The process to obtain a visa to the United States has suffered significant delays due to office closures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, so in some cases you have to wait more than a year for an appointment. Unless you are eligible to use the Electronic System for Travel Authorization or ESTA, for its acronym in Englisha document with which you can enter without a visa.
The ESTA is a automated system that allows travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) for its acronym in English). Through this modality a traveler is authorized to enter the US without needing a visa.
The ESTA is granted for a period of two years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first and allows multiple trips to the United States territory with the restriction that you can stay a maximum of 90 days. In addition, there must be a reasonable time between one visit and another so that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers cannot suspect that you are planning to reside in the North American country.
The immigration authorities shared that the ESTA does not meet the legal requirements to serve in place of a visa, so those who have this last procedure must use it for the purposes for which it was issued in the United States.
In order to be part of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization it is necessary to make two payments, one for the application processing fee, which costs US$4, and another for authorization, which costs US$17.
What is the visa waiver program that gives the right to apply for ESTA?
The VWP program allows citizens of participating countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business and stay for a maximum of 90 days without needing to apply for a visa. But instead they must obtain a permit through the Electronic Travel Authorization Systemfollowing these steps:
- Verify that the passport meets the program requirements, this must be an electronic passport that includes a chip.
- Complete the ESTA form online to find out if you are eligible.
- Pay the corresponding fee.
Once the form is completed and submitted you will receive a confirmation number and the response will arrive around 72 hours later. It should be noted that this possibility is only available for 41 countries that participate in the visa waiver program. This is the list:
Andorra
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Brunei
Chili
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Republic of Korea
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
malt
Monaco
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
San Marino
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Swiss
Taiwan
United Kingdom
If my country is not part of the visa waiver program, can I still qualify?
In case your country does not appear on the list, there is still a way to be part of the visa waiver program and that is through dual nationality.
People who have a nationality from the above mentioned countries may participate in the VWP program even though they do not live in the aforementioned nations since the requirement is to have a valid and electronic passport.
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