Visa Waiver Program / ESTA

Conditions you must meet

• Be a citizen of one of the 42 Visa Waiver Program countriesCBP states the count but not the list on this page, and the list is maintained by the State Department on a host that returns 403 to the monitor. No rule is attached, because a rule keyed to a country list VisaAI has not read would either invent membership or silently exclude a genuine VWP national.

  The Visa Waiver Program (VWP), administered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in consultation with the State Department, permits citizens of 42 countries to travel to the United States for business or tourism for stays of up to 90 days without a visa.

• Stay 90 days or less

  for stays of up to 90 days without a visa

• Travel for business or tourism only

  to travel to the United States for business or tourism for stays of up to 90 days without a visa

• Hold an e-passport with an embedded electronic chip

  You must have an e-Passport to use the VWP. An e-Passport is an enhanced secure passport with an embedded electronic chip. You can readily identify an e-Passport, because it has a unique international symbol on the cover.

• An approved ESTA does not guarantee admission to the United StatesRecorded so an approved ESTA is never presented to a user as an assurance of entry.

  Authorization via ESTA does not determine whether a traveler is admissible to the United States. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers determine admissibility upon travelers’ arrival.

Documents you must provide

• Provide biographic information and answers to the VWP eligibility questions

  The ESTA application collects biographic information and answers to VWP eligibility questions.

Steps in the process

• Obtain an ESTA authorization before travelling

  ESTA is an automated system that determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP).

Also stated by the authority

Not requirements in themselves. These are alternatives, exemptions, rights and warnings the authority publishes alongside the requirements — quoted here because they can change what applies to you.

• Apply as early as possible, before purchasing airline ticketsCBP frames this as a recommendation, not a deadline, so it is recorded as not officially required.

  ESTA applications may be submitted at any time prior to travel, though it is recommended that travelers apply as soon as they begin preparing travel plans or prior to purchasing airline tickets.