USA ESTA

[liamsal]

Travelling to USA next month with a friend and I told him to apply for an ESTA. He completed the application and has been charged the applicable fee, however he never heard anything back. He said he doesn't remember what the website said when he finished the application process (whether it said you've been approved or wait for a decision) and when he tried inputting his details on the website to find his application number it said no application found. Have triple checked the details and his email/junk folders and no luck. Have sent an inquiry via the form on the ESTA website a week ago and heard nothing.

Any ideas? He's thinking of just applying again and actually taking note of what the final page says after finishing the application.

FWIW no criminal history or anything that would prevent him from being approved.

 

[RooFlyer]

Critical question is: what was the website they used? There are scam ESTA websites out there

 

[juddles]

Did he do the application through the official ESTA website?

Do you mean he did not note the application number? I assume then he went into the ESTA site where you can check it using the reference number, or if you have forgotten that, it also has a search tool using just your personal details.

If he cannot find it, I recommend just paying another $14 and trying again. Being careful this time to note everything

 

[juddles]

BTW, thank you OP for making me check mine - only has a couple of months left!

Without hijacking or confusing thread, anyone know if you need certain amount of time left on it? IE can I enter LOTFAP with only a few weeks left on it?

 

[serfty]

... anyone know if you need certain amount of time left on it? IE can I enter LOTFAP with only a few weeks left on it?

You need the ERsa to be valid day of entry.

It can expire during your stay.

 

[serfty]

... anyone know if you need certain amount of time left on it? IE can I enter LOTFAP with only a few weeks left on it?

Travelling to USA next month with a friend and I told him to apply for an ESTA. He completed the application and has been charged the applicable fee,

How much did they pay? (USD14?)

They should check their bank statement to see where the money sent.

 

[liamsal]

Thanks for all your replies.

He used the official ESTA website: Home | Official ESTA Application Website, U.S. Customs and Border Protection -- and his card was charged 14USD by 'US Treasury'.

Did he do the application through the official ESTA website?

Do you mean he did not note the application number? I assume then he went into the ESTA site where you can check it using the reference number, or if you have forgotten that, it also has a search tool using just your personal details.

If he cannot find it, I recommend just paying another $14 and trying again. Being careful this time to note everything

Yeah he double checked on the ESTA website where it says 'forgot application number' and it said no application was found with those details. I tried as well with his details to make sure he hadn't made a mistake and no luck.

He's doing another application now so fingers crossed it works this time!

 

[juddles]

....

He's doing another application now so fingers crossed it works this time!

Hope it goes well.

I am no expert on visas, or the USA, but if on the second attempt a similar thing occurs, then followup with the uSA would be advised quickly - you don't want to discuss issues too close to travel

 

[liamsal]

Update:
So when he began reapplying for the ESTA and filling in his details, it came up with a message saying 'A valid, approved application with more than 30 days remaining has been found for this passport'.
Looks like it all went through the first time. I told him to pay more attention to confirmation pages when applying for important stuff. Thanks again for the replies!

 

[nickfromeastryde]

My understanding (and it used to say this on the site) was that application was approved if the USD 14.00 was charged to your account