Yes a member was refused although they met all the criteria. It was suggested that she try again in 24 hours and she was accepted at the second attempt.

The other reason for being refused is if you answer Yes to any of the questions.

luci

REMINDER & WARNING: ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR TRAVEL AUTHORISATION (ESTA)

Please remember that ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) is now mandatory.

For free online application and registration, you should only use the official ESTA website.

Other links, application and registration services are available, but these may not be free. For example, Google picks out certain keywords in this topic, such as ESTA, and adds related advertisements to the topic. One of those adverts currently appearing is for a company which will process your online application for you, but charge you £20 for the privilege.

There is no need to pay anything, as ESTA is currently free providing that you use only the official US Department of Homeland Security ESTA Website !!!

David

I am going to Florida in August, I have been previously in 2006 & 2007. Since my last visit in 2007 I have changed my name by deed poll. Does anyone think that this may cause me problems with homeland security & their finger print readers when I enter the country ?

Any idea what I should do before hand in preparation for this ?

I am getting an internal flight as well so may have to go through this twice on my 1st day in.

Hello,

so is your new name the same name as your passport now & also your name is now different to your lasts visists? personally i dont see a problem, im sure many people do this. if you think it may be a problem you can always carry the deed poll with you? just think when people get married & change their name, surely thats kind of the same? i wouldnt worry.

The ESTA is mandatory, but when we went to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, a lot of people didnt have the ESTA, therefore still everyone on the aircraft had to fill in the old green waiver form.

You do still have to fill in both. Probably until they are sure that they are happy with the new system.

I've got a new biometric passport with my new name, hopefully, as it is micrchipped with god knows what information about me in it, it will show some info re my previous name.

A description of information contained in biometric passports can be found HERE.

David

i have just applied for esta for myself and my husband both were approved straight away i was expecting to wait a couple of days for approval but i am very happy that they were dealt with straight away

Yes, in most cases, authorisation will be almost immediate.

David

My husband applied for a visa to travel to Miami 4 years ago and was refused - We were never really sure why but assumed it was becasue we'd only been married for 2 years and that he didn't have indefinite leave to remain in Britain at that point, so to the US immigration it wasn't a strong enough reason to come back to England I assume We have now been married for 5 years and he has indefinite leave to remain in this conutry so we thought it was maybe time to try and apply again ! He went in on Thursday and was asked all the usual questions, why are you going, who are you staying with, who are you travelling with, do you have family in this country to which he replied yes I'm married and to a British Citizen, had his fingerprints taken, was given a letter and told to wait to hear from them via email - his application needed additional processing! They wouldn't explain anything and just kept saying it's all in the letter - which actually when read, doesn't give a specific reason. Does anyone have an idea of what this could entail, or even how long it might take ? We feel like we've just been left in the dark. We're not really sure, after the information that he gave them, why it would need further checking.. We've been told before at Gatwick immigration when they noticed his refusal stamp from 4 years ago on his passport that there was really no reason why he should have been denied, and thought this time there would be no problem..
He didn't take anything with a proof address (but he did take our marriage cert. & my passport) as it didn't say on the internet to bring it, but they did ask for it, so could it be they're checking that ? or prehaps the reason that he was previously refused ? We've been thru all this visa scrutiny before we got married for my husband to settle in the UK and it took 5months !! It's an absolute nighmtare - we only want to go for a 2 week holiday, yet they make out that you're emigrating! My husband and I have travelled quite a bit and have never had any problems before with any other country. I just wandered if anyone could shed any light on it for us, and whether anyone else has been in the same situation, the length of time it's likely to take and what the eventual outcome was.. Many Thanks for your help..

Be aware that passport fees are going up on 3rd Sept (expensive enough already) if you need a few it's worth doing it now adults going up approx £5 and childs £3 I think

Hello,
situation is abit different for us but my husband still needs a visa & was refused in 2004, went again in 2008 to reapply & was given a letter we cant give you a visa but we`ll recommed to the dhs that you recieve a waiver of your inelegibility so we can then issue you a visa, basically wait & we`ll email you..... 17 weeks later he got the email.... the embassy did say after we emailed them after the 8 weeks, they say you can do this you ring up & get a reference number for the subject line so you can email to see how your visa is coming along.... anyway they said you will be notified nearer your intended date of travel, so did you put a travel date on the application form? if you did we had an email around 6 weeks before we were due to travel. just to give you an idea of what we waited!!

Thanks bubble ! What's the difference between a visa and what your husband got then ?! Surely if they can give you that, then they can issue a proper visa ??! We did put a date of travel as September 28th...so fingers crossed they'll contact us before that !

My husband did get a visa but the us embassy couldnt issue it untill they had got the ok from the dhs in america, its called a waiver of inelegibility, so the embassy recommend you recieve one & then you have to wait.... this is for a criminal record though & you can be recommended for other reasons if your inelegible to enter the usa visa free & are inelegible to recieve a visa without special permission, hope im making sense.... lol. his also only lasted for 6 months so were going back so he can apply again for another one soon!! i would think you should hear within the next few weeks, although when was the appointment?

It was last Thursday - the 23rd July - so I expect they'll make us wait a bit longer yet !! ! We have a good experience with immigration from before we got married when my husband was applying for his settlement visa to Britian ! It's just so frustrating the amonut of time that it takes..

well i hope you find out soon, is your holiday actually booked? im guessing we waited so long as my husband applied well in advance & will do again this time you just never know. remember though that although british immigration you have experience, american will probably be totally different! it is horrible having to wait all the time though.... did the letter mention how long you may have to wait?

It said anywhere up to 90 days !! We haven't booked our flights yet as we wanted to wait and see if he got his visa before booking anything.. We were dealing with the Morrocan Embassy 5 years ago, for him to come and settle here and everything with them takes twice as long! so we've had our fair share of hanging around and frustrations ! You could say we're used to it ! It just makes me wonder what it is that needs further processing - if he had applied for a British passport he could go on that tomorrow !

ah right, i wouldnt think you should be waiting too long then! good idea to wait though untill you book, where are you hoping to go?