What Is ESTA? Who Needs One, the Fee and How Long It Lasts

ESTA, the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, is the online approval you need before boarding a plane or ship to the United States without a visa, if you are a citizen of one of the 42 Visa Waiver Program countries. This page covers who needs one, what the $40.62 fee pays for, how long an approval lasts, how to apply and what to do after a denial.

What ESTA is: a travel authorization, not a visa

ESTA is an automated check run by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), mandatory since 12 January 2009. It decides from your online answers whether you can travel under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), and airlines confirm electronically before boarding that an approval is on file.

An approval is permission to board, not permission to enter: a CBP officer inspects you on arrival and can still refuse admission. VWP visitors also give up the right to appeal that decision, and they cannot extend their stay or change status inside the US.

Who needs an ESTA

Every VWP traveler arriving by air or sea needs an approved ESTA, including babies flying on a parent’s lap and passengers only changing planes in the US. The same applies to VWP trips to Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. A friend or relative may submit the application for you.

The 42 Visa Waiver Program countries

The Department of Homeland Security lists 42 VWP countries: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Israel joined on 29 September 2023 and Qatar on 21 November 2024. Romania was designated in January 2025, but the designation was rescinded on 2 May 2025 before it took effect.

Your situation	ESTA?	You travel on
VWP citizen flying or sailing in for up to 90 days of tourism, business or transit	Yes	ESTA and an e-passport
VWP citizen entering by land from Canada or Mexico, or on the Vancouver and Victoria ferries	No	Passport; a paper I-94W on a first entry without an ESTA
Holder of a valid US visa	No	The visa
US citizen, dual nationals included	No	US passport
Canadian citizen	No	Canadian passport
US lawful permanent resident	No	Green card
Staying over 90 days, traveling for another purpose, or arriving on a carrier outside the VWP agreement	No	A US visa
In Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen since 1 March 2011, or in Cuba since 12 January 2021	Not eligible, with narrow exceptions	A US visa
Also a national of Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Sudan or Syria	Not eligible	A US visa

The exceptions cover military service or official duties for a VWP government, plus case-by-case DHS waivers. Otherwise, CBP’s guidance on these bars says to apply for a visa, which generally means an in-person interview. A visa can last up to 10 years and allows stays of up to 6 months at a time.

ESTA passport requirements

The VWP accepts only e-passports: a machine-readable zone on the photo page and a chip with the bearer’s biometric data, shown by the e-passport symbol on the cover. Emergency and temporary passports must be e-passports too. For the UK, only passports showing British Citizenship qualify. Children need their own passport.

Your passport also has to last for the trip. Under CBP’s rules for visitors, a foreign passport must be valid for 6 months beyond the intended stay unless your country is on CBP’s exempt list, in which case it only has to cover the stay. Every VWP country except Brunei is on the December 2025 list.

The ESTA belongs to one passport. If you travel on two passports, CBP’s rule is to board and arrive on the VWP passport your ESTA was issued for, and to pick one passport and stick with it if both countries are in the program. On the form you also list your other citizenships and passports, expired ones included.

ESTA fee: $40.62 and what it pays for

The ESTA costs $40.62 per application as of October 2026, made up of three parts.

The total rose from $40.27 in October 2026, and CBP’s systems were scheduled to charge the new amount from 16 October. An ESTA approved at the old price stays valid. You pay by card or PayPal within 7 days of submitting, and up to 50 applications can share one payment. If an application in a group is pending, CBP’s group FAQ says the receipt shows the total only once every application is approved or denied. Each new application costs the full fee again, so a new passport means another $40.62.

How to apply for an ESTA

Apply on the official ESTA website run by CBP. CBP estimates the form takes 23 minutes. You need no booked flights, only a point of contact in the US, and a hotel name works as the address.

How to apply for an ESTA in 7 steps

1. Choose an individual application, or a group application for several travelers.
2. Enter your passport details, or let the site read them from a photo of the machine-readable zone.
3. Verify your email with the 4-digit code the site sends, then note the application number it gives you.
4. Upload a selfie of the passport holder on a plain white or off-white background, without sunglasses, hat or mask, and never a copy of the passport photo.
5. Add your other citizenships and passports, parents’ names, employer, US contact and an emergency contact.
6. Answer the 9 eligibility questions and review every field.
7. Pay within 7 days, then check your status with the application number, passport number and date of birth.

Once you submit, the passport number, issuing country, citizenship and date of birth can no longer be fixed, and an error in one of those needs a new application and a new fee. Type your name as it appears in the passport’s machine-readable zone, without accents.

ESTA processing time and what each status means

Most applicants get a decision within minutes, according to the US Embassy in Austria, which advises applying at least 72 hours before departure. CBP recommends applying when you book.

Answer	What it means	What to do
Authorization Approved	You can travel under the VWP until the expiry date shown	Keep the application number
Authorization Pending	No immediate decision; CBP says this does not indicate negative findings	Check the status page again later
Travel Not Authorized	No VWP travel; this is not a decision on a visa	Apply for a US visa

You need no printout: airlines get your status from DHS, though DHS suggests printing a copy for your records.

If your ESTA is denied

Travel Not Authorized rules out the VWP only, so the route left is a visa from a US embassy or consulate. Reapplying with unchanged circumstances gets another denial, and reapplying with false answers makes you permanently ineligible for the VWP. Embassies cannot explain a denial, and next-day visa appointments are not guaranteed, so apply for ESTA well before the trip.

How long an ESTA lasts and when you need a new one

An ESTA is valid for 2 years from approval or until your passport expires, whichever comes first, for any number of trips; Brunei passports get 1 year. Each visit can last up to 90 days, and CBP asks for a reasonable gap between visits so the officer does not conclude you live in the US.

The ESTA only has to be valid on the day you arrive, so one expiring mid-trip does not matter. It cannot be extended: you apply again at any time, and the new approval replaces the old one. You also need a new ESTA, with a new fee, if you:

• get a new passport
• change your name
• change your citizenship
• would now answer any of the yes or no eligibility questions differently

ESTA, the UK ETA and ETIAS compared

The UK and the EU run their own versions for visitors who do not need a visa. The UK’s ETA lasts as long as an ESTA but covers visits of up to 6 months. The EU’s ETIAS will cover 30 European countries once it starts, but as of October 2026 it takes no applications.

Feature	ESTA (United States)	UK ETA	ETIAS (30 European countries)
Status	Required since 12 January 2009	In force; most visitors need an ETA or a visa	Not operating; start date to be announced months ahead
Fee	$40.62 ($10.62 if denied)	£20, no refund after you apply	EUR 20
Valid for	2 years or until the passport expires	2 years or until the passport expires	Up to 3 years or until the passport expires
Stay per visit	Up to 90 days	Up to 6 months	Up to 90 days in any 180-day period
Usual decision time	Most within minutes	Usually within a day, up to 3 working days	Planned: most within minutes, up to 4 days
Guarantees entry	No	No	No
Where to apply	esta.cbp.dhs.gov	GOV.UK or the UK ETA app	The official EU website or app, once open

The UK figures are from GOV.UK and the ETIAS figures from the EU’s official ETIAS site.

Other documents you need for a US trip

An e-passport and an approved ESTA are not the only documents a US trip needs. The VWP rules also require a return or onward ticket, and arrival on an airline or ship that has signed the VWP carrier agreement. Your trip also cannot end in Canada, Mexico or the nearby islands unless you live there.

ESTA does not replace the customs declaration you make on arrival: CBP’s ESTA FAQ says Visa Waiver visitors declare whether or not they hold an ESTA. On a return visit with an approved ESTA, you can answer the customs questions in CBP’s free Mobile Passport Control app instead of on paper.

Applying for ESTA as a family: an example

This is an invented sample, not a real family. Lena and Jonas Weber, German citizens, fly Frankfurt to Orlando with Mia, 9, and Paul, 4, on 18 December 2026, return flights booked.

Date	What happens
9 November 2026	Paul has only a German ID card, which the VWP does not accept, so he gets a German e-passport
30 November	Lena submits a group application for all 4, each with a selfie, and pays for the group in one card payment
30 November	Lena, Jonas and Mia are approved within minutes; Paul’s shows Authorization Pending
1 December	Paul is approved, and the group receipt now shows the total: 4 × $40.62 = $162.48
Validity	Lena’s and Mia’s ESTAs run to 30 November 2028, Paul’s to 1 December 2028; Jonas’s passport expires on 4 May 2028, so his ESTA ends then