ESTA USA Visa waiver - can it be used more than once?

[Terminal5]

I applied online for ESTA visa waiver last and see that it is valid until 2012. I traveled to the USA last year and am going again soon for 4 weeks. My question is can I just go and amend the flight no and USA address or do I have to reapply again?

 

[Mal]

You log onto the ESTA website again and can update the flight number, address etc etc.

Welcome to AFF.

 

[cove]

Yes it is valI'd for 2 years so yours runs tp 2012 date.
Log on to the site and enter your number to gain peace of mind.
We are going several times over our 2 year period and there is no issue but we still log in to see it is still valid.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Yes it is valI'd for 2 years so yours runs tp 2012 date.
Log on to the site and enter your number to gain peace of mind.
We are going several times over our 2 year period and there is no issue but we still log in to see it is still valid.

Wise to confirm anything bureaucratic by ones own hand before embarkation!

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Yes it is valI'd for 2 years so yours runs tp 2012 date.
Log on to the site and enter your number to gain peace of mind.
We are going several times over our 2 year period and there is no issue but we still log in to see it is still valid.

Two blokes were travelling today BNE/SYD/LAX but didn't realise they had to log on to the ESTA site to "edit" their details ie add their new flight details for today plus amend the address of where they are staying on arrival in the US.

Only when this is done does it then appear in your current airline booking as "valid ESTA application on file".

If you just turn up to the airport without editing your ESTA (even if you have a printout of the ESTA) the airline won't be able to check you in as it looks like you don't have a visa & the airline doesn't get the all important acknowledgement from US Dept of Homeland Security "ok to board".

Fortunately these pax both had laptops they could boot up & do the update there and then at checkin. One guy had a printout of his ESTA which made it quicker as he could just enter the number straight away on the ESTA site. The other bloke didn't have a copy so had to search through his emails looking for the original confirmation he used last time.

In this case the approval was instantaneous however sometimes it can take 72 hours so don't leave it until the last minute as no approval would mean you have to delay your travel plans by one or two days until the approval was received.

It also goes without saying that getting to the airport in plenty of time is a good thing as it took 20-30 minutes to sort out the so you can imagine the scenario if you arrived just before baggage close off. :shock: :shock:

 

[FuzzyAUS]

Thankyou all

I am off to the USA on Thursday, and had a gut feel i needed to do something.. but just read this and am logging into the ESTA site now

Cheers and thanks everyone
Fuzz

 

[Sprucegoose]

Two blokes were travelling today BNE/SYD/LAX but didn't realise they had to log on to the ESTA site to "edit" their details ie add their new flight details for today plus amend the address of where they are staying on arrival in the US.

Only when this is done does it then appear in your current airline booking as "valid ESTA application on file".

If you just turn up to the airport without editing your ESTA (even if you have a printout of the ESTA) the airline won't be able to check you in as it looks like you don't have a visa & the airline doesn't get the all important acknowledgement from US Dept of Homeland Security "ok to board".

Fortunately these pax both had laptops they could boot up & do the update there and then at checkin. One guy had a printout of his ESTA which made it quicker as he could just enter the number straight away on the ESTA site. The other bloke didn't have a copy so had to search through his emails looking for the original confirmation he used last time.

In this case the approval was instantaneous however sometimes it can take 72 hours so don't leave it until the last minute as no approval would mean you have to delay your travel plans by one or two days until the approval was received.

It also goes without saying that getting to the airport in plenty of time is a good thing as it took 20-30 minutes to sort out the so you can imagine the scenario if you arrived just before baggage close off. :shock: :shock:

Great advice, thnxs Babe.....have the same issue looming and the question was wirling arounnd in my head!!!!!!!

 

[Princess Fiona]

I travelled to the US twice in the last year, I couldn't get the ESTA website to recognize my passport details to log on for the second visit ( and had misplaced the original ESTA confirmation). I had no issues either with check-in or at LAX, I must have been lucky

 

[Saab34]

If you haven't updated details I find it hard to believe that they will not let you on. I wasn't really aware of the need to update my details again, but the Vaustralia agent at the checkin seemed to just add it in right there. From waiting in queue, it appeared that at least 10 people in front of me appeared to be in the same situation, ie- forgot to update/add details of USA address.

 

[notzac]

I wasn't really aware of the need to update my details again, but the Vaustralia agent at the checkin seemed to just add it in right there.

To the best of my knowledge, check in agents would just be updating your Advance Passenger Information, which is a part of the reservation (as opposed to the ESTA, which is different).

 

[ozbeachbabe]

If you haven't updated details I find it hard to believe that they will not let you on. I wasn't really aware of the need to update my details again, but the Vaustralia agent at the checkin seemed to just add it in right there. From waiting in queue, it appeared that at least 10 people in front of me appeared to be in the same situation, ie- forgot to update/add details of USA address.

I think there's possibly two different scenarios going on here.

1. People with a valid ESTA (that is showing "valid ESTA application on file") entering the USA for the first time using that visa but omitting the USA address which is what the VA checkin person was entering into their system. I think this is what had happened in the case of the 10 people ahead of you.

2. People on a return journey to the USA wanting to use an existing ESTA that has not been updated via ESTA webste. I think possibly when the VA checkin agent scanned your passport it located your original ESTA which may account for there being no dramas in your case.

Sometimes the original ESTA can't be found when the passport is scanned & then you have the situation I explained earlier in the thread. I can tell you that the airline was defintely not going to board them had the response from US Homeland Security not come back immediately otherwise it's the same as allowing a pax to travel with no visa & the USD5,000.00 fine pp to boot.

People who have re-entered the US on the original ESTA without editing it must've been fortunate than when the passport was scanned on checkin that the original ESTA was found.

I travelled to the US twice in the last year, I couldn't get the ESTA website to recognize my passport details to log on for the second visit ( and had misplaced the original ESTA confirmation). I had no issues either with check-in or at LAX, I must have been lucky

Do the Shrek family have dual passports? If that was the case I'm assuming you used the same passport you used on the original ESTA application?

 

[Princess Fiona]

People who have re-entered the US on the original ESTA without editing it must've been fortunate than when the passport was scanned on checkin that the original ESTA was found.



Do the Shrek family have dual passports? If that was the case I'm assuming you used the same passport you used on the original ESTA application?

I do have dual passports, the ESTA is in my Aussie one. I did enter the APIS information online with QF, but I could not get the US homeland site to recognise my surname/ passport number. Since I knew that my ESTA was still valid I wasn't too worried.
It is possible that QF CSA at First Check-in updated it for me as I don't usually pay too much attention there unless things are going pear-shaped

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I do have dual passports, the ESTA is in my Aussie one. I did enter the APIS information online with QF, but I could not get the US homeland site to recognise my surname/ passport number. Since I knew that my ESTA was still valid I wasn't too worried.
It is possible that QF CSA at First Check-in updated it for me as I don't usually pay too much attention there unless things are going pear-shaped

Whilst checkin staff can't update the ESTA itself (that can only be done by the pax via the ESTA website) it sounds like you'd partially done it yourself then the checkin agent had just entered the passport details which completed the exercise.

 

[notmensa]

Thanks for this thread - I'd forgotten about updating the ETSA page before my next trip to the USA!

 

[drron]

As I said on the OT thread I have never updated my ESTA-apart from redoing just before the fee came in and then did not put in flight and address details.I have flown in from FRA,NRT,BNE with arrival ports ORD,JFK,LAX and MIA and have never had a problem.

 

[dfcatch]

As I said on the OT thread I have never updated my ESTA-apart from redoing just before the fee came in and then did not put in flight and address details.I have flown in from FRA,NRT,BNE with arrival ports ORD,JFK,LAX and MIA and have never had a problem.

Same. Had 9 entries to the USA in the last year and only updated it for 2 of them.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

It seems a bit hit and miss. I think sometimes when the airline scans your passport it will locate the ESTA but other times (as happened the other day) it won't.