ESTA and in the RAF

Therigbys · 6 Aug 19, 07:13 PM

Hi, my son has joined the RAF Regiment and we were hoping that he will be travelling with us next year. But there is a possibility he may do a tour in IRAQ. How does this affect the ESTA application for military staff? Help

carolmc · 6 Aug 19, 07:58 PM

I believe there is an exception for serving military from a VWP country... you may need to check current situation though with US embassy just to check what to enter on application.

Therigbys · 6 Aug 19, 08:06 PM

Thank you.

Blue nose · 7 Aug 19, 06:03 PM

Don't know about the esta but there have been many other posts about having two passports for the armed forces. One for working overseas and one for personal travel. It keeps the stamps from certain countries off your holiday passport. Might be worth looking into.?

sully301 · 7 Aug 19, 07:03 PM

My Hubbie has 2 passports for this reason. He does travel to a lot of different countries though.

sophiepop · 7 Aug 19, 07:48 PM

My husband did 30 years in the RAF Regt and has been to Iraq, we have never had a problem with an esta for him

RAF · 7 Aug 19, 09:20 PM

Originally Posted by Therigbys

Hi, my son has joined the RAF Regiment and we were hoping that he will be travelling with us next year. But there is a possibility he may do a tour in IRAQ. How does this affect the ESTA application for military staff? Help

Inside or Orlando airport there is a USO. This is normally for US armed forces to utilise. However they allow British military in there. It�s essentially a private lounge with free food, drink and WiFi. It�s a charity so they would be great full for any donations. The people who run this are volunteers and lovely people.

sophiepop · 7 Aug 19, 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by RAF

Inside or Orlando airport there is a USO. This is normally for US armed forces to utilise. However they allow British military in there. It�s essentially a private lounge with free food, drink and WiFi. It�s a charity so they would be great full for any donations. The people who run this are volunteers and lovely people.

Is this for serving and vets?

**loves2plan** · 7 Aug 19, 10:14 PM

Originally Posted by sophiepop

My husband did 30 years in the RAF Regt and has been to Iraq, we have never had a problem with an esta for him

The question is relatively new and quite specific, so it may be that it wasn't there or the timings didn't apply to your husband's trips to Iraq.

Have you traveled to, or been present in Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011

Originally Posted by sully301

My Hubbie has 2 passports for this reason. He does travel to a lot of different countries though.

Surely 2 passports don't make a difference, as he'd still have to declare if he's been to Iraq since March 1, 2011.

As PP says, I believe there's a waiver for serving personal and certain professions.

RAF · 8 Aug 19, 05:45 AM

Originally Posted by sophiepop

Is this for serving and vets?

I believe so. However you must be able to prove it with ID. They have a Facebook page.

7 Aug 19, 06:03 PM	#4
	7 Aug 19, 06:03 PM Blue nose Imagineer
Blue nose Imagineer Join Date: Mar 16	Don't know about the esta but there have been many other posts about having two passports for the armed forces. One for working overseas and one for personal travel. It keeps the stamps from certain countries off your holiday passport. Might be worth looking into.?

7 Aug 19, 07:48 PM	#6
	7 Aug 19, 07:48 PM sophiepop Imagineer
sophiepop Imagineer Join Date: Jul 08 sophiepop's Reviews Restaurant Reviews: 1	My husband did 30 years in the RAF Regt and has been to Iraq, we have never had a problem with an esta for him __________________ 95 Indian Ridge - 98 Hamiltons Reserve - 00 Omni Rosen - 07 West Stonebridge - 09 Lake Wilson - 11/13/14 Town Centre - 16/18/20 Windwood - 22 Highland - 24 Calabria - 26 Highland