ESTA stands for Electronic System for Travel Authorization. It is an electronic authorization that lets travellers from certain countries enter the United States for a short stay without applying for a visa.
It is linked to your passport and checked automatically when you board your flight and when you arrive.
Who needs one
You need an ESTA if all of the following are true:
You hold a passport from a country in the US Visa Waiver Program, such as France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Italy or Spain
You are travelling to the United States for tourism, business, transit or a short private visit
You are staying 90 days or less
You are arriving by air or by sea with an approved carrier
If you already hold a valid US visa, you travel on that visa and you do not need an ESTA.
An ESTA is not a visa
This is the point most people get wrong. A visa is issued by a US consulate after an interview and covers longer or different stays. An ESTA is an online authorization, usually answered within minutes, and it only covers short visits under the Visa Waiver Program.
The two are not interchangeable. If your trip does not fit what an ESTA allows, no ESTA will make it possible, and you need to apply for a visa instead.
What US ESTA Online does
We are a private company, not the US government. You can apply yourself on the official government website at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov and pay only the government fee.
What you pay us for is the work around the application: a simplified form in your language, a check of your passport and your answers by a member of our team, correction of anything that would cause a problem, submission on your behalf, and follow up until the decision is in.
The decision itself always belongs to the US authorities. Nobody, including us, can influence it or speed it up.
Still not sure?
If you are unsure whether your trip needs an ESTA or a visa, contact us before you pay. We would rather tell you that you do not need our service than take money for an application that cannot help you.