Labor Immigration Law

United States Labor Immigration Law News and Analysis

Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) Goes Live

August 04th, 2008 | Category: Borders, ESTA, Travel, USCIS

We have written previously on several occasions about the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) which is now live and operational.  Direct link.

The new system opened on August 1 and will be voluntary in nature until January 12, 2009, when it becomes mandatory for all individuals traveling under the visa waiver program (VWP).  We have not yet received a meaningful amount of feedback to judge the system’s usability, operation, and its actual effect on clearing U.S. border control, but we expect to do so over the next few days as ESTA-registered travelers make their entry into the U.S.

If you are a VWP traveler who used ESTA to pre-register your trip to the U.S. and would like to share your opinion of the ESTA system and your entry into the U.S. please let us know.

Update: we have heard that the ESTA system does not permit passports with expiration of more than 10 years to use the system.  We believe this is an oversight by the ESTA developers and will be corrected soon as there are legitimate reasons to have passports with expiration date of more than 10 years in the future.

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This article is presented by the Capitol Immigration Law Group PLLC, an immigration law firm serving individual and corporate clients in the Washington, D.C. area and nationaide. We specialize in U.S. labor immigration law and we have successfully represented individuals from more than 30 countries and Fortune 100 companies. The article should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed attorney. For more information, please contact us.

2 Comments so far

  1. Labor Immigration Law » Visa Waiver Program Admits Seven New Countries October 22nd, 2008 8:14 am

    [...] a reminder, citizens of all VWP countries traveling must register using the new Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA). Registration is optional until January 12, 2009, when it becomes mandatory and a VWP [...]

  2. Labor Immigration Law » Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) Now Mandatory January 12th, 2009 10:00 am

    [...] for Travel Authorization becomes mandatory for all Visa Waiver Program (VWP) travelers.   We wrote earlier about the mandatory cutoff of January 12, [...]