Update required

[NigelM]

Hi All last travelled in April 2007.

Have planned a trip for July 2009.

We will all have vaild passports but only two of us will have the Bio-thingummy style.

What do I need to do if anything to prepare?

Thanks

[Snapper]

Hi Nigel,

You will need to apply for the new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ESTA).

The main website for this is here: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov

There is also some background information on the UK Embassy's website: http://www.usembassy.org.uk/dhs/dhs_...t_03jun08.html

Have a good trip

[steph_goodrum]

That applies for all of you including those with bio passports. Good news is though that you wont have to fill in a gereen form so thats one less bit of paperwork on the day.

[ShirleyD]

Steph I was speaking to the immigration officer at Tampa and he said they expected the forms to stay for a while yet

[Lynnes]

Shirley I had also heard that

[Robert5988]

The Green Waiver Form(I94-W)will remain in use until 12 Jan 2009* when ESTA becomes mandatory.

It is all in the FAQ in the link above.

*To be accurate, that is if you are arriving in the USA by plane/ship. If you, say, drive in from Mexico you will still need a waiver form.

[steph_goodrum]

By the time the poster goes in Julythe forms should be gone, as has been said once ESTA is compuosry in January the forms are meant to be going.

[ShirleyD]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by steph_goodrum
By the time the poster goes in Julythe forms should be gone, as has been said once ESTA is compuosry in January the forms are meant to be going.
[/quote]
As I said to the man in Tampa, the sooner the better [msnwink]

[NigelM]

Thanks all of you.

So to get it straight by the time we travel:

- We will not need to complete that green form for each member of the family but will still need to complete the one white form covering the whole party.

- We will need to register our visit with ESTA and this can be done online. What hapenns after that do you need to print-off and take with you some form of acknowledgement which you get online? Who checks this?

- As long as all of our passports are machine readable and have six months to go after the final date of our stay then that will be OK.

Correct?

Thanks

[blott]

As long as the non-biometric passports were issued prior to 26 October 2005, yes.