Introduced by the United States, ESTA is an automated system to determine the eligibility of citizens who are planning to visit the nation of the United States. The full form of ESTA is the Electronic System of Travel Authorization. It is not a visa, however, it comes under a visa waiver program. The reason behind the introduction of this new visa waiver system by the United States is aimed towards increasing the security of travelers who are visiting the USA.
Another purpose behind this is to determine that the individual entering the borders of the nation is harmless or not. This automated system will look into every security parameter and will determine if the purpose of traveling of an individual poses any law enforcement/security risk or not. On the basis of that, the application of the visitor can be accepted or denied.
But here’s a thing to note, that even though it will determine the eligibility of an individual but the ESTA can not be used to decide the admissibility. This decision will be taken on the basis of ESTA by the authorities and officers at United States customs and border security.
Only people who are eligible for applying for ESTA are the citizens of the United States as well as the people belonging to the countries following a visa waiver program. There are a total of 38 countries in the world that comes under the visa waiver program. The validity of ESTA will only be applied in these nations.
The concept of ESTA can be defined as the pre-screening of travelers visiting the United States. It is an online process. But you will not need to print a copy of your ESTA authorization page. However, it is advised to carry one in case you get asked for it. Because there are some airlines who will be needing to check the records.
ESTA will remain valid for a period of 2 years once they get issued. The approval of your application does not mean that you can stay in the United States for as long as you want. The ESTA will only allow you to stay in the country for a period of 90 days or less.
ESTA has been in action since 12 January 2009. And even currently if any visitor wants to visit the United States under the visa waiver program will have to carry a valid ESTA USA visa waiver. Individuals visiting the United States are suggested to apply for ESTA prior to their visit to the United States. A minimum time of 72 hours is recommended for US-bound citizens.
You must have a valid passport for the process. And your ESTA will only remain valid if you have a valid passport. Meaning that if your passport gets expired then your ESTA application will automatically become invalid.
The purpose of your visit to the United States under this visa waiver system should only be related to business or pleasure that means you can not use your ESTA for visiting the country for employment purposes.
