Electronic System for Travel Authorization
automated system that determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program
The Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) is an automated electronic travel authorization system that determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). ESTA was mandated by the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007. ESTA only authorizes travel to a U.S. airport, border, or port of entry, but admissibility into the United States is determined by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer upon arrival. The ESTA application collects biographic information and answers to VWP eligibility questions.
ESTA applications may be made at any time, but travelers are encouraged to apply at least 72 hours prior to travel. ESTA has an application fee of US$10.27, and if approved, an additional fee of $30 is charged, for a total of $40.27. After approval, the authorization remains valid for two years, or until the passport expires if earlier, for multiple trips during that period. Each person traveling under the VWP, regardless of age, needs a separate ESTA.
ESTA is also needed for travel under the VWP to the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. The latter two territories also have an additional visa waiver program for certain nationalities that requires a different electronic authorization. Travel to American Samoa requires a different permit.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Electronic System for Travel Authorization” as automated system that determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as automated system that determines the eligibility of visitors to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1326160. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2007.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Electronic System for Travel Authorization” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.