CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VISA WAIVER PROGRAM AND ESTA

It is an agreement of the visa waiver program under which the citizens of the 38 countries are

allowed to travel to the United States of America. The US visa waiver program (VWP) allows the

citizens of these countries to apply for an ESTA which is basically a travel authorization system that

allows the people to travel to the USA for business and pleasure purposes. 

The ESTA application process is quite very easy as, as the application form is filled and submitted

online. You don’t have to wait for a longer period of time once you have completed your application

form online your approval letter will be given to you shortly after. 

But there are certain things that need to be followed while traveling on ESTA. You have to follow the

rules and regulations that have been made by the higher authorities of the US and any violation of

the laws can cause certain problems for you. 

The most important things you should know about the Visa Waiver Program:

The validity of ESTA is usually two years:

There are certain things that need to be kept in mind, the first among them is that the ESTA is valid for a period of two years. The second is ESTA when to apply? You have to apply for ESTA for traveling to the United States and once you've online submitted your application you have to wait for a period of 24 hours as the confirmation will be received without a 24 hrs time period.

 In most the cases, it will be exactly two years from the date of approval. But in that case,

also you are only allowed to stay for a period of 90 days and if you are planning to stay for

more than 90 days, you have to apply for a USA visa by which you can get the approval of

staying there after your 90 days time period. 

ESTA needs to be valid upon arrival in the US:

This is really confusing that your ESTA needs to be valid upon the arrival in the US as later

on while you stay in the US your ESTA can get expired and you won’t be having any

problem in leaving that country. 

The higher authorities are of the view in which they believe that you are still adhering to the

conditions of the visa waiver program, and so the 90 day time period is still valid for you.

The most important thing that you must keep in mind is that you are not allowed to apply for

a new ESTA while staying in the United States or any other kind of travel authorization. 

ESTA is not a visa: 

As the visa waiver program allows the citizens of the 38 countries to travel to the United

States without a proper visa for pleasure and business purposes. And the citizens have to

be back to their own country within a particular time period. And on the other hand, if we talk

about visas, well it is a long and a costlier process as compared to ESTA.