Summer is coming and most of us are thinking of vacation. Some of us like to explore cities, others maybe relaxing on a beach. I have decided to travel to United States of America. I have done some reaserch as I would like to be aware of what to expect. I hope this turns into a nice guide for everyone in European countries wishing to visit the United States. To make sure you have not forgot anything please take a few moments to read this article.
Ask yourself a few question
Why do I want to visit United States? Am I planning a short vacation or an extended one? Do I want to stay permanently in United States? Do I want to work there or study at some University? The reason for asking such question is simple, for each reason of your stay you need to follow the American law to enter United States. There are two ways of applications to be allowed to enter United States from Europian countries. Today we are going to talk about the ESTA Registration.
Temporary visitors
What does it mean to be qualified as a temporary visitor? What documents do you need to be able to enter the United States of America? Let’s focus on it right now.
Temporary visitors are people who are coming to United States for a short period time which is no longer than 90 days. The reasons that are considered as temporary visitor can be a short vacation, business trip or a crossing of the USA to get to another final destination. Lets talk about those for a moment. The United States is a very friendly country which allows you to come to visit your friends, families or just enjoy a vacation that you need. You might also be a businessman who is travelling to meet your business partners over in the United States. Sometimes when you travel for a vacation you need to cross the United States, that is considered as a cross-landing. For all those reasons you are not required to have a Visa.
Before we start to talk about ESTA registration let’s see what documents we need to have to be approved as Temporary visitors.
1. Biometric Passport
You need to make sure you have a biometric passport. Biometric passport looks exactly the same as a regular passport but needs to contain a computer chip. I suppose it is a microchip which contains informations about you, your digital photograph and a finger print. In certain countries they have started issuing such passports in different years, so therefore you need to check with your embassy to see if your passport is upto date. A biometric passport can only be issued in the city of your permanent residence. A town where you are a permanent resident. It takes upto 30 days after applying for one to recieve it. At least that is how it works in the Czech Republic. Without a biometric passport you cannot register for ESTA and would have to fill in a document for a Visa!
2. ESTA Registration
ESTA registration can be done in a few minutes on an online website which is highly secure and well supported. You will be asked to fill up all the required information as honestly and truthfully as possible. Before you start filling up the application make sure you have following documents by your side. A valid biometric passport, valid credit card, flight ticket confirmation, and the address of a place where youplan to stay in United States.
Biometric passport - it has to be valid for the time you are going to be in the United States. Passports are mostly valid for 10 years . It is such a long time so make sure all the information in your passport is valid. You might have been married or changed marital status, so just make sure all the info is correct.
Valid Credit card - registration into ESTA is not free and therefore you need to pay the fee using a credit card. In the Czech Republic the fee is divided into 2 payments. After applying for ESTA you will be charged around 4 USD, when you get the final confirmation-status that you are approved there will be a charge of 10 USD to proceed further.
Flight confirmation- They do not really require that to get ESTA but is always better if you fill that information in during registration. Tickets are expensive and are usually bought in advance .
Place of your stay- Again, this not required either but if you have it in, then you might not be ask that after landing in the United States by the officers. ESTA just wishes to know an address where you will be located. It can be hotel, a friend’s house, etc.
After filling up the ESTA registration the procedure of validation may take upto 72 hours. The results of your registration may be Approved, not approved, or denied.
If your registration was Approved, then you are ready to go to the USA.
If your registration was not approved, it was not denied but sometimes it takes longer to process your request than the alotted 72 hours.
If your registration was denied, you would need to go to your embassy and request a Visa.
Please Note: After getting the final confirmation, you need to print it out as it contains a number under which your ESTA is issued
Get Ready-Get Happy - United States
It has been a long time since I wanted to visit the United States. There were always issues which preve1. Biometric Passport
You need to make sure you have a biometric passport. Biometric passport looks exactly the same as a regular passport but needs to contain a computer chip. I suppose it is a microchip which contains informations about you, your digital photograph and a finger print. In certain countries they have started issuing such passports in different years, so therefore you need to check with your embassy to see if your passport is upto date. A biometric passport can only be issued in the city of your permanent residence. A town where you are a permanent resident. It takes upto 30 days after applying for one to recieve it. At least that is how it works in the Czech Republic. Without a biometric passport you cannot register for ESTA and would have to fill in a document for a Visa!
2. ESTA Registration
ESTA registration can be done in a few minutes on an online website which is highly secure and well supported. You will be asked to fill up all the required information as honestly and truthfully as possible. Before you start filling up the application make sure you have following documents by your side. A valid biometric passport, valid credit card, flight ticket confirmation, and the address of a place where youplan to stay in United States.
Biometric passport - it has to be valid for the time you are going to be in the United States. Passports are mostly valid for 10 years . It is such a long time so make sure all the information in your passport is valid. You might have been married or changed marital status, so just make sure all the info is correct.
Valid Credit card - registration into ESTA is not free and therefore you need to pay the fee using a credit card. In the Czech Republic the fee is divided into 2 payments. After applying for ESTA you will be charged around 4 USD, when you get the final confirmation-status that you are approved there will be a charge of 10 USD to proceed further.
Flight confirmation- They do not really require that to get ESTA but is always better if you fill that information in during registration. Tickets are expensive and are usually bought in advance .
Place of your stay- Again, this not required either but if you have it in, then you might not be ask that after landing in the United States by the officers. ESTA just wishes to know an address where you will be located. It can be hotel, a friend’s house, etc.
nted me from doing it. The ESTA registration seems to be easy and the fastest way to get everything completed.
The reason I was searching for this information is simple. I want to visit United States myself. Do not get me wrong I cannot imagine myself living in the USA but there are places I want to see very much. I am sure the United States is a great place to see and I cannot wait to see New York City. I have been dreaming of New York since I was a child.
Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom
If you are living in one of those countries you do not need to request a Visa. All you have to do is to register with ESTA.