Visas you fill on plane

[Tonish]

I have to confess, these days, I wouldn't entirely trust US bureaucracy to use a lot of common sense. I love America, but I wouldn't want to make a mistake over this. I can see lots of people heading home on the next flight. Maybe I'm a pessimist.

[Sniff]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Robert5988
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Elderly friends of ours saw the item on the news today and asked "What happens if you dont know how to go online or do not have a computer?" I presume the flight ticket agen would help in those circumstances[/quote]I think that is covered in the website's FAQ.

You have to get friends/agent/library etc to do it for you.

I suspect, certainly initially, the Airline will be able to do it for you at check-in, but they wouldn't give that a lot of publicity.
[/quote]
The agent systems at check-in are private closed networks usually provided by SITA or some other service provider. It's unlikely they'd have access to the internet.<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Robert5988
Also there will be Brits living abroad in a country not eligble for Visa waiver who will not have heard of ESTA

I suspect, that they won't turn these people away but that there are contingency plans for 'emergency' clearance.[/quote]Robert, visa waiver is dependant upon the passport you hold, not your country of residence. If you hold a British passport it doesn't matter which country you live in, you are still eligible for the visa waiver scheme. Don't forget too that ESTA applies to all visa waiver countries, not just the UK...from what I've seen it's been given a lot more publicity in other countries.[EDIT] upon re-reading this I see the point you're making..if they live in a country not eligible for ESTA, they might not have seen the publicity...true, but their carrier should still make sure they are aware, regardless of where they are flying from.

But I agree with you on the contingency plans. Despite the British Foreign Office claiming people would be 'refused entry and deported' if they hadn't applied for ESTA 72 hours in advance, I can't see that happening practically, certainly not in the first couple of weeks.

What will be interesting is the airlines reaction to this once the ESTA scheme has been running for a couple of weeks. Previously the carriers were responsible for checking the immigration documentation of passengers prior to flying them to USA, and they were also responsible for the cost of repatriation if those documents were shown to be invalid on arrival. Now they have no way of verifying that a passenger has requested and received ESTA authorisation, so I doubt very much they will fly the passenger back at their expense if it proves they didn't get the authorisation and the US won't let them in.

[Katys Grandad]

Hopefully it won't be long until we have some first hand experiences of this process but, at the moment, it's far from clear what the situation is.

[fanwar]

would be interesting to hear from anyone who has used this and if there is any change to the normal scenario of queeing up at customs with the green slip. did anyone get dragged oaway to the naughty step for not filling in the esta

[Katys Grandad]

I think the most common experience is that, at the moment, it's hard to tell the difference. A friend of mine didn't fill in the waiver thinking that it wasn't needed. When he reached the desk the Immigration Officer gave him the forms and waited while he filled them in.

My own experience of US Immigration Officers is that, like society as a whole, they are a mixed bag so absolutely no guarantee another on would do the same.[msnwink]

[emm]

A friend has recently flown from the UK to Miami. She completed the ESTA online and also had to fill the green Visa Waiver form in on the plane. She was told this is because it was her first trip using the ESTA - subsequent trips will mean that she doesn't have to complete the green form.

[Lyn]

We have recently returned from a visit to Orlando and although we had completed the ESTA we still had to fill in the green cards, were told they would run side by side for a while. The girl at the Virgin check in desk asked if we had completed our ESTA, it was never mentioned by anyone else.

[Pluto]

We flew to Vegas in March and having completed our ESTA's still had to do the green visa waiver form on the plane.

When we checked in at Gatwick (Virgin), we were asked "have you completed your ESTA's?"

Didn't have to show any paperwork in US. Just hand over the passport, visa waiver form and then the usual fingerprints and eye photo.

[Sniff]

We flew in on May 2nd and still had to do the green visa waiver form, which were supplied by Virgin at check-in time. The form appears to have changed slightly in the questions asked - I cannot previously recall having to enter the date my passport was issued, only when it expires, but maybe that's just my brain. But some definitely have changed - two of the questions relate to a visa (where and when was your visa issued) which, as the form is a visa waiver form, is a bit pointless. We asked the immigration guy about ESTA and he just shrugged and said "Your guess is as good as mine"

Also the finger-printing was a bit odd. Some desks had the old "single finger" scanners and people were just asked for left index, right index. Other desks (inclduing the one we used) had the newer scanners with larger scan area. But even here there is no consistency. My wife and I went to the desk together, and she was asked to scan only her right four fingers. Me, I had to scan all 10.

I honestly don't think the immigration officers themselves know what's really going on, let alone anyone else.

[pieman790]

We flew into Houston in April 09 and had to fill in the same Green Visa forms as well as the ESTA online forms