Fees announced for U.S. visa waiver programme ESTAs

MONDAY, AUGUST 16: Effective September 8, 2010, the United States will begin charging a fee to U.S.-bound travelers from visa waiver program (VWP) countries for the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).

Since ESTA became mandatory in January 2010, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has had discretion to charge a fee to cover the costs of administering the program.  DHS has now determined that cost to be $4.00 per registration.  DHS will also collect an additional $10.00 fee pursuant to the Travel Promotion Act of 2009, for a total of $14.00 per ESTA registration.

ESTA is an electronic travel authorization that all citizens of VWP countries must obtain prior to boarding a carrier to travel by air or sea to the United States under the VWP.  The requirement does not affect most Bermudians, U.S. citizens returning from overseas, or citizens of VWP countries traveling on a valid U.S. visa.

Visa waiver countries are Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

ESTA applications may be submitted at any time prior to travel, and once approved, generally will be valid for up to two years or until the applicant’s passport expires, whichever comes first. Authorizations are valid for multiple entries into the U.S.  DHS recommends that ESTA applications be submitted as soon as an applicant begins making travel plans.

VWP travelers are required to log onto the ESTA website at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/ and complete an on-line application.  The web-based system prompts applicants to answer basic biographic and eligibility questions typically requested on a paper I-94W form.  Electronic authorization is required at least 72 hours in advance of travel.

Initially, the new ESTA fee must be paid by credit card at pay.gov at the time of enrollment. DHS is exploring the possibility of adding other payment methods in the future.  Some debit cards may be used for payment but only if they do not require a numerical pin.  Pay.gov uses advanced encryption to protect transactions while applicants are logged in.  When accessing a profile, any account numbers applicants have entered will be masked on-screen.

Existing ESTA registrations remain valid for travel through their expiration date; there is no need to re-register when the new fees go into effect.