Estas - how long do you need before applying?

[Floridafan]

We’re not going until September ‘23 and we were going to wait until the new year before applying since we shall have a new addition to our group due Christmas However I belong to a FB group and I have been reading some worrying stories about Estas being granted and then later on being revoked! Plus some are saying that you should have your Estas in place before booking your trip. This was never our experience before so has the system changed and can we be certain that we will still have our Estas before our trip?

[sha9]

You’ll get lots of different opinions but I usually make sure we have ours 6 months before we go in case we make an error that can’t be fixed and need to go down the visa route. I’m not even sure that’s enough time any more. My sister needs to renew her passport this year so we’ll probably just get ESTAs done when it arrives even though we don’t go until next September. I’d rather pay a bit more than we needed to make sure we always have an ESTA.

[Quensabob]

We fly in November and we applied for ours in May,it took an hour to approve them!

[Bondy007]

I’m not going to tell you a specific length of time, but if you know you’re definitely going to be booking then the simple answer is ASAP.
I see no point in hanging on until this date or that date…
Do them all now and then the new one when you need to.

[Floridafan]

Originally Posted by sha9

You’ll get lots of different opinions but I usually make sure we have ours 6 months before we go in case we make an error that can’t be fixed and need to go down the visa route. I’m not even sure that’s enough time any more. My sister needs to renew her passport this year so we’ll probably just get ESTAs done when it arrives even though we don’t go until next September. I’d rather pay a bit more than we needed to make sure we always have an ESTA.

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Thanks - yeah there are a lot of different opinions and some are worrying me. When I was working (4 years retired yay!) I was responsible for the company’s travel and visas. I have applied for multiple Estas over the years and have never come across any being revoked. We are waiting for the baby to arrive because he/she will need a passport and then we’ll all apply- probably around Easter to be honest. We are also going next September.

[Floridafan]

Originally Posted by Bondy007

I’m not going to tell you a specific length of time, but if you know you’re definitely going to be booking then the simple answer is ASAP.
I see no point in hanging on until this date or that date…
Do them all now and then the new one when you need to.

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You do have a point. I guess we wanted to get them all together but maybe that’s not a practical approach 🤔

[sha9]

Originally Posted by Floridafan

Thanks - yeah there are a lot of different opinions and some are worrying me. When I was working (4 years retired yay!) I was responsible for the company’s travel and visas. I have applied for multiple Estas over the years and have never come across any being revoked. We are waiting for the baby to arrive because he/she will need a passport and then we’ll all apply- probably around Easter to be honest. We are also going next September.

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I’ve heard of them being revoked but it doesn’t really happen that often or there’d be a daily thread on it. I think it’s something to do with names being similar to one’s on the no-fly list.

[captain-codeye]

As others have said lots of different opinions, personally we always have them, when they run out I renew them, I know they have just gone up but the cost is negligible.

[Blue nose]

I buy mine as soon as I book the holiday. Why wait? You need it to travel.

You could do your group now and then do the baby when they are here with a passport.

Issue is if you make an error on any/or someone doesn't qualify and need to go the visa route this takes months and I'd be nervous waiting until Spring when that could be dealt with now.

[Floridafan]

Thanks everyone. We’ll have a family chat and make a decision. It’s not about the money - it’s making sure that we all get approved together as otherwise we might not go at all. However that might not be the right decision.