In 2009, theESTA authorization became a mandatory document for travel to the USA, unless of course you have an American visa.
This allows us to check the identity of travelers and ensure their safety.
To apply for an ESTA document, you need to provide your identity and personal details.
After answering a series of questions, you can then obtain your travel authorization.
Find out how to obtain this mandatory authorization to travel to the USA.
ESTA: replacing the USA visa?
The ESTA is often confused with a visa, but the two documents are very different.
The ESTA is a temporary residence authorization valid only in certain situations.
Travelers can obtain it if they are members of the Visa Waiver Program.
In addition, it is essential for the applicant to have a valid passport (electronic or biometric) and to be traveling to the USA for tourism, business or transit purposes, for a maximum of 90 days.
The ESTA follows rules established by the American government, and all these conditions must be met to obtain it.
Conversely, a visa application may enable travelers to leave for longer periods or for other reasons.
For example, to study, work or live in the USA on a long-term basis.
Is the ESTA form a paying document?
Unfortunately, the free ESTA no longer exists.
When it first appeared, the ESTA document was free, but that didn’t last long.
The ESTA form is an essential document for your trip to the United States of America.
Whether or not you enter the United States depends on this questionnaire.
To be able to fill in your form online, however, you must pay a certain amount for processing your file, which can be as much as 80 euros, depending on the site.
This is still considerably less than the cost of applying for a visa.
There are two ways to apply for an ESTA. Firstly, you can go through a private website that offers a simplified questionnaire and handles your entire application.
This is a more expensive solution, but one that allows you to plan your trip to the USA with peace of mind.
Alternatively, you can place your order on the official U.S. government website. You’ll need to complete a three-step questionnaire, but the price will be lower: $14.
It is imperative that you check all the information you provide when applying for authorization, as any error may result in a refusal by the American authorities, and you will have to wait 10 days before you can apply again.
The most frequent error occurs when you are asked to provide your electronic or biometric passport number.
We recommend that you double-check all the data transmitted to the U.S. authorities.
After a second refusal, you can still travel to the USA, but this time you’ll have to go to the American embassy to apply for a visa.
Why is the ESTA form required by the US government?
The ESTA form was introduced, first and foremost, to reinforce security measures on American soil, and even before, when boarding the plane. Indeed, thanks to the collection of travelers’ personal information, the American government reserves the right to refuse certain travelers entry to their countries. The U.S. government has become more demanding in terms of the length and nature of the stay. The ESTA form has also been introduced to make things easier for travelers. In fact, a visa application is quite complex, expensive and time-consuming, unlike ESTA. There’s no need to go to the U.S. embassy and apply for a visa for your stay in the United States. All you have to do is apply online, from home or anywhere else, in just a few minutes. Please note, however, that you are under no obligation to carry a printed ESTA document with you when you board your flight. When we talk about obligation, we’re talking about having applied for it in advance of your temporary stay in the United States. Valid for two years, the ESTA document can be requested on a specialized website or on the U.S. government website. Bring your biometric or electronic passport and your credit card to validate your request. Enjoy your stay in the USA!