Do I need a Visa to fly to New York?

[Arraminta]

Flying to New York this week and noticed something about needing a Visa on our tickets? I vaguely remember filling out a Visa actually on the plane when we last visited the USA, but that was years ago?

Is it the same now?

Well done OP. Now lie back and wait for a dribble of posts continuing to tell you you need an ESTA as though no one will have mentioned it in the last >100 posts.

Have a lovely trip.

Make sure you take lots of warm clothes including hats that cover ears, New York is horrible this time of year. Freezing cold, stinks and all the street grates are steaming.

It doesn’t need to be common (although that will increase the likelihood). It might just be the same as someone on the list by unlucky chance. Or it might not be that at all!

Why type of passport do you have. The requirements vary a lot.

I just landed from New York - crisp blue skies, autumn colours, just gorgeous.
It is cold, yes, but "horrible"? No.

If you’re UK citizen you need an ESTA which you can apply for online and you should allow up to 24 hours to come - tho often they are immediate.
you can’t check in without it.
you also don’t need extra time on your passport - it has to be valid until true day after you land. Have a great time!!

I don't think anyone has asked what nationality the OP is and what passport they are travelling on, before declaring than an ESTA is the necessary document?

If she's UK or EU or Aus or NZ or lots of other places, it's ESTA.
It's a UK based site, if she's a non UK passport she needs to say so 🤷‍♀️

Well I assume you actually had an ESTA or you wouldn't have been able to check in. It's connected to your passport once completed.
OP, did this information not come up when you started planning your trip or booking flights?

Well you can deduce it was the correct information given she has already applied for the ESTAS and her childrens have already been approved when you made your snarky post. Lucky that most people took a punt on the OP being from the UK, on a website with a vast majority of users based in the UK. Such a stroke of obvious luck.

I expect the ESTA application shes filled in this morning did that.

I went to New York last month, needed an esta, there's a small fee attached.

To credit you though OP had I not been travelling with others who had been to NY before I wouldn't have had a clue either. I hadn't been abroad for 8 years and never been anywhere that required a visa or permit to holiday to.

Good. Fingers crossed it goes through quickly.

I think the ESTA came into effect 2008 or 2009, so maybe the OP hasn’t been to America for a while.

i just went to to USa in november tey said do you have an esta without even cchheking i thought bit late now!

there is a free aus one

You’re right, according to the gospel that is wiki ESTAs became mandatory for most travelers from Jan 2009.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_System_for_Travel_Authorization#:~:text=7%20External%20links-,History,passengers%20traveling%20under%20the%20VWP.

Assuming you have a British passport, no you don’t need a visa. However, you do need an ESTA. Google it online, it’s easy to fill out and costs 21 dollars. Lasts 2 years

The ESTA app is great . I had to do mine at the airport once when our flight was cancelled and we got rerouted through the US. Couldn’t check in until it was cleared but it only took a few hours to come through.

Yes you need a visa or a visa waiver in the form of an ESTA.

I long for the old days when they just gave you a green piece of paper on the plane and you had to say if you were a Nazi or not.

No. I was responding to a snarky comment a pp made along the lines of “ nah, they just wave you through”, and merely commenting that actually that did used to be the case, and was the snarky comment really necessary?
I was not suggesting OP should not apply for an ESTA if that’s what’s needed.
Do you understand now?
I know some people can be very literal and I try to be patient.

Do people really not check what you need to enter the country when going on holiday ?! No wonder so many people turn up and get denied.

Probably better if you do it now rather than it being held up in Thanksgiving backlog but I'd be doing it today.

Update!

We all have ESTAs and they've been approved. Thank you to the Mumsnet Collective for holding my hand.

A lesson learned!