New US ESTA visa fee for British travelers
by Harleen Kaur - August 11, 2010
United States, 11th August: From the month of September this year, all British travelers will have to shell out $14 as mandatory US ESTA visa fees for traveling to the US, the US government has announced.
As per the Department of Homeland Security, the new ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) fee will be applicable from September 8, 2010 to people hailing from Visa Waiver nations.
The ESTA fee will be charged from passengers making use of mandatory online pre-approval program which replaces the earlier green I-94W visa waiver forms.
However, American tourists wanting to travel to the UK are not required to pay any such fee.
A part of this fee will be provided towards Corporation for Travel Promotion under the 2009 Travel Promotion Act to help boost tourism in the US.
ESTA approval is valid for making repeated visits to America within a period of two years. Each year, nearly four millions people from the UK visit and travel to the US. There has been a fall in the number of visitors from the UK travelling to the US by 3 percent between the years 2000 and 2008.
ESTA is applicable to people hailing from 36 nations enjoying visa waiver status till now. Visitors coming to the US requiring a US visa have to pay a visa fee beginning from $140 equivalent to £85.
So, if you are living in the UK and wish to explore the US but want to avoid paying this ESTA fee to travel to the US, now is the time to act and apply, advises creator of MoneySavingExpert.com, Martin Lewis. On the other hand, if you apply on or after September 8, 2010, you will be required to pay the new ESTA fee, Lewis added.
Out of $14, $10 will be for funding promotion of US tourism while the remaining $4 will be for administration costs.
The approval of the online form is done within 72 hours and provides the US air travelers a prior approval for entering the US after submission of customer approval reference number to the concerned airlines. The online process was introduced initially in phases since the year 2008 but has been made mandatory for all travelers.
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