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ESTA Resources

Blog on ESTA visa waiver news and updates

ESTA for Tourism Purposes

Updated: Jan 21, 2024 | Tags: ESTA for Tourism, ESTA Requirements

An ESTA is a visa waiver that can be used by travelers holding passports of visa waiver countries to visit the United States for visits of up to 90 days. An ESTA is issued for a period of two years, or the date of passport expiry, whichever comes first. ESTA provides a number of permitted tourism related uses such as sightseeing, vacations or holidays, visits with family, relatives or friends, medical…

ICE Raids and H1B Vsa Lottery Changes

Updated: Jul 12, 2019 | Tags: USA Immigration, Border Security

ICE Plans Action on Immigrant Raids Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has signalled the beginning of raids on communities and residences deemed to be inhabited by illegal immigrants. President Trump stated that raids would commence soon after July 4th 2019. The President has argued for a more active stance on deporting individuals who have be residing illegally in the United States. With large…

ESTA for a family or group of travelers

Updated: Aug 25, 2023 | Tags: Family ESTA, Group ESTA Applications

Introduction If you are needing an ESTA for a family or a group of travelers, then you can apply as a group of applications. To apply for a family or group ESTA, all U.S. bound travelers in the group must hold a passport from a visa waiver eligible country. ESTA for a family or group of travelers What is the group ESTA application process? If you need ESTA…

U.S. Visa Application Updates and Migrant Deal with Mexico

Updated: Jun 14, 2019 | Tags: USA Visa Requirements, USA Visa Application, USA Immigration

Applicants for US visas must now hand over their social media user names Under the most recent changes to immigration regulations put in place by President Trump’s administration, nearly everyone who applies for a US visa, including temporary visitors, will now need to submit their social media history to the State Department via the DS-160 visa application form, including email and phone numbers…

The Introduction of Merit-Based "Build America" Visas and Scrutiny Over U.S. Border Custody Practices

Updated: Jun 04, 2019 | Tags: USA Visa Requirements, USA Immigration, Border Security

Professionals look set to benefit as President Trump reveals plans to replace existing green cards with the merit-based “Build America” visa. In a shift away from a family-based green card policy, the plan is for a merit-based visa allocation system that will favour those with job offers, post-graduate degrees and high-level skills over applicants with relatives already on the country. However, the…

Traveling to the United States with Minors

Updated: Aug 24, 2023 | Tags: ESTA for Minors, Family ESTA

Introduction Parents and legal guardians should be aware of restrictions when traveling to the United States with a minor or child. In U.S. immigration law, a child is considered an individual that is under 18 years of age. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) requires documentation to be provided so that children entering the U.S. are doing so with the knowledge and / or consent of the child’s parents…

US court blocks adverse visa policy

Updated: May 13, 2019 | Tags: USA Immigration, USA Visa

Introduction A preliminary injunction has been issued by a district court preventing USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) from implementing the ”adverse policy” dating from August 9th, 2018, according to which the “unlawful presence” of foreign students and their dependents is calculated retroactively.  This is a significant action by the court as “unlawful presence” can be…

USCIS policy impacts and updates on planned office closures as well as new visa travel restrictions

Updated: Apr 28, 2019 | Tags: USA Visa Updates, USA Visa Restrictions, USA Immigration

Trump administration plans to close international immigration offices USCIS has outlined projected target dates for the closure of all its international offices. Last month, USCIS Director Francis Cissna messaged all USCIS employees to say that plans were being drawn up for the duties of the international offices to be transferred to the State Department, with the aim of freeing up funds to clear…

What is an ESTA Application Number?

Updated: Aug 24, 2023 | Tags: ESTA Application Number, ESTA Submission

Introduction An ESTA application number is generated once an application is submitted to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The application number is a unique identifier used by CBP to identify traveler profiles. The ESTA application number is an alphanumeric string of 16 characters. The sequence of characters is random and does not represent any attributes of an applicant. The application number…

H1B Lottery Visa System Changes Go Live

Updated: Apr 08, 2019 | Tags: USA Visa Application, USA Visa Requirements

Will April 2019 see the start of the H1B lottery system? In January this year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) approved the so-called “merit-based” H1B lottery draw and this method of allocation looks set to go live on April 1, 2019. Applicants must still file paper applications H1B visas as the online registrations system for HB1 will not start being tested until next year. There is a little…