to think so called 'visa free' travel to the USA is a joke?

[Santasjinglebelle]

Just finished going through an online "Visa Waiver" system that took 5 hours for a group of 6, asked for all our work details plus parents names but won't now be confirmed for another 72 hours!!
AIBU to say that ESTA is essentially a visa application system? Why bother with the subterfuge of a misleading moniker?

If you’ve ever had to do a real visa application you’d know how fast your experience was!

When I did our ESTAs online the last time we went, they were approved within the hour.

I wasn’t bothered to be honest- no one could accuse the US of being secretive about their stringent visa process and security for anyone visiting, so it was as expected.

Don’t take this the wrong way but wtaf were you doing? I used to do ESTA applications for people at work and it took max 10 minutes per application... how on earth did you take an average of 50 minutes per person?
Oh and if you want visa system, try an immigration lawyer, court petition, hours of form filling, photographs, fingerprints, embassy interviews and 4 months of my life which is what I had to do for my US visa!
Anyway I hope your holiday is more enjoyable than the ESTA process

newballs
Fair point, the last time I was stateside there was genuine visa free travel (before 9/11), since kids cane along we've mostly holidayed in Europe but even the further out places we've been allowed visa on arrival

dinosaurkisses
troubledlichen

Now I'm worried - the site said we'd hear back within 3days. No criminal, drug or terror background in the group. Or so I thought.......

OP, the website says that but they’re usually v quick on the turnaround.

You used the official site didn’t you? It costs £14 or so- my dad warned me about a million times that there are some very official looking websites that charge £35+ to effectively capture your data and send it to the official ESTA folks themselves and they pocket the difference. I’d imagine they wouldn’t be as efficient.

Maybe I'm not understanding properly, but how did it take 5 hours? It took us at MOST ten minutes for 3 people. Did you use the official site? It's $14US? esta.cbp.dhs.gov/

Sorry for the bother and thanks for making the effort. We adore our British visitors.

I suspect the 72 hour timeframe is a worst case scenario of part of the authorization needs a manual intervention.

Have a lovely visit. 😇

I meant it takes usually 10 minutes max to complete the form. If they don’t come back as approved instantly, which is not unheard of, it’s nearly always within 24 hours. Don’t worry, just check back tomorrow

And it should cost $14 by the way.

I think of ESTA as visa-lite.

I did use the official site, paying $14 each. I have to admit that I wasted a lot of time with the first application trying to load the passport just right until eventually gaving up to type all the details in.

Several of the applications just froze at the review point. Had to tick 'confirm and continue' a good 6/7 times for each section, on each application.

As someone who had to give up their lovely esta when they got a visa to live and work in the USA, I say make the most of it. I am now in a huge line every time I enter the states, last time there was a huge pile of sick we had to stand beside for an hour while people half heartedly tried to clean it up, they tried to make us walk through it at one point. Be very grateful for the ESTA.

Global entry mozzy! Even the baby has it and it’s brilliant for queue jumping

came in to say what Troubled said.

Going through the actual US Visa system would make you feel so much better about the ESTA.

I have just done it for 3 people. It took 20 minutes - couldn't be bothered with the faff of uploading a passport, just typed the details in.

Finished it at about 8pm and had an e-mail at 11pm to confirm.

NewBallsPlease; Yes... Thanks for saying...

This post is very suburban dear. Your visa will clear very soon if no body has any problems, mine was cleared in 24 despite the 72 hr warning.

I have just done the ESTAs for our forthcoming US trip in September and it didn't take that long at all. I have done it before, so had a fair idea of what to expect and had the majority of details ready. I don't remember being asked about my place of employment last time, though. I never did get the email to say they had been approved. I just popped back to check. I do remember having to get a visa to visit when I got married and waiting in a huge queue at the American consulate in Edinburgh. ESTAs are far better.

im sorry to say an esta should be cleared really quickly and if it isn't there's a problem with one of them.

inreqlly hope I'm wrong and you enjoy your holiday x

If you log out and log back in again they are usually approved.

i think the 72 hr message pops up if you send it outside american working hours so is a generic message designed to cover weekends etc.

You may not get the "approved" email for a while, but if you go back on the site and plug in the application number in the " check progress" field you normally find it's cleared in a few hours.

I submitted two ESTAs recently - I didn't get a confirmation e mail to say whether they had been approved so I checked via the site and they had been. I did get a bit confused as to why the expiry dates were different (mine was a month earlier than daughter's) but then I realised that was when my passport expires!

As the others said, it's a minor inconvenience all things considered.

I’ve done several applications over the years and if I remember rightly you can log in and check your application status fairly quickly after completing it. I dont remember them emailing me the approval, more of a check back and see type process.
Might be worth logging in this morning and checking the application number, you might be pleasantly surprised that it’s all approved

Wait until you get to the border control in the USA and have a massive queue to get in! They don't make it easy but it's so worth it! Love the US 😍