For stays of less than 90 days for business, tourism or transit, the U.S. Visa Waiver Program allows nationals of the 41 countries covered by the program to travel to the U.S. without a visa, subject to certain conditions. In addition to possessing a valid passport that meets the requirements of the American authorities, they must obtain an electronic travel authorization by filling in an online form.
Planning a trip to the USA
To travel to the USA with peace of mind, it’s essential to get organized before you leave. On the one hand, you need to pay close attention to your destination, accommodation and activity bookings, at the risk of missing out on certain attractions. Secondly, you need to obtain ESTA authorization or a U.S. visa. For the visa, the process at the American embassy is more complex, so if you meet the requirements of the American authorities, we recommend you apply for an ESTA online.
All you need to do is visit either the U.S. government website or a private site, but we’ll come back to that later. To apply online, travelers must meet all of the following criteria:
- be a national of one of the countries covered by the Visa Waiver Program;
- have a valid electronic or biometric passport, otherwise you must apply for a passport at your local town hall;
- travel to the USA by air or sea;
- stay on U.S. soil for tourism, business or transit;
- a round-trip ticket proving that you are staying in the U.S. for a maximum of 90 days.
The ESTA authorization allows the holder to visit the USA several times, for the duration of its validity (2 years), unless the electronic or biometric passport expires in the meantime. In this case, a new ESTA application must be submitted as soon as possible.
Completing the ESTA questionnaire
To obtain the ESTA travel document, the traveler must duly complete an online form. To ensure that you get the authorization, log on to a specialized site for assistance. The private company will collect, verify and send your various data. Alternatively, you can apply for the ESTA document yourself on the official U.S. government website. Most of the time, you’ll be asked to provide the same information, including your first name, surname, passport number and e-mail address. To validate your application, you must pay the required fee.
Once the application has been submitted to the relevant authorities, you will receive a reply within 72 hours at the latest. In the event of a refusal, you have two options: you can renew your ESTA application on the government website. This solution usually allows you to rectify the mistake you made on your ESTA form, so stay focused when rereading it. If you are unable to receive ESTA authorization, there is another solution: applying for a visa at the US embassy.