Traveling to The USA: ESTA Visa & Other Requirements

The U.S. authorities often update their requirements for the immigration and non-immigration visa application form. Now those people who wish to visit the USA must provide all of their social networking accounts, as well as cell phone numbers and email addresses.

Image: USA traveling

For the time being, the stricter measures only apply to some non-western countries. Most EU citizens are exempt from this rule because most EU countries including the UK are members of the Visa Waiver Program. But you do not have to forget that the citizens of the UK have to submit an ESTA Application instead of applying for a visa.

Applicants for the ESTA Visa must submit it online. This procedure helps not only save time but also allows the citizens of the UK to be screened by the US Authorities before entering the United States. ESTA Visa grants a 90-day stay in the United States at a time and travelers who are members of the Visa Waiver Programme and have e-passports do not need to obtain a full visa.

Completing the ESTA Application takes just a few minutes. Applicants get a notification email within minutes of application submission but in some cases, it can take up to 48 hours.

For the citizens of the UK, it is also important that the passport must be valid for the period of their stay in the US. For the citizens of other countries, the passports must be valid for at least six months before the travel date.

Image: Social networks

There is also a field where you can fill in your social network accounts but the information is voluntary for the citizens of the UK. But even if you provide the information about your social network accounts, it remains unclear what the mechanism for checking accounts is: who will do it and how and what exactly will be observed? Emails and cell phone numbers have long been requested to check whether they are in databases related to terrorist activity. But social network accounts are something new.

So if you want to provide your social network accounts as additional information to verify your identity, make sure that you did not write something that the US State Department might not like. As a result, your ESTA application can be denied. In this case, do not try to leave the country and travel to the USA. You must get a regular US Visa through the Embassy or Consulate of the USA in the country of your citizenship or residence.

While waiting for your ESTA application to be approved, you can join the Megalithic Portal that is run by volunteers. Here you can find useful and interesting information about ancient sites. This is an interactive website where you can not only find articles and photos from thousands of photographers, archeologists, locals and visitors but also add comments or contribute your photos and articles.