Time left on passport and ESTA

[Reed]

Hello,

My wife's passport expires in April next year with our Florida trip planned for October. I've just read something about having enough time left on passport for the two-year ESTA period? Do you need a full two years on your passport to get an ESTA or will it be just that the ESTA will expire when the passport does and a new ESTA will be required if we wanted to go to the US again on a new passport?

Thanks!

[mick]

A UK passport only needs to be valid for the dates of travel. An ESTA is only approval to travel to the USA and therefore only needs to be valid for the day of outbound travel.

An ESTA is linked SPECIFICALLY to a passport number. New passport = new ESTA. Other than that an ESTA lasts for 2 years and you can travel on it on any day during its validity.

Which October did you mean?

Mick

[Budmiester]

Your ESTA is valid up to the expiry date of your passport or for 2 years whichever is first. My last ESTA was issued August 2018 but expired Feb 2019 due to the expiry date of my passport. I renewed my passport and reapplied for a new ESTA which is now valid for a full 2 years.

[Thorpy]

Originally Posted by Reed

Hello,

My wife's passport expires in April next year with our Florida trip planned for October. I've just read something about having enough time left on passport for the two-year ESTA period? Do you need a full two years on your passport to get an ESTA or will it be just that the ESTA will expire when the passport does and a new ESTA will be required if we wanted to go to the US again on a new passport?

Thanks!

See more...

If you're going this October and don't have an ESTA, I'd suggest you sort one out.
If you are a law abiding citizen with no reason to expect a refusal, then chances are it will be granted. By "chances are", I mean it's almost guaranteed, but I can't say guaranteed as there is the slimmest element of doubt. In the event you have unfortunately got the same name as a terrorist or somebody has cocked up your passport records, you may get refused. If this refusal happens there is a recourse in the form of a VISA, but they can take weeks to months to sort out, which for an October holiday you don't have.
If you don't get an ESTA, and can't sort the VISA in time, your insurance will not pay out, and you may lose your holiday.

Really unlikely anything will happen...but if it does, it can be devastating.

[Reed]

Great, thanks both.

So I just started the ESTA process and got to the review section and the system told me that I already have a valid application. So I logged in to the group used for our previous application and we both have ESTAs valid until April next year (we applied before going to California in 2018) so it appears we're all good. Does the following look fine for travel to the US next month, Oct 4-19th:

Me:
Passport expires: 2025
ESTA (for above passport) valid until: 4 Apr 2020

Wife:
Passport expires: 26 Apr 2020
ESTA (for above passport) valid until: 4 Apr 2020

Looks OK in terms of passports and ESTAs?

Thanks again.

[Thorpy]

Looks spot on !

Both passport and ESTA have to be valid on day of travel, and passport has to be valid the day you come home.

[disney20042012]

Did you go any further through the ESTA application, just thinking of a recent thread where a dibber started an application but never finished it so when she arrived at the airport to check in she was denied boarding as the recent unfinished application made any previous ESTA's invalid.

[mick]

Originally Posted by disney20042012

Did you go any further through the ESTA application, just thinking of a recent thread where a dibber started an application but never finished it so when she arrived at the airport to check in she was denied boarding as the recent unfinished application made any previous ESTA's invalid.

See more...

Reed

Sorry to endorse this post but yes you need to read Rachy's experiences on here from a couple of week's ago.

She arrived at the airport and had doubts as to the validity of her ESTA. Hindsight is a wonderful gift but instead of checking the validity of her ESTA she started a new process and got to the "you've already got one warning" She aborted that application but unfortunately she'd gone too far in the application process and it cancelled her current and valid ESTA. I think that risk was unknown to the vast majority of Dibbers. It was to us.

Can I suggest you go on the official site and retrieve your ESTAs now and check the validity. You'll need your P/P with you.

Fingers crossed

Mick

[Reed]

Originally Posted by disney20042012

Did you go any further through the ESTA application, just thinking of a recent thread where a dibber started an application but never finished it so when she arrived at the airport to check in she was denied boarding as the recent unfinished application made any previous ESTA's invalid.

See more...

No. I got to a screen stating I had another valid ESTA with two options that were cancel current application and retain existing authorisation, or continue with a new application. I selected the first then logged in to my existing (2018) group and viewed the current, valid applications. I expect if I'd chosen the second option that might have invalidated my existing authorisation, though I would hope that would only be if I completed and submitted a new application including payment... but maybe not.

[mick]

Originally Posted by Reed

No. I got to a screen stating I had another valid ESTA with two options that were cancel current application and retain existing authorisation, or continue with a new application. I selected the first then logged in to my existing (2018) group and viewed the current, valid applications. I expect if I'd chosen the second option that might have invalidated my existing authorisation, though I would hope that would only be if I completed and submitted a new application including payment... but maybe not.

See more...

My post #8 crossed with this