Esta application how long

How long does it take for your ESTA confirmation to arrive? Find out the waiting time following an online ESTA application before receiving your notification by email or by post.

If you are thinking of shortly visiting the United States and have heard about the new ESTA system that enables you to obtain a travel authorisation rapidly and directly online then maybe you are wondering how long it takes to receive a confirmation of this authorisation.

Here we will explain all the details concerning this procedure and how long before your departure you should apply for your ESTA online.

The ESTA is in fact a fairly new system created to replace the traditional visa and enable certain visitors to travel to the USA more easily than before. However, in order to benefit from this online travel authorisation system you will need to fulfil certain basic conditions as follows.

Firstly you should be a citizen of one of the ESTA system member countries. At present the United Kingdom is one of around twenty countries that belong. Being a citizen of one of these countries means that you live there permanently and hold a valid passport from this country. In fact, the United States chose these countries carefully when they implemented this travel authorisation system and they have all signed an agreement ensuring that this travel privilege works both ways.

If you live in a country other than those that are members of this system then you will unfortunately not be able to apply online for an ESTA and will need to apply for a traditional visa. Another existing condition for using the online ESTA system relates to another travel document, your passport. This passport should of course be valid at the time of your ESTA application but it should also cover your visit.

You should also ensure that your passport is an electronic or biometric passport which is generally the case for more recent passports.

Finally, your visit to the United States should only be for tourism or visiting someone close to you. Under no circumstances can you use this travel authorisation to live or work in the USA or follow studies.

There are specific visas that exist for these situations. The last condition that we shall examine later relates to the length of your visit to the United States. In fact, the ESTA is a travel authorisation that only enables you to visit the United States for a maximum of 90 days.

For visits of longer than three months you should apply for a traditional visa. Let us now continue directly to the subject that is primarily covered in this article, which is the time necessary to obtain your ESTA confirmation. Once you have submitted your application online and paid the associated costs and fees, you will not have to wait for long to obtain a response from the American immigration authorities.

In fact, the processing time of an ESTA application is a maximum of 72 hours, or three days, even if you apply during a weekend. This extremely short processing time is made possible by the entirely digital operation of the ESTA system which makes the processing of applications much simpler. If you apply for your ESTA through us, we will notify you the results of screening by email. ESTA application is available as soon as you have decided to travel to the U.

We recommend applying soon after you have decided on plans to travel to the U. ESTA is valid for two years, although if your passport will expire in less than two years, your ESTA will expire at the same time as your passport.

Although it takes three days, or 72 hours, for the results of screening to be finalized after you apply for ESTA in most cases, it may take longer at times such as the peak travel periods of March and August and also after large-scale system maintenance. In consideration of such cases, the U. You will need to apply for a visa if your ESTA application is rejected for any reasons. The types of visa include B visas, mainly for travel for tourism purposes, E visas, for those planning to stay in the U.

The major differences of application between ESTA and a visa, in addition to the time required, are the numbers of documents that must be submitted and whether or not you need to visit a U.

In various ways such as these, applying for a visa is much more time and cost consuming. However, there are cases where a decision on an application may be delayed by up to 72 hours. Once an ESTA application is approved, the user will be notified via their web browser or email. The approval notification will contain the application or authorization number, the expiry date of the ESTA as well as other applicant information provided at the time of submission. A study of the ESTA processing times conducted by official-esta.

ESTA application denials were also examined during the study. These eligibility questions pertain to medical conditions, criminal, immigration and travel history. Right after the application is approved, this is confirmed by e-mail and text message. It is not necessary to print these confirmations. Similarly, the ESTA does not need to be presented when boarding your plane. During check-in online or at the gate , your passport information will be used to check whether the ESTA is valid and the traveller is allowed on board.

The application procedure can be run through quickly. If you have all the required information at hand, you can submit an application in five minutes. However, mistakes are easily made and can have serious consequences. If, in your hurry, you answer even a single question wrongly, this can mean that your ESTA is denied or declared invalid. This can in turn lead to you not being allowed on your plane to the USA.

Do not forget to check the option "urgent delivery" in the application form and make the payment right away. In rare cases, the American immigration service can take longer to perform their risk analysis; in these cases, even an urgent application can take longer.

Regardless, ESTAs submitted through the urgency procedure are generally granted within an hour. Apply for urgent ESTA.