ESTA, explained: the $40.27 US travel authorization

The Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, is the online check that visitors from Visa Waiver Program countries must pass before they fly or sail to the United States. It is not a visa. It is permission to board, tied to your passport, that lets you arrive and ask a Customs and Border Protection officer to admit you for up to 90 days of tourism, business or transit. It affects citizens of the countries in the Visa Waiver Program, which include the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Chile and many European states. It does not affect Canadians, who travel on their own passport rules, or anyone who already holds a valid US visa. For planning the rest of your trip, start with the USA guide.

The ESTA site puts the basic requirement in one sentence: "All passengers traveling under the Visa Waiver Program are required to have an approved travel authorization prior to traveling to the United States by air or sea." The same answer adds that even non-ticketed infants need one if they do not have a visa. At the airport, the airline checks for your approval before you board, so there is no workaround at the gate.

The only official application site is esta.cbp.dhs.gov, run by US Customs and Border Protection. Its ESTA FAQ covers fees, eligibility and what to do if your details change, and CBP's own ESTA page links to it. The CBP page adds that ESTA applications may be submitted at any time prior to travel and that you must have an e-Passport, an enhanced secure passport with an embedded electronic chip, to use the program. Check both pages for the current rules before you pay anyone anything.

The ESTA FAQ lists who is eligible to apply for admission under the Visa Waiver Program: a traveler who intends to enter the United States for 90 days or less for business, pleasure or transit, holds a valid passport issued by a Visa Waiver Program country, arrives via a signatory carrier, has a return or onward ticket, and can show the inspecting officer that they are entitled to be admitted. For British citizens, the FAQ notes that only citizens with the unrestricted right of permanent abode in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man qualify, so other kinds of British nationality are not covered.

You do not need an ESTA if you hold a valid US visa for the purpose of your trip, if you are a Canadian citizen on a Canadian passport, or if you are a US lawful permanent resident. You also do not need one to enter by land from Canada or Mexico: the FAQ says an ESTA is not required there, but you go through a manual entry process at the crossing, which is slower than arriving by air with an approval. Vancouver to Victoria and Washington State ferries are treated as a land border port.

Transit counts. The FAQ says you must apply for ESTA even if you are only transiting the US by air, and you write "In Transit" in the address field of the application. If your itinerary has a connection in a US airport, build the ESTA into your plan the same way you would for a stay.

The eligibility questions decide most of this. Question 9 on the form asks whether you have traveled to, or been present in, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen on or after March 1, 2011, and the form tells you to answer yes if you were inside the national borders of any of them, even in transit to a third country. On Cuba specifically, the FAQ says the State Department most recently designated Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism on January 12, 2021, and that "If a traveler is found to have visited a country designated as State Sponsor of Terrorism, the traveler is no longer eligible to participate in the Visa Waiver Program and must apply for a visa to enter the United States."

Other yes answers on the form can also lead to a denial or a manual review, and ESTA never covers work, study or stays longer than 90 days. The ESTA disclaimer says that if you are admitted under the Visa Waiver Program you may not accept unauthorized employment or attend school, and you may not apply for a change of status or an extension of stay. If your answer to any eligibility question changes after approval, the FAQ says you must apply for a new authorization.

A "Travel Not Authorized" result is not the end of the road. The site says: "You may be able to obtain a visa from the Department of State for your travel." That means an application for a visitor visa at a US embassy or consulate, which involves an interview and a longer wait. If you know you are likely to be ineligible, start the visa process early rather than paying for an ESTA you will not get.

The fee is $40.27 per application until October 15, 2026, and you pay by card or PayPal. The ESTA FAQ breaks it into a $10.27 processing fee charged to every applicant and an additional $30.00 added only if you are approved, made up of a $17 travel promotion fee and a $13 General Fund fee. If your application is denied, you pay only the processing fee. A Federal Register notice published on 1 October 2026 sets the fiscal year 2027 fee at $40.62 ($17 + $10.62 + $13), with CBP assessing the new amount from October 16, 2026, and a denied application then costs $10.62. The difference is $0.35 per application, so do not rush an application you have not checked just to beat the date.

The fee is the same for everyone at the official site. The FAQ has a question for travelers who were charged more than $40.27 and answers it directly: there are third parties that "charge a fee for submitting your application on your behalf," CBP has no way of knowing whether the information they pass through is accurate, and "CBP cannot refund the money you paid to a third party website." If you used one, use your application number to confirm that your ESTA is in the official system.

An approved ESTA is valid for two years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first, and the FAQ notes that effective July 6, 2023, new applications for citizens of Brunei using a Brunei passport have a maximum validity of one year. You can make several trips in that time, but each stay is limited to 90 days, and the FAQ spells it out: receiving ESTA authorization does not mean you may stay in the US for two years. If your ESTA expires while you are in the US, it does not affect your departure. A new passport, a new name or a new citizenship means a new ESTA and a new fee.

Apply at esta.cbp.dhs.gov. The site says the form takes about 23 minutes to complete. You need your passport, an email address, a payment method and your travel details, and you answer the eligibility questions, including an optional question about your online presence. Someone else can apply for you, such as a family member or a travel agent, as long as the information is true and correct, because the site warns that an authorization may be revoked at any time and that false statements can bring penalties.

The site says CBP recommends applying when you start making travel plans, or when you book your travel. There are three possible answers. "Authorization Approved" means you are authorized to travel under the program. "Travel Not Authorized" means you cannot use the Visa Waiver Program and may need a visa. "Authorization Pending" means, in the site's words, your authorization "is under review because an immediate determination could not be made," and that "This response does not indicate negative findings." You check back on the site with your application number, passport number and date of birth.

If you already have an approved ESTA with more than 30 days left and apply again with the same passport, the site warns that the new application will require payment and will cancel the existing one. Before a trip, use the status check on the official site to confirm that your ESTA is valid, and print or save the approval screen. You can update your address in the United States and your email on an approved authorization, but anything else on the form means a new application.

An ESTA gets you on the plane. At the airport of arrival, a CBP officer inspects you and decides whether to admit you under the Visa Waiver Program. The ESTA site says an officer "may determine that you are inadmissible under the Visa Waiver Program or for any reason under United States law." Expect questions about your plans, your return ticket and where you are staying. By traveling under the program you waive any right to review or appeal an admissibility decision, other than on the basis of an application for asylum, and the officer may take fingerprints and a photograph.

Keep your return or onward ticket, your accommodation details and your passport together in one place so that the check is quick. If your plans change in the US, remember that the program does not allow you to apply for an extension of stay. If you want more than 90 days, apply for a visa before you travel.

The most common mistakes are avoidable. Do not use a lookalike site, because the official one ends in cbp.dhs.gov. Do not apply with a passport that expires soon, because a new passport means a new application and a new fee. Do not assume that approval guarantees admission, and do not forget the e-Passport requirement if your passport is older. Check your answers against the question list before you pay, because a wrong answer can mean a manual review or a new application.

Parks and other costs sit outside ESTA. The National Park Service's Zion page says non-US residents aged 16 and over must pay an additional $100 per person fee unless they are admitted with an Annual or America the Beautiful Pass, which is one reason to read the park's fee page before you budget. The parks fee guide explains how that nonresident fee works.

If you are also flying to Canada on the same trip, you will need a separate Canada eTA, and for Europe, see the ETIAS guide.

The travel insurance guides explain what to look for in medical limits and cancellation cover.