US Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA)

What ESTA is

CBP describes ESTA as the online system Visa Waiver Program travellers use to obtain an electronic travel authorisation before travel to the United States by air, sea or land ². The State Department says travellers need ESTA approval before boarding a US-bound air or sea carrier ⁵.

The Visa Waiver Program lets nationals of participating countries visit for 90 days or less without a visa. The State Department lists 42 countries and territories ⁵. For the United Kingdom, eligibility is limited to British citizens with the unrestricted right of permanent abode ⁵.

Who cannot use ESTA

The State Department lists groups who cannot travel under the Visa Waiver Program and must apply for a visa instead ⁵.

• Nationals of participating countries who have been in Cuba on or after 12 January 2021, with limited exceptions for diplomatic or military travel ⁵.
• Nationals who have been in North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen on or after 1 March 2011 ⁵.
• Dual nationals of Cuba, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria ⁵.
• Travellers without an e-passport ⁵.

Fee history

Federal Register notices set out the fee changes made under HR-1, the law known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ³.

How the fee is built

The October 2026 notice splits the fee into three parts. It lists US$17 and US$13 amounts that it does not change and a cost recovery amount of US$10.62 charged on every application, including denied ones ³. The cost recovery part rose by US$0.35 for the 2027 fiscal year under an inflation adjustment rule in 8 U.S.C. 1187(h)(3)(B)(iv) ³.

Proposed changes

On 10 December 2025 CBP published a 60-day request for public comment on ESTA and Form I-94 ⁴. It proposed adding social media from the last five years as a mandatory data element ⁴. It listed further data fields to add when feasible, including telephone numbers used in the last five years, email addresses used in the last ten years and names of parents, spouse, siblings and children ⁴.

The notice said CBP will decommission the ESTA website application process and make the ESTA Mobile app the sole platform ⁴. It said a selfie requirement had already been approved through an emergency clearance ⁴. It cited Executive Order 14161 of January 2025 ⁴.

Comments were due by 9 February 2026 ⁴. The notice estimated 14,484,073 ESTA Mobile respondents a year and 22 minutes per application ⁴. A final decision on the proposals was not found in the records opened for this entry.