US to charge £9 for Esta compulsory travel entry form

[PAXboy]

The US government is to start charging UK travellers $14 (£9) to apply for permission to enter the country. The compulsory Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (Esta) is free at present, but from 9 September visitors to the US will have to pay for it.

BBC News - US to charge £9 for Esta compulsory travel entry form (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10899968)

[ZFT]

Insignificant compared with the UK APD though!!

[fincastle84]

I suppose Obama will blame BP for the need to impose the fee!:uhoh:

[raffele]

We know this has been in the pipeline for months. It's quite a reasonable price to pay, and as ZFT says it's insignificant compared to our ridiculous APD, supposedly for 'environmental' reasons. At least some, if not all, of the ESTA charge will go on promoting tourism. It's worth noting that if you enter the states by land you have to pay a $6 administration fee, but don't have to complete an ESTA.

[Avman]

With all the ancillary costs associated with it, very gradually the cost of a family holiday is becoming almost prohibitive. I can see me staying in Costa Del Garden in the future!

[MerchantVenturer]

Have I got this right?

As a UK citizen going to the USA for a short holiday I have to obtain a visa or, if I'm considered suitable, can apply for the visa waiver scheme.

I will also have to pay £9 to enter the country.

A US citizen coming to the UK for short holiday does not need a visa and there is no charge to enter the country.

Seems a bit one-sided but as our prime minister has told the world we are junior partners to the USA I suppose we must doff our hats to the mighty Sam and accept the fact gratefully that we are allowed to enter his country at all - those who want to go that is.

Air passenger duty applies to everyone, whether British or overseas nationality, who flies from a UK airport so that is at least even-handed even if the duty itself is controversial.

[Capetonian]

Normally these charges and requirements are reciprocal so it is possible that the UK may introduce a charge.

As it is my compatriots (fortunately I have an EU passport) have to pay R816 for a short term visa or nearly R3000 for a 2 year one to visit the UK, whereas UK citizens do not pay for a holiday visa to SA. There is also the time involved, it's all a bit aggravating but it's the fault of our own Department of Home Affairs who allowed criminals to get ther filthy hands on blank passports which were then issued to non-South Africans.

[Gulfstreamaviator]

if you go on to the web site, it specifically states:

All passengers traveling under the Visa Waiver Program are required to have an approved travel authorization prior to traveling to the United States by air or sea. Even non-ticketed infants are required to have an approved travel authorization, if they do not have a visa for travel to the United States. An application may be submitted by a third party on behalf of a Visa Waiver Program traveler.

So if you have a visa you dont pay.

glf

[Jarvy]

All the news articles seem to be saying that it replaced the I-94, it hasn't so you still need to fill out the I-94.

[Pohutu]

Jarvy

They've been trialling the replacement of the I-94 with just the ESTA for some months now between New Zealand and the US, so I imagine that this will be rolled out to other countries soon.

[SPIT]

America seems to get more isolationist every day. Soon no one will vist there and then the American tourist organisations will complain :):):confused:

[DC10RealMan]

Simples! Go on holiday elsewhere. Canada for example, Wonderful Country, Wonderful people, and a feeling that as a visitor/tourist you are welcome.

[PAXboy]

As Capetonian says, South Africans have been shafted by the UK govt for a fee and so I expect the SA govt to return the favour. I have many SA friends and they can ill afford the Visa when travelling/staying here is seriously expensive for them. As far as I know, the Brits have not instituted a similar scheme against the other former colonies of OZ/NZ/Canada.

I recall in the early 1990s my lady needed a Visa to visit India, even though it was clearly a bureaucratic exercise just to keep people employed and generate income to pay for their employment.

In the current financial crisis, I expect many more countries to do this.

[ExXB]

... or become a Canadian who don't need visa waivers (as no visa is required) or ESTA!

Don't forget to check out Moral Turpitude before you apply, you don't want to get that one wrong ...:ugh:

[PAXboy]

What I want to know is - just how Turpi does the tude have to be, before it's moral enough for the USA? Could be a good summer finding out ... :}

[radeng]

For India and China, you need a Visa, as well as letters of invitation. For Turkey, you get your Visa on entry. It cost me £10 in May. A guy from Eire and one from the Netherlands paid €15, while France and Italy were free. The US guy paid $20.

[peuce]

Think yourselves lucky ...
I have recently paid:


A$100 for a VISA to enter India
A$150 for a VISA to enter Vietnam
US$25 to get into Cambodia ... and another US$25 to get out of Cambodia

[Hartington]

I arrived in Seattle (from London) on a UK passport on 30 July having completed my ESTA some time before and did NOT have to complete an I-94W.

I'll be interested to see how they KNOW I've left the USA if I don't have the little tear off bit to give to the airline (mind you, I'm leaving the USA to enter Canada on a cruise ship but the principle still applies).

[Metro man]

Australia charges AU$20 for an electronic travel authority applicable to theses countries:

Brunei
Canada
Hong Kong SAR
Japan
Malaysia
Singapore
South Korea
United States of America

However electronic visa applications from these countries are free:

Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Monaco
The Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Republic of San Marino
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom - British Citizen
Vatican City

[fincastle84]

Simples! Go on holiday elsewhere. Canada for example, Wonderful Country, Wonderful people, and a feeling that as a visitor/tourist you are welcome. Mmmmm, Edmonton in January as an escape from the British winter. Somehow I think that I still prefer Saninbel FL.:cool:

[JEM60]

RADENG
Surprised you paid £10 in May!. It's the same as wife and I paid to enter Turkey 19 years ago!!. I would have thought that would have been greater by now!!

[fincastle84]

Although our ESTAs don't expire until Dec 2010 I've just renewed them early & without any problem & obviously FOC.:ok:

[sprocky_ger]

Traveling to the US was a lot easier in the 90's :{ You just had to fill 2 (?) papers. You know the one with those stupid questions: Do you have a communicable disease; physical or mental disorder; or are you a drug abuser or adict? Sure, what the heck do you care? :ugh:

Do they really think to get rid of "terrorists" by following that road? I guess there are killed many more people in the US by US citizens than by foreigners every year. I am sure that young people never visited US before may stay away from a trip after being informed about the actions to be taken prior entering the country and spend their money in other countries. Probably tourists will spend less money over the coming years.

[JEM60]

SprockyGer.
I disagree that people will stay away. A few minutes, or an hour if you like, hassle to enter the country is a small penalty to pay for a great holiday. When all these restrictions started coming in, Mrs Jem would say 'well, shan't go there again' But we always do. We have visited the States over 20 times now, and I have never been dealt with other than with politeness, and interest by TSA people, but then, we are on holiday, and approach the booth with a smile, and a 'hi, nice to be back' Never had a problem.
Not long ago it took three quarter of an hour to get back into my home country at midnight at Stansted. Non British passport holders got through far quicker!!.

[powervid]

Went over to our family in Canada some weeks ago ( always such a good welcome into Canada, like welcome back when they see you have been to Canada a lot by the stamps on your Passport) one day went over to the USA for a few hours handed in our Irish Passports ( must be good passports to have " A LOT OF FOLK FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD USE THEM DON`T YOU KNOW " with our passports we had our ESTA s....met with guy who had just suck a lemon who said over to that building, we sat in this hot hot building with a lot of other folk for about 35min...name called, was told that ESTA s were only if we came in by air !!!!! and NOT by land and it would cost 6$ each for an 90day pass.....welcome to the good old USA....Must remember such a good Welcome... Powervid

[radeng]

Back in the '60s, I guy I later worked for went to the US on business. In those days, you needed a visa, and one of the questions was on the lines of 'have you ever been involved in sabotage?' So he answered 'Yes' and was asked at a somewhat fraught interview what sabotage he had been involved in. The attitude changed when he explained that as a British Army captain in 1944, he was behind the lines in Yugoslavia liaising with the partisans and sabotaging bridges and railway lines!

The form was also supposed to have a question about ones intentions to overthrow the US government. It is said that the late Gilbert Harding put 'Sole purpose of visit' and they never noticed!

[SwissRef]

As for staying away - it will be another item that does keep people away.

Currently I will avoid transiting in the US unless it is sufficiently cheaper to allow for the hassle (security, collecting bags, re-checking in, more security etc). This is more hassle, and it isn't even free hassle - I have to pay to get a visa waiver (doesn't that make it a visa?)

And it will prevent me spending nights in hotels (o/n layovers), money in airport terminals, etc.

Instead I'll fly via a country that doesn't put all those obstacles in the way. T5 gets a lot of my business as a result, and to a lesser extent Amsterdam and Madrid.

[raffele]

Went over to our family in Canada some weeks ago ( always such a good welcome into Canada, like welcome back when they see you have been to Canada a lot by the stamps on your Passport) one day went over to the USA for a few hours handed in our Irish Passports ( must be good passports to have " A LOT OF FOLK FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD USE THEM DON`T YOU KNOW " with our passports we had our ESTA s....met with guy who had just suck a lemon who said over to that building, we sat in this hot hot building with a lot of other folk for about 35min...name called, was told that ESTA s were only if we came in by air !!!!! and NOT by land and it would cost 6$ each for an 90day pass.....welcome to the good old USA....Must remember such a good Welcome... Powervid

Correct, ESTAs are currently limited to air travel. You didn't pay $6 for a '90 day pass' though - the $6 land crossing fee is an admin charge. It doesn't buy you a visa waiver to the country. If you were travelling by air, this admin charge would be included in the taxes and charges, but if you travel by train or road its easier for them to collect at the checkpoint.

[powervid]

Must say stand corrected re same, must have missed it on the form we filled in on the internet, however as we had cleared with them on the internet and they had more info about us than our Gran and our own goverment all on the US data base, by us droping by on a land bridge and not by air what more could they want as I am sure the Guy/Lady at the air check point would have the same data so what is the prob...or is it they just don`t want us folk anymore as we must be a pain in the butt the way the lemon guys look at us...Maybe Canada is best after all .....

[catber]

Hartington - the I 94 W (green) has now been abolished.

Confusingly, it's still referred to in all the documentation (I guess nothing's been updated yet), and they're still dotted around the immigration hall, but they're not required any more. ESTA's all you need.

[RevMan2]

I've always found the I94 W (green) to be of limited use.

You document how long you'll being staying and for which purpose and they ask you...

"How long are you staying and why?"

I once said "For exactly the length of time I've written down and for exactly the purpose I've stated", but I determined very rapidly that the INS people have no sense of humour.

Not worth it...

[PAXboy]

All border agency staff in ALL countries have 'No Sense of Humour' as a compulsory check box on their application form and this is verified before they are accepted. :p

[Jarvy]

I stand corrected on the I-94 issue, my only excuse being that we haven't been back to the UK since March.
I guessing that everyone still has to fill out the customs form or has that gone with the I-94.

[catber]

Jarvy - Yes, you still have to do the customs declaration (nope, I don't have a live chicken in my handbag), and people who previously had to fill in the normal I94 (not the visa-waiver green form) have to do that too.

It's nice not to have to fill in the form, but there was still a lot of confusion about it when I went through in mid-July about who needed what: I think the I94-W had been abolished as of the start of July.

Edited to add: Paxboy: I had a customs guy in SFO try to matchmake me with the guy behind me in line (I guess because we were both travelling solo), and then when I wasn't taking the bait, try to give me his number... I wasn't going to test out his sense of humour by giving him the slapdown I thought that merited!

[powervid]

Best and most pleasant immigration people that I have found so far.... Canada, Tahiti ( if you have an EU passport) Shannon Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, all get 5 star ,,,,,Just add on yours...

[ExXB]

The Swiss are always professional and, from time-to-time, have been known to have a sense of humour. However since they've joined Schengen I only see them when I'm flying to/from the UK.

[paulc]

Airline crews are still slightly confused. On a recent flight I was given the white form to fill out which when presented to the immigration guy was promptly torn up as I have completed ESTA. Took less than 20 mins from parking to being on the inter-terminal train having completed the usual formalities & handing baggage back for onward connecting flight. Took 45 mins to get back into the UK thanks to T1 at LHR not having a UK nationals only line + only 4 manned booths at 8:30am.

[Seldomfitforpurpose]

Only £10 to get into the USA, seems like pretty good value to me :ok:

[Pilotinmydreams]

£10 to get into the U.S. sounds like outstanding value for money given that when I drive over the bridge into Wales it costs me £5.50!! :}

[TightSlot]

Airline crews are still slightly confused
Possibly, in some cases, but one of the problems with distributing necessary paperwork is that many people do not understand (unsurprisingly) what the ESTA is - Here's a fairly typical exchange on board...

CC: Do you and your family have a U.S. Visa Sir?
Pax: Yes
CC: Really?
Pax: Yes!
CC: May I see your passport for a moment please ?
Pax: Sure, take a look
CC: There doesn't appear to be a U.S. Visa in this passport sir? - Did you visit the Embassy and spend a huge amount of money for the privilege of waiting around all day for two very short interviews?
Pax: No - We got it online

If I'd taken him at his word on the second line, he would have received a white I-94. This may not have been what happened in your instance paulc, but it does in many - you have to probe a little, and use experience and thought to get the truth.

My other favorite...

CC: Do you and your family have a U.S. Visa Sir?
Pax: No - I have a Green Card
CC: That's Great, just join the U.S. Citizens queue at Immigration and welcome home!
Pax: Welcome Home? I'm on vacation?
CC: But you have a Green Card?
Pax: Yes - My friend got some extra on his last flight and I've filled them out in advance
CC: Aaaah! Thank you Grasshopper - Now I understand! - and so on...

We are one of the trial airlines for paperless U.S. immigration i.e. the ESTA information is used in lieu of the green I-94W. A surprising number of people refuse to believe us when we tell them, and so we give them a green placebo to complete - which is then discarded at CBP when the present.


:):):):):):):):):):):)

[Lotpax]

We are one of the trial airlines for paperless U.S. immigration i.e. the ESTA information is used in lieu of the green I-94W. A surprising number of people refuse to believe us when we tell them, and so we give them a green placebo to complete - which is then discarded at CBP when the present.To be fair to the passengers, an understandable reaction given the potential humilation that can be inflicted by immigration authorities for incorrect or missing paperwork, especially if they have witnessed people being sent to the rear of the queue on previous visits.

[TightSlot]

Yes - This wasn't a criticism so much as a wry and affectionate observation. We understand that many people may feel this way, which is why we carry the spare forms in the first place.

Clearly I should have plastered my last post with smilies, so I'll do it now

[paulc]

Tightslot,

my experience was with a US carrier in mid July - all the cabin crew asked pax was "are you a US resident / citizen" - my reply being 'no' I was given the white I-94 form + customs form. The mention of ESTA was non-existant.
Having gotten the ESTA authorisation I did wonder why I had been given the form but made the assumption that the cabin crew knew what they were doing re forms. I was aware that the green form had been abolished at certain airports but not 100% sure if my destination was one of them.

[Basil]

TightSlot,
I can see that there could be misunderstandings.
Anyway, I looked in here to see what was ACTUALLY happening with ESTA before going BA pax to JFK in a couple of days.
We'll try going paperless and, if there are problems, report back.

[Hartington]

We just got back. We initially flew LHR/SEA on BA then on to Juneau and Skagway crossing the land border to Canada on the White Pass & Yukon Railway then back into the USA a few days later along the Alaska Highway. After some time we got a cruise back from Seward (south of Anchorage) to Vancouver BC and then YVR/LHR on BA, I filled in my ESTA, only got a customs form on the plane and the immigration man just stamped my passport.

We crossed the border from Canada to the USA on the Alaska Highway as part of a tour group. The Tour Manager said they kept changing the requirements. In this case an agent came on board, looked at us all, asked the tour manager to gather all the passports (ours were the only UK, there were 4 Canadian and the rest (42?) US). She disappeared into the office for a few minutes then came back, gave everyone their passports and we passed through.

On the cruise we were given a briefing piece of paper the night before we arrived in Vancouver which effectively said we needed to give up our I-94W which we didn't have. I got two completely different stories from the cruise personnel neither of which was true (I am writing to the cruise company).

When I got home I checked with the CBP website and used their contact us service. They have confirmed we left the USA when we left the cruise.

So, it all seems to work, even in slightly complex scenarios.

[Basil]

Hartington,
Excellent! Sounds a great trip.
FE took us fishing from Anchorage; steelhead trout he said; well, at least we got hammered :rolleyes:

[TightSlot]

A Happy Ending! Hooray!

[Iain Wilson]

ESTA - Las Vegas - My experience.
Went from LGW - LAS June this year with Virgin. We were issued with Green Forms at the baggage drop in Gatwick. On board, my wife made a couple of errors in filling these cards in. Ask the CC for replacements to be told that they weren`t required for Las Vegas, and that the USA was introducing a rolling programme of doing away with said cards. We did have to complete Customs Form.
On arrival, and at immigration, I noticed that we seemed to be the only ones who weren`t clutching their green cards.
Anticipating some questions at the control gate, I handed my passport over along with the customs form. Security didn`t even bat an eyelid , but did all the usual iris scan and fingerprint stuff, stamped our passports and welcomed us to the States. No issues either on the way home at departures.
Iain

[Hartington]

Tightslot, yes, a happy ending. It all worked the way it's supposed to.

Well, yes, but if I'm being picky....

1) It does seem to me that there is some confusion among various individuals and organisations - my cruise line for one did the right thing and submitted an electronic list to the US but their staff were ignorant.

2) As it happened when I arrived in Vancouver BC I did actually leave the US. But it was quite feasible that I might have been flying back from Seattle - there is plenty of public transport across the border - which would have required me to re-enter the USA. In the past I would have hung onto my I-94W derature record (I was still inside 90 days), shown it at the boder and surrendered it on departure from Seattle. I THINK (but I'm not sure and I can't find the documentation right now) my cruise line did make some provision for that possibility - they asked if we were leaving from Seattle but I don't know what would have happened if I'd said I was doing that.

Like I said, I'm being picky (it used to be part of my job). If was simply going a to b and back again I would have no problem with the way the whole thing works but I do have some questions about some of the bits around the edges because this is by no means the first time that I have not followed the a-b-a formula when entering and leaving the USA.

[Ancient Observer]

Having been to Aus many times on biz, and having often been searched by customs, and interrogated by immigration on the way in, - (but with smiles most of the time) I warned SWMBO about this on our way over to Aus on hols earlier this year..

So what happened ? - The smiliest immigration person ever, world wide, and a few questions from a lovely lady at the carousel while we waited for our bags.
That was it. We were in.....................best ever entry to a L/H destination.

(Maybe I should have taken SWMBO on biz trips?

..................but then we got to the Hire car desk. Huh! Great impression of Aus ruined...............