Albir_Tom

Hi all,

I am British living in Spain and have recently gained my Spanish residency, I will be needing to travel back and forth to California soon and I have never been to the states before.

does anybody know how it works with regards to the ESTA application for entering the states as a Spanish resident ? Is it the ESTA that I will need or is it something different ?

thank you for any answers and information in advance

Tom

Joppa

Yes, you need ESTA which you can do online. Go to the official ESTA site at Official ESTA Application Website, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (dhs.gov).
Currently entry to USA is banned from Schengen countries and UK except by US citizens and lawful permanent residents so you need to wait until the Covid rules are changed.

SanDiegogirl

What do you mean by back and forth?

If you are carrying on some sort of business visit i.e attending meetings, conferences etc frequently, maybe you should be looking at getting a B/1 visa.

Albir_Tom

Yes thank you it won’t be until I am vaccinated and restrictions are ended but I was just wondering if their is any complications on the application for the esta entering the states being a Spanish resident

Albir_Tom

yes it’s for business reasons, ok maybe I can look into this too. This is where my confusion is. Do I need an esta which lasts 2 years or something different I don’t know

SanDiegogirl

How often is often and for how long ? and doing what?

Albir_Tom

I own 20% of a company in downtown L.A i would be looking to stay for around 6 weeks at a time with the future hope of becoming a full time resident

SanDiegogirl

So you would be working at this company during this time ? and how often would you think you would be going over to California during the year?

Jerseygirl

I will move this thread over to our US Immigration forum. If you intend to work in the US you will need a visa.

Noorah101

When you enter on ESTA, you are allowed to perform limited business related activities, such as training and attending meetings. You can't do your regular workday activities... for that you would need a work visa.

6 weeks is a long time to be in the USA for those tasks.

It's best not to do back to back trips, so if you do stay 6 weeks make sure you stay outside the USA longer than 6 weeks before attempting another entry.

Rene

Rete

You will not be entering the US on the ESTA. An ESTA is only permission for you to attempt to enter the US under the VisaWaiverProgram (VWP).

SanDiegogirl

Entering the US on an ESTA you can:

• Consult with business associates
• Attend a scientific, educational, professional, or business convention or conference
• Settle an estate
• Negotiate a contract

You can't work as per Noorah above

6 weeks would probably be regarded as a lengthy time for any of the above situations, and if you do too many of such trips, you might be refused entry if the border official suspects you are actually working/setting up a business etc etc

Rete

Under which basis are you looking to gain US permanent residency (green card)? Please read Pulaski's Way under our Wiki link at the top of the page to see if or how you might be eligibile.

postbox134

If you do need a work visa look into an L1 but you'll have to be employed for more than 1 year by the connected entity abroad (i.e. Span). I know people who live in the UK full time but do stints in the US on an L-1A with no intent to move here but larger requirements than an ESTA/B1

Albir_Tom

Errrrm it would purely be for business liaising and meetings, I say 6 weeks it could be 4 weeks but no longer than 6 weeks at a time and I would return to Spain for probably 4-6 weeks and then hopefully return to the states and so on