ESTA not authorised , have to apply for B2 USA Tourist VISA

[slinky123]

Hello everyone, I have a dilemma and I hope someone can share their insights.

I am a Uni Student ( 3rd year) who wants to travel to the USA for 2 weeks in Uni break in July 2017. I have never travelled before and I have lived in the same place for 20 years with my parents. Our whole family is born in Australia. I also have a part time job here in Australia and enough funds in my Bank account to support my stay. I have already paid for my return ticket with Qantas.

My sister who I am travelling with applied for ESTA at the same time as me. We both answered all of the questions as NO. My sister was approved, I have been denied "travel not authorised"

I am uncertain why this has happened, I phoned the ESTA hotline and they told me that I have to apply for a USA B2 visa. I phoned the US consulate help line here in Australia and they told me I should speak to ESTA.

Since ESTA hotline told me to apply for a VISA I am in the process of preparing my application so I can go to the consulate. Being a first time traveller, I am feeling worried about this whole process.

My trip is a 2 week one, I plan to visit a friend who is then going to show me around. I am going to stay at her place for a couple of days and then in a hotel for the remainder of the time.

I have been reading online for advice and it has been mentioned that my reasons for travel will have a bearing on whether my VISA is granted. I am going to visit and friend and also to sightsee. Should I say I am visiting my friend on the VISA form or just going for tourism?

Thankyou in advance for any information/experiences you can provide.

 

[OzEire]

As this is your first trip to the US the US immigration system will hold very little information about you. If there is anything in your ESTA that DHS (homeland security) may deem a risk factor the system is probably asking for full visa details to resolve that risk.

I have no idea about your personal circumstances, and I am making no moral judgements about the system as it has been implemented (ie. what DHS may deem a risk factor), I am just trying to provide some explanation about why I think this may have happened.

On a positive note, assuming the visa is approved you will have a much more detailed immigration record in the US and the entry clearance can be based on actual detail more than just assumptions.

 

[AVM]

I would suggest a visa is the way to go. I have applied for my third ETSA (the previous ones had expired) and did so prior to the recent "executive order" , I also used to have a green card but gave it up several years ago. As I attended a trade show in Iran in April 2016 after the trade sanctions were removed. I put this information on my ETSA with details of the trip and was advised I would know the outcome of my application within 72 hours. 2 weeks later and I am still waiting. My husband just decided the safest bet was to get a B1B2 visa, he has visa in hand. Theoretically if the trip to Iran was on business after the sanctions were lifted I should be able to get an ESTA.

I would have thought an outcome to my ETSA would have been in hand within the 72 hours but who knows how long it can take - at least with a visa you will know the outcome promptly.

 

[AVM]

If you are travelling about to see the sights I would have thought the reason you are travelling would be tourism.