Rixy

New rules requiring Britons to register online before travelling to America could lead to thousands of tourists being turned away at US airports.
Those who have not logged themselves are likely to be detained and sent home, the Foreign Office (FO) has warned.

From Monday, Britons travelling to the US on the visa waiver scheme will need to fill in an electronic travel authorisation form 72 hours before their trip.

The information travellers provide is the same as they are required to produce on the forms they fill out on planes flying to the US.

Travellers do not have to specify exactly when they are travelling and the electronic authorisation, which is replacing the on-plane forms, lasts for two years.

"Problems may also occur if UK tourists travel to the USA via another country - like Canada or the Caribbean Islands - and don't realise that they will need the Esta to gain entry."

Caitilin

What happens if you land in the US on a stopover, will you need this authorisation then as well?

ie, flying from canada to say,brazil?

G77

Note that this doesn't apply to land borders..... yet

pennyhp

Yes I want to know this too.
My son traveled to Mexico from Canada on Jan 1 and is there for a couple of months.
He will be making 2 stopovers in the US on his return journey to Canada.

deanjp32

So if you are a brit PR of Canada i guess it will still apply will it not???

misplacedheidi

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta.h...7-F0818EDBB058

LINK FOR ESTA

fledermaus

I read this before and thought that it would apply to land travellers.

It's easy enough to do and the ESTA lasts for 2 years and it's free.

Be careful when you do a search as there are some websites who charge you for completing the form whereas the Dept of Homeland Secuirty doesn't

Rixy

Just thought i'd let everyone know.

About the land borders I think there going to implement it too.
For stopovers, or transfers I'm not sure it counts unless your leaving the airport terminal.

Granma Nessie

I am travelling to Canada on Wednesday the 14th January and then my daughter and family and myself are then to motor to Buffalo on Saturday17th Jan to catch a plane to Florida.

At first I thought I would not need to do the ESTA thing as I would not technically be flying into USA from a country outside the USA. I checked with my travel agent and they said I should do the ESTA registration anyway. They were going to charge £10 to do it but it is really very easy to do yourself. To save any confusion I did not put my American flight details into the form only the accommodation I would be staying at in Florida. No problem . When I presed the submit button I got an instant approval to travel along with a registration number which I have carefully written down to show at the Canadian/ American border if requested to do so. It only takes about 10 mins to do the online form so if you think you may need it I recommend you do it ASAP as who knows if the website maynot be up to handling all the requests they may receive in the coming weeks and could crash or be out of service just when you go to register.

DaveLovesDee

Will people still need to complete an I-94 form? I believe we won't, but the ESTA page doesn't say.

Pollyana

Looks like it, yes - see this post

DaveLovesDee

What do they do if you're flying for example from Canada to Mexico without needing to land in the US (therefore no need for an ESTA), but your aircraft has to land in the US due to an emergency requiring you to leave the aircraft.

Pamela 1

Canada is not listed as one of the countries who need to do this, so Brits who are Canadian citizens I don't think would have to have this as they would supposedly have a Canadian Passport. For Brits who are PR but travel on British Passport - I don't know.

val50

Got this from their website. We are flying to Ireland next week via Newark so will have to apply.

Do nationals or citizens of countries that participate in the VWP require an ESTA™ if they are only transiting the United States en route to another country?

A: Yes. The United States no longer has a Transit Without Visa program, so eligible nationals or citizens of countries that participate in the VWP will require either an ESTA™ or a visa to transit the United States. If a traveler is only planning to transit through the United States en route to another country, when he or she completes the ESTA™ application, the traveler should enter the words "In Transit" and his or her final destination location in the address lines under the heading "Address While In The United

DaveLovesDee

Thanks Val.