View Full Version : esta visa waiver
Big Al 154
10-01-2010, 05:27
Hi all,
We went to florida last year on the esta. we want to go again for xmas 2010. our esta's run out Jan 2011. are they similar to passports? (I.E need a certain amount of months left on them before your holiday. if we went for xmas 2010 we would only have 6 weeks before they expire. does anybody know if this is ok? thanks [msnsmile2]
ShirleyD
10-01-2010, 13:50
That is fine, it lasts for 2 years or until you get a new passport.
You should be fine if the estas expire after you leave the US, although you need to update your authorisation for the new flight details and address.
The ESTA website does not seem to address the situation where the authorisation expires when you are in the US - it just says it is valid for travel in the next 2 years (or until expiry of the passport), without saying whether that means travel to the US or from the US. Logically, since ESTA is an authorisation to travel to the US, that should be OK, but I would not count on it.
Katys Grandad
10-01-2010, 14:21
It's not a problem - just re-register.
ShirleyD
10-01-2010, 14:22
Martin I have never updated mine as the flight and address boxes are optional, not had any problems. I wonder why they have a 2 year deadline. I can't imagine they wipe off our details after that time
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Katys Grandad
It's not a problem - just re-register.
[/quote]
The implication of ESTA appears to be that it needs to be valid for entry to the US, which yours would be. As others have said, there's no mention of what you should do if your ESTA expires whilst you are actually in the US.
https://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1126
However, I agree with KG. There does not seem to be any restriction on applying for ESTA again. Even this question on the CBP FAQ, about what to do if you make an error in your ESTA application, just suggests you simply re-apply.
https://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1088
That way you would not need to be worried about it expiring whilst you are in the US.
By the way, you no longer need any amount of validity remaining on your passport to travel to the US. As long as it is valid for the length of your stay, that's fine.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by ShirleyD
Martin I have never updated mine as the flight and address boxes are optional, not had any problems. I wonder why they have a 2 year deadline. I can't imagine they wipe off our details after that time
[/quote]
I assume the 2-year limit is to enforce an update of the supporting information, such as address etc, so that no data is more than 2 years out of date.
I should imagine once your passport expires that the data is moved out of the ESTA database (although it probably gets stored somewhere else after that [}:)])
Katys Grandad
10-01-2010, 18:20
Because I'm dreadful at looking after and saving things like this, I've re-registered at least 3 times and haven't encountered any problems whatsoever.
lafifille
10-01-2010, 21:47
We registered last summer, and back then I had to do it more than once (I hadn't kept the number, was interrupted, or information changed, or I was just playing dumb, I can't remember).
I've registered us again for our next trip, and were accepted right away again. As KG, I don't want to store that kind of information if I don't have to.
My opinion on the original question is to do it again, then you want be worried about it.