Planning a trip to the United States soon? It’s probably already time to apply for ESTA travel authorization. What is ESTA? Quite simply, it’s the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA), a necessary permission to cross the U.S. border. With it, you no longer need to apply for a USA visa, if your trip doesn’t exceed 90 days, all thanks to the USA Visa Waiver Program.
When should I apply for authorization? Before or after you know your travel dates to the USA? This is the question we answer in this article.
When is the best time to apply for ESTA?
The official ESTA website recommends that you apply at least 72 hours before departure. In fact, the response to the application may arrive within a few hours or even minutes, but in the case of a pending authorization, you have up to 72 hours to receive your answer.
However, is it possible to apply for ESTA without knowing the exact dates of your stay in the USA?
The answer is yes. This is possible, because when you fill in the ESTA form, you won’t be asked to provide the dates of your stay in the USA. You can travel to the USA whenever you like, as long as your ESTA USA is still valid and your electronic or biometric passport has not expired.
Nevertheless, we recommend that you apply for ESTA once you know your travel dates, because if you fill in the ESTA authorization request on the official U.S. government website, you’ll be asked for a lot of information, including: an address during your stay in the U.S., etc.
How do I obtain an ESTA document?
You can obtain an ESTA on the U.S. government website or on a specialized website. You need to fill in an online form with your personal details: surname, first name, date of birth, passport number, etc. You’ll receive your authorization within 72 hours, once the U.S. authorities have analyzed your request.
To benefit from this authorization and avoid having to apply for a visa, you need to meet certain conditions. In particular, you must be a national of one of the countries covered by the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), have a biometric or electronic passport, and be staying for tourism, business or transit purposes for a maximum of 90 days.
For the duration of the document’s validity, i.e. two years, you can make several trips to the United States of America.
My ESTA application has been rejected. What should I do?
You’ve applied online on the U.S. government website? Anyone can be refused ESTA authorization. You will not be told the reason, as the US Department of Homeland Security does not disclose it.
However, you can always double-check your ESTA form to see if you’ve omitted any details or made any mistakes. This is usually the reason why your authorization is rejected. Applicants sometimes invert the digits of their passport number or get the dates wrong. In this case, you can reapply for ESTA before you can hope to travel to the USA. For this, however, you’ll need to wait about ten days.
If you receive a second refusal, or if your first rejection was not due to an error, you still have the option of applying for a U.S. visa at the U.S. embassy. To do this, you’ll need time, as applying for a USA visa can take several months, so make sure you’re well organized to receive your authorization on time.