'illegal' at the same time.

SW17

paddyrg wrote: »

Also, don't know if this is relevant, May 2006 is almost a decade ago, and some countries require you to have 6 clear months validity on your passport on entry - this is in case, for instance, you have an accident and end up in hospital for a couple of months so you don't go 'illegal' at the same time.

True, though a passport issued in May 2006 could be valid until Feb 2017, depending how much time was left on the previous passport when it was renewed (if it was a renewal).

Not sure what the validity requirement is for the USA, when checking it in the past I've seen conflicting info on the US Embassy and US State Dept sites (3 months and 6 months). I renewed my passport earlier than planned as a result, though that was some time ago and I haven't checked it recently.

dzug1

For UK passports the US doesn't have a minimum validity for entry - just that the passport is valid for your entire visit.

Where 3 and 6 months comes in is that (I think) you need that period on the passport to apply for an ESTA or visa

pollypenny

dzug1 wrote: »

For UK passports the US doesn't have a minimum validity for entry - just that the passport is valid for your entire visit.

Where 3 and 6 months comes in is that (I think) you need that period on the passport to apply for an ESTA or visa

Whilst this is true, we did have hassle at Philadelphia in January as OH's passport expired in May.

We've just had the ESTA cancellation email. Or I have, I'm assuming it's related to his passport, as we used my email for both.

tomtontom

Have you tried contacting CBP? A friend had their ESTA declined, emailed them and was asked to email back further information. They then validated his application.

The only problem you may have in doing this is timing, but if you can find a phone number rather than email it's worth a try.