Are our ESTAs being extended?

[Disney Nanny]

HI all

Have tried looking on their site but not seeing anything.
Will our Estas be extended as we have lost near on a year of them already?

Or does anyone have a link for a live chat or email address I can contact to ask?

Thank you

[Robyn89]

I’d imagine probably not... but I’ll be prepared to be surprised. They will argue the ESTA is done based on national security and that 2 years between completing those questionnaires is the most risk they’re prepared to accept.

Will be interesting to see if they do extend them - but I’ve lost a year on my passport and I don’t see HMG extending those for me 😩

[mick]

Sorry but ESTAs only last for two years from approval or getting a new passport whichever is the sooner.

Sadly the DHS is not into returning your $14 if you don't get to use them.

Mick

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by Disney Nanny

HI all

Have tried looking on their site but not seeing anything.
Will our Estas be extended as we have lost near on a year of them already?

Or does anyone have a link for a live chat or email address I can contact to ask?

Thank you

See more...

Good luck with that one Disney Nanny!
I suspect the chance of free auto ESTA extensions lie between 0% and 0%. I’d love to be proven wrong.

[mick]

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

I suspect the chance of free auto ESTA extensions lie between 0% and 0%. I’d love to be proven wrong.

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As high as that YT?

They've been $14 each since they started charging for them and in my opinion we're more likely to see an increase because of all the lost revenue this year.

Mick

[Thorpy]

There are a few reasons they could use to increase the cost. As Mick says, it's not been increased since day dot. Also it's a very small amount in comparison to a holiday cost, so I could see them doubling it and not getting much resistance as it's still quite a small cost. That said I can see them wanting tourists to get back in and spending money, so I can also see them not increasing so as to not put any visitors off, but I can't go as far as to see them extending

[landandword17]

I’m not convinced the ESTA is anything more than a bit of security theatre but nevertheless automatically extending them would be a poor idea if the intent to is filter out criminals, security threats, threats to public health etc...The answers to the questions could well have changed but an automatic extension means that person could board the plane putting more work on the border force at point of entry and a huge financial burden on the airlines who have to fly home people who are denied entry.

It’s only $14. Any of us still fortunate to be in a position to travel long haul post Covid can hardly complain.

[Donaldfan]

Originally Posted by landandword17

I’m not convinced the ESTA is anything more than a bit of security theatre but nevertheless automatically extending them would be a poor idea if the intent to is filter out criminals, security threats, threats to public health etc...The answers to the questions could well have changed but an automatic extension means that person could board the plane putting more work on the border force at point of entry and a huge financial burden on the airlines who have to fly home people who are denied entry.

It’s only $14. Any of us still fortunate to be in a position to travel long haul post Covid can hardly complain.

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Exactly. A lot of people happily spends thousands on a holiday but begrudge spending £10 on something which lasts 2 years. I used my current one last year, should have used it again this year and it expires in November, so used it once. I used my previous one once too. No big deal.