The ESTA electronic travel authorization is a key document for transiting or traveling to the United States. To obtain it, simply fill out an ESTA form provided by the U.S. government online or on a website specialized in this administrative procedure.
Once you’ve obtained your ESTA document, all you have to do is wait for your departure date to board your plane. Unfortunately, not everyone receives this travel authorization automatically. This can cause panic when it happens, but don’t worry, there’s a solution to your problem.
What should I do if my ESTA travel authorization is refused?
Almost 99% of ESTA applicants receive their authorization within a few minutes or a maximum of 72 hours from the time their application is submitted to the US authorities. It’s important to remember that this situation rarely arises, so don’t be stressed when filling in the online form. However, when it does happen, there are several possible explanations.
- You do not meet all the eligibility requirements. To benefit from an ESTA for the USA, travelers must be nationals of countries covered by the US visa waiver program, the use of a valid electronic or biometric passport is required, the stay must be for tourism, business or transit purposes, and must not exceed 90 days on US soil. If you do not meet each of these conditions, you cannot travel to the USA with an ESTA, and will have to apply for a USA visa at the American embassy.
- Refusal is due to an error in the online form. This is the primary reason for refusal, as travelers sometimes provide incorrect data, such as a typo in the passport number, etc. The good news in this case is that it is perfectly possible to apply for a new ESTA document in order to travel to the USA. The good news in this case is that it is perfectly possible to re-apply for an ESTA document in order to travel to the USA. To do so, go to the U.S. government website or a private website, 10 days after the first request. This time, be extremely careful before validating your request and paying the fees by credit card.
How do I apply for a visa?
It may happen that after a new ESTA application, you are still refused. In this case, you should consider applying for a B visa, if you wish to travel to the USA on a long-term basis. The B visa is intended for people wishing to travel to the USA for a longer period of time, but there are others for studying or working in the United States of America.
To obtain a visa, you’ll need to fill in a form, collect various documents required for the application, such as a recent passport photo and your biometric or electronic passport, and pay the required fee. These fees are much higher than those for an ESTA application.
Once you have gathered all the essential elements for your USA visa application, you need to go to the U.S. consulate or embassy to request an appointment. The visa can only be issued after this interview. A refusal is still possible, but if you’ve completed the form correctly, provided all the required documents and paid the fees, you should be able to set off to live your American dream.