72 hours for US ESTA, new requirement

[Himeno]

Is the US better now with new passports? Seem to remember that the new Oz passport raised concerns when Trump came in.

Can't think of any issues with new passports in 2016.

The VWP rules were that in order to use the program, passports issued before Oct 26 2006 had to be machine readable (the 2 lines of text at the bottom of the ID page) and that passports issued after had to be e-passports. Non e-passports were no longer able to be used for the VWP after Oct 26 2016.

My last passport was issued in Feb 2005, before Australia started issuing e-passports (which the passport office started doing on Oct 26, 2006). It was machine readable and met the requirements for the VWP.
During a trip in 2011, I was checking in with JAL at ICN. They were trying to claim I needed a visa because it wasn't an e-passport and wouldn't even try to check it on the system. They only backed down and let me check in when I pointed out the US CBP VWP entry stamp from a few months prior.

 

[Himeno]

I detest the experience of arrival in the few USA airports I go through - and do so now very infrequently. But the ESTA system is great. The only flaw is that it is so simple that you fall into the trap of remembering to renew. The cost and ease of it is IMHO actually great.

They send you an email a few months before it expires.
Provided you are using the same email 2 years after you applied, there isn't really any reason that you wouldn't know the ESTA needed renewing.

ESTA requires an email address to apply. They send a email to this address when it is approved/denied and when the status changes (eg expires, revoked)

 

[Pushka]

Can't think of any issues with new passports in 2016.

The VWP rules were that in order to use the program, passports issued before Oct 26 2006 had to be machine readable (the 2 lines of text at the bottom of the ID page) and that passports issued after had to be e-passports. Non e-passports were no longer able to be used for the VWP after Oct 26 2016.

My last passport was issued in Feb 2005, before Australia started issuing e-passports (which the passport office started doing on Oct 26, 2006). It was machine readable and met the requirements for the VWP.
During a trip in 2011, I was checking in with JAL at ICN. They were trying to claim I needed a visa because it wasn't an e-passport and wouldn't even try to check it on the system. They only backed down and let me check in when I pointed out the US CBP VWP entry stamp from a few months prior.

I thought I’d read somewhere as recently as Trump that people presenting with passports issued after the election were causing issues as to the US they may have renewed their passports simply because their old passports contained visas from particular Muslim countries. And many Aussies caught up in that.

 

[GoldCanyon340]

Seem to remember that the new Oz passport raised concerns when Trump came in.

...only because he thinks the kangaroo and emu will claim asylum.

 

[jb747]

ESTA requires an email address to apply. They send a email to this address when it is approved/denied and when the status changes (eg expires, revoked)

I got a group ESTA for my son and myself just the other day. You get an email after you complete the application, with a few details on it, and that was all. After that, to check on the status, you need to log in to their site with the details from the email. All it said was that we were both approved to travel to the USA. I expected some form of number, but I assume it’s attached in their records to your passport.

 

[RooFlyer]

I thought I’d read somewhere as recently as Trump that people presenting with passports issued after the election were causing issues as to the US they may have renewed their passports simply because their old passports contained visas from particular Muslim countries. And many Aussies caught up in that.

Not quite following what you mean but I have a 5 yo passport with that Iranian visa in it that I mentioned in another thread. I had to get the US B1/ B2 visa because I had visited Iran ( and mentioned that in my US consulate interview as the reason I was applying for a visa rather than using an ESTA). No problems in entering the US a couple of times last year.

 

[RooFlyer]

I expected some form of number, but I assume it’s attached in their records to your passport.

The last ESTA I got before my visa did have a number and I recorded it and printed out the approval and carried it with me per the " always carry the hardcopy" philosophy of travel.

 

[Pushka]

Not quite following what you mean but I have a 5 yo passport with that Iranian visa in it that I mentioned in another thread. I had to get the US B1/ B2 visa because I had visited Iran ( and mentioned that in my US consulate interview as the reason I was applying for a visa rather than using an ESTA). No problems in entering the US a couple of times last year.

It was brand new passports that were causing the issues

 

[drron]

I thought I’d read somewhere as recently as Trump that people presenting with passports issued after the election were causing issues as to the US they may have renewed their passports simply because their old passports contained visas from particular Muslim countries. And many Aussies caught up in that.

The Trump decision was not issuing visas from a list of countries because their systems were dysfunctional.The list was drawn up by the Obama admin and if you had visited those countries you needed a visa.So despite popular opinion it was not Trump.

 

[Pushka]

The Trump decision was not issuing visas from a list of countries because their systems were dysfunctional.The list was drawn up by the Obama admin and if you had visited those countries you needed a visa.So despite popular opinion it was not Trump.

Okay but that wasn’t my issue, more that this was about the timing and impact for people. People arriving into the USA at about that time with brand new passports were being hassled more than usual because customs interpreted the newness as a result of people hiding something in their old passports so they got a new one. For the Aussies who were caught up it was simply that their old ones had expired.

Weirdly I’ve tried googling but cannot find anything pre 2018.

 

[drron]

We always check our Estas when we make a decision to visit the USA so we know if a new ESTA will be required.We often decide 12 months out so then pencil in a date when we need to apply.

But there will be a problem with some people.Our neice is a TA.On one occasion one of her clients and family turned up for their flights to the USA without even having a passport.And they were in F.This was despite being told in person of the requirements,several emails and being printed on their itinerary.

 

[Pushka]

We always check our Estas when we make a decision to visit the USA so we know if a new ESTA will be required.We often decide 12 months out so then pencil in a date when we need to apply.

But there will be a problem with some people.Our neice is a TA.On one occasion one of her clients and family turned up for their flights to the USA without even having a passport.And they were in F.This was despite being told in person of the requirements,several emails and being printed on their itinerary.

Didn’t the TA ask to see their passports? We don’t use TAs so much now but we’ve always been asked to show them prior to travel.

 

[drron]

Pushka if you google the subject you will only get anti Trump articles in the first several pages saying his travel bans were different and judges had ruled those bans were illegal without noting the original judges decisions were all quashed by the Supreme Court before Trump had appointed Kavanaugh to get a majority.
Which is another reason I use duckduckgo and on the first page here is one article.
Banned countries based on list from Obama administration

"In December 2015, President Obama signed into law a measure placing limited restrictions on certain travelers who had visited Iran, Iraq, Sudan, or Syria on or after March 1, 2011. Two months later, the Obama administration added Libya, Somalia, and Yemen to the list, in what it called an effort to address “the growing threat from foreign terrorist fighters.”

Granted this article goes on with a lot of anti Trump speculation which IMHO is baseless.Trump bans went further by banning citizens from those countries from travelling to the USA for 90 days.

 

[drron]

Didn’t the TA ask to see their passports? We don’t use TAs so much now but we’ve always been asked to show them prior to travel.

They weren't seen in person after the initial visit.The father was too busy.

 

[Pushka]

Pushka if you google the subject you will only get anti Trump articles in the first several pages saying his travel bans were different and judges had ruled those bans were illegal without noting the original judges decisions were all quashed by the Supreme Court before Trump had appointed Kavanaugh to get a majority.
Which is another reason I use duckduckgo and on the first page here is one article.
Banned countries based on list from Obama administration

"In December 2015, President Obama signed into law a measure placing limited restrictions on certain travelers who had visited Iran, Iraq, Sudan, or Syria on or after March 1, 2011. Two months later, the Obama administration added Libya, Somalia, and Yemen to the list, in what it called an effort to address “the growing threat from foreign terrorist fighters.”

Granted this article goes on with a lot of anti Trump speculation which IMHO is baseless.Trump bans went further by banning citizens from those countries from travelling to the USA for 90 days.

Sure but I’m not really bothered by who implemented anything as I think all politicians these days are cut from the same cloth, it just depends on which way the weave is.

My issue was that people coming into the USA at a particular point in time, in recent times, with a new passport were getting particularly hassled at the border because their newness implied they were hiding something. Our passports are new so was wondering if that issue has now passed.

 

[RooFlyer]

People arriving into the USA at about that time with brand new passports were being hassled more than usual because customs interpreted the newness as a result of people hiding something in their old passports so they got a new one. For the Aussies who were caught up it was simply that their old ones had expired.

Ah, understand now. Which allows me to bring out a story from Canada which, while only vaguely related, might show that there's more available to an immigration officer than what's in a current passport.

I've been visiting Canada all my adult life, spread over maybe 5 or 6 passports. In the early '90s I studied there and had a Student Visa from Canada. Fast forward to about 2016 when I was very regularly visiting Canada for business and I used to be regularly invited to speak to the good people in the booths behind the main ones to be grilled to see if I was 'working' in Canada. In the course of one of those interviews the officer noted the fact that I had a student visa from 1991 to 1992 and was working in Canada for a year after that (as I was entitled to). I got through unscathed that time, and every time ...

So the Canadians at least had stitched together my total visit history across several passports and it was there on the screen. Not so difficult or unexpected I guess, but I dare say the US and most countries who are very particular about people entering their countries have a lot of behind-the-scenes information compiled about prospective visitors. I wouldn't be surprised if any airline reservation made on the various booking engines such as Amadeus, Sabre etc was available to them (fair means or foul) and compiled for each visiting pax.

Which is a long way of saying I don't think that they would be 'suspicious' of new passports because they would have proxy information on one's past travel history in their system anyway. (Or maybe I'm way overthinking it )

 

[jb747]

The last ESTA I got before my visa did have a number and I recorded it and printed out the approval and carried it with me per the " always carry the hardcopy" philosophy of travel.

Yes, that bothered me. But I've been back to the site, and looked, and there's no specific number, only the application ID. The status page specifically says 'approved for travel to the USA', so I've printed that out. Just not what I expected, or remembered from last time.

 

[TomVexille]

I remember that as well @Pushka. It was reported by a couple AFFers IIRC.

My recollection was that it was an issue with a specific batch of new Aussie passports though

 

[Pushka]

I remember that as well @Pushka. It was reported by a couple AFFers IIRC.

My recollection was that it was an issue with a specific batch of new Aussie passports though

Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou. I thought I was going mad. I cannot find it here but yes it was reported by some AFFers. I can’t find out the specifics.

 

[Pushka]

Ah, understand now. Which allows me to bring out a story from Canada which, while only vaguely related, might show that there's more available to an immigration officer than what's in a current passport.

I've been visiting Canada all my adult life, spread over maybe 5 or 6 passports. In the early '90s I studied there and had a Student Visa from Canada. Fast forward to about 2016 when I was very regularly visiting Canada for business and I used to be regularly invited to speak to the good people in the booths behind the main ones to be grilled to see if I was 'working' in Canada. In the course of one of those interviews the officer noted the fact that I had a student visa from 1991 to 1992 and was working in Canada for a year after that (as I was entitled to). I got through unscathed that time, and every time ...

So the Canadians at least had stitched together my total visit history across several passports and it was there on the screen. Not so difficult or unexpected I guess, but I dare say the US and most countries who are very particular about people entering their countries have a lot of behind-the-scenes information compiled about prospective visitors. I wouldn't be surprised if any airline reservation made on the various booking engines such as Amadeus, Sabre etc was available to them (fair means or foul) and compiled for each visiting pax.

Which is a long way of saying I don't think that they would be 'suspicious' of new passports because they would have proxy information on one's past travel history in their system anyway. (Or maybe I'm way overthinking it )

That makes sense. I think I read that Israel taps into the same travel pattern history as the US.