How to obtain the ESTA Form to travel to the United States: tips

When plan a trip to the United States has to take into account the strong security measures at airports to fly to that country.

But it is also essential to know the requirements needed to enter in it, where immigration controls are very demanding.

Below I detail the most important points to consider in this regard.

All the information in detail

1 Who can travel to the United States without a visa (and how)
2 What it is and how to request Authorization to travel to the United States
- 2.1 How much does the ESTA Form cost: price
3 How to request the ESTA Form online

Who can travel to the United States without a visa (and how)

Spain It is one of the few countries in the world whose citizens we can travel to the United States en business or tourism trip, for example to the West Coast, without the need to apply for a visa (Visa Waiver Program).
To travel to the United States without applying for a visa, the period of stay in the United States it must not be longer than 90 days.
Furthermore, you must leave Spain with a round trip plane ticket.
And you also have to comply certain legal requirements (not having been convicted of a crime...) that prevent you from entering the United States without having to apply for a prior visa.

San Francisco Golden Gate Suspension Bridge

What it is and how to request Authorization to travel to the United States

However, since 2009 for travel to the United States It is mandatory to meet an essential requirement: complete the Complete this form ESTA Authorization, acronym with which in English the Electronic System for Authorization of Travel to the United States.

How much does the ESTA Form cost: price

You must also pay the corresponding fee; currently, the price of the ESTA Form is 21 dollars.
El ESTA form is filled out online through the website of United States Department of Customs Security, and a form must be completed for each person who is going to make the trip, including children.
It has to be valid passport during the entire period of stay in the United States, which must be less than 90 days.
The purpose of the trip must be business or tourism.

Old State House at the Boston Freedom Trial

How to request the ESTA Form online

You must access the aforementioned through the Embassy website. ESTA form, essential to achieve the authorization to travel to the United States.
Completing this procedure will take you about 25 minutes.

How much does the ESTA Form cost, price

Once you have filled it out, to complete the process you must make the payment. online of the aforementioned rate of 21 dollars, of which $17 is charged for receiving the permit, and $4 is a management fee.
If your authorization is denied after submitting the form, you will only be charged $4.

Credit cards to pay the ESTA Form

Payment can only be made with credit or debit cards MasterCard, VISA, American Express, Discover (JCB and Diners Club) and PayPal.

– After accepting a disclaimer, you access the form where you fill out your personal information, passport information, the flight you are going to take, and the addresses where you will initially reside (usually the hotel address) after arriving in the United States.

Panoramic views of Niagara Falls from Canada

What questions must be answered in the ESTA Form

Now, you must answer seven questions similar to those that prior to this system it was necessary to respond on the green form that they gave you on the plane.

1.- Do you suffer from a contagious disease, a physical or mental disorder; or are you a drug user or addict?

2.- Have you ever been arrested or convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude or a controlled substance violation; or has been arrested or convicted of two or more crimes for which the total sentence of imprisonment was five years or more; or has been a trafficker of controlled substances; or is he trying to get in to engage in criminal or immoral activities?

3.- Have you ever been or are you now involved in espionage or sabotage; o in terrorist activities: o genocide; or between 1933 and 1945 he was involved, in some way, in persecutions associated with the Nazi Germany or his allies?

4.- Do you intend to look for work in the US; or have ever been excluded and deported; or have you previously been removed from the United States or have you sought or attempted to seek a visa or entry to the United States through fraud or false testimony?

5.- Have you ever detained, detained, or prevented a US citizen who has obtained custody of the child from having custody of a child?

6.- Have you ever been denied a US visa or entry to the US or had a US visa cancelled?

7.- Have you ever asserted your immunity from accusation?

How long does it take to approve the Authorization to travel to the United States?

Before taking the last step, which is online payment, You will receive the reference number of your application with which you can access your form to make changes or to check the progress of the authorization process.

Once you have completed the ESTA form, and you have paid, the normal thing is that you immediately receive the entry permit into the United States , which you must save printing the aforementioned provisional authorization and attaching it to the passport.

There is a possibility that the authorization is pending review, which can be prolonged Up to 72 hours.

To know the status of our application during those three days, from the same website you can go to the section “Update or Review the status of a previously submitted authorization to travel to the United States”,

There, with the aforementioned reference number, you can see how your authorization is being processed, and you can also update data, such as the flight or the address of the first hotel you will stay at.

Please note that you will not receive authorization if you have visited certain countries in the world before traveling to the United States, such as Cuba, Libya or Syria, in which case, you will have to apply for a visa at the embassy, a process that I can tell you in advance can take more than a year.

What to do if I am denied Authorization to travel to the United States

If after the 72-hour resolution You are not authorized to travel to the United States, it does not mean that you will not be able to go, but that you should go to the U.S. Embassy a request clarification Or in her case, a visa.

The approval of the authorization does not guarantee that you will finally be able to enter the United States, since you will need the sometimes cumbersome procedure of clearing customs at the airport.

How long is the ESTA form in force?

The authorization will be valid for two years, So if during that period you want to return to the United States, it is not necessary to fill out the ESTA form again, unless your passport expires first. In this case, you will need to reapply for travel authorization.

ORGANIZE your TRIP

La completion of this form Before it was free, although as I have already mentioned, now you have to pay the aforementioned fee of 21 dollars.

But you have to keep in mind that on the Internet you will find websites that offer you the service of managing your name, for which they charge you an additional fee that substantially increases the price to pay.

It is not at all necessary to hire this service, which makes it very expensive, since Filling out the ESTA form is a very simple procedure which you can do yourself directly by following the guidance that I have given you in this article.