The visa waiver program was made by the United States of America for some country’s citizens to visit the country without a visa. There are currently more than thirty countries that can avail this service and it also includes many European countries as well. Apart from those European countries there are Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea whose citizens are also allowed to visit USA without carrying a visa. The citizens of the countries that falls under this plan would be able to visit and stay in the United States of America for less than 90 days. Most people use this for a business trip or for tourism. Also those people can use this program to visit the neighboring countries such as Mexico and Canada, but when they return to the US the total time spent visiting those places will be included in the 90 day cap.

Electronic Visa Waiver

The first requirement for visiting the United States using this facility is to hold a valid and a machine readable passport. The passport must have a couple of rows containing alphanumeric characters along the bottom edge of the photo page. Passports that are recently issued must contain a chip with them. The immigration officer from the United States gives the final verdict whether a person should be able to use the electronic visa waiver program after checking his or her passport. At the border anyone can be prohibited from entering the country and there are no options to appeal either. So, it is very important for the citizens to cooperate with the officers present in the airport or dock and let them do their work without any hassle. Also, never give a hint that you will be staying for more than 90 days and will apply for a visa later for may be a job or marriage or studies.

US ESTA Services

The I-94W form which is also known as visa waiver form will be stapled with the passport of the traveler. The color of this form is green that will be attached to the passport and also records of fingerprints and photograph will also be attached. Once the traveler leaves the country they will be required by law to submit this form otherwise there will be problems when he or she decides to visit USA later.

Electronic Visa Vetting for Arriving by Air or Sea

Those who intend to enter USA using this service by air or sea will be required to apply for pre approval through the use of Electronic System for Travel Authorization or ESTA. This should be done before starting their journey. Most of these are approved almost instantly and no one needs to wait but in order to be on the safe side it is recommended to apply this 72 hours before travelling. This will be valid for two years after it has been approved. It should be noted that once the ESTA approves this does not mean that the traveler will be allowed to enter the country as the immigration officer might withhold entry after interviewing with the candidate.

If the traveler is entering USA by land from Canada or Mexico then the rules are a little bit different. The ESTA approval is not required and the I-94W form will be filled at the border only and the traveler needs to pay $6 as well.

The US ESTA services or electronic system for travel authorization is a waiver where most people use this to visit the country for business purposes. The electronic visa vetting or the electronic visa waiver was implemented from 12th January 2009.