ETSA Visa Waiver Charge starting

[DizOz]

I saw an announcement that ETSA will start charging $14 for each via waiver application and/or update from 8th September.

So anyone travelling should get on and apply for your waiver before that date.

 

[Oz-kateer]

Correct. Get in now. Even if you're "thinking" of going again, update your ESTA and it will last you a whole two years, and if you don't use it, then no harm done.

 

[Travel Mum]

Yes, I plan to do ours in the next week or so for our trip next year as I understand they are valid for 2 years. However, apparently, if your passport expires before you go, you need to get another ESTA. So, my dilemma is that our 9 year old's passport will expire in February so I'll have to get her a new passport before then which means I'd have to pay for the ESTA. However, I wonder if I should get her a new passport now and get a free ESTA before the fee starts. Hard to know because passports are so expensive and only valid for 5 years so that time starts ticking as soon as it is issued. That probably means I should wait until I actually have to get the new passport and then just pay the $14 ESTA fee. But, do you think we'd have any problems entering the U.S. if four of us had older ESTA's than her? Would it be better if we were all travelling on ESTA's issued at the same time?

 

[Oz-kateer]

No, it doesn't matter when the ESTAs are issued - if they're valid they're valid. It would be completely unreasonable to expect that a family travelling together would always have ESTA's all issued at the same time.

I can verify this personally as I travelled with my DS last year and we had ESTA's issued a long time apart, as I alreday had one from February 2009, and then I got his in July 2009.

And then kids I'll be travelling with next month, just got theirs in June 2010.

I have a friend who is a passport control officer at LAX and have quizzed him every which way about entry conditions into the USA and I can safely say it matters not a jot.

 

[Luisa]

Thanks for the update, just did my renewal last week so will have to get on and redo my ESTA as soon as my new passport arrives.

 

[Kiwianna]

Thanks for confirming that. I posted a link to an item on what seemed to be an official site a couple of days ago and when no-one commented, I was beginning to think that what I had found might have been a hoax.