Passport and visa for week in USA

pookiesboo

Am travelling to the states for 8 days in Dec/Jan. My passport has expired but will be renewing it in 2 days but now I'm wondering if it needs to be valid for a certain amount of time before I go (if that makes sense). Also what other rules are regarding visa etc if I'm only going for 8 days.

ProudDUB

As long as you have a valid passport when you are traveling, you will be fine. It doesn't have to be valid for X amount of days prior to travel.

If you are an Irish national, you don't need a visa. You just need to complete the electronic ESTA form, prior to travel. This is where you fill out your personal details and travel plans for US immigration authorities. It is linked to your passport number, so when you get the airport, they will be able to pull up your data when you check in.

http://dublin.usembassy.gov/general/esta.html

There is a link to submit ESTA form in the third paragraph. Make sure that you only use the official link, as there are a lot of bogus sites out there that charge you 10 times the official 14 euro US govt fee

pookiesboo

ProudDUB wrote: »

As long as you have a valid passport when you are traveling, you will be fine. It doesn't have to be valid for X amount of days prior to travel.

If you are an Irish national, you don't need a visa. You just need to complete the electronic ESTA form, prior to travel. This is where you fill out your personal details and travel plans for US immigration authorities. It is linked to your passport number, so when you get the airport, they will be able to pull up your data when you check in.

http://dublin.usembassy.gov/general/esta.html

There is a link to submit ESTA form in the third paragraph. Make sure that you only use the official link, as there are a lot of bogus sites out there that charge you 10 times the official 14 euro US govt fee

Thank you, that's great!

coylemj

Wait until you get the new passport before applying for the ESTA. It expires after two years or when your passport expires, whichever occurs first. It covers multiple entry so you don't need to reapply for a second trip within the two years, you just go back into the website and enter your flight details and the address you will be staying at on your first night. Those are the only details you can amend on your ESTA profile.

circular flexing

coylemj wrote: »

you just go back into the website and enter your flight details and the address you will be staying at on your first night. Those are the only details you can amend on your ESTA profile.

Actually you don't even need to do that. I've travelled on the ESTA plenty of times and never updated any info on it.

coylemj

circular flexing wrote: »

Actually you don't even need to do that. I've travelled on the ESTA plenty of times and never updated any info on it.

It costs nothing to do it, it only takes a couple of minutes and if they expect you do it, there's no reason not to.

circular flexing

coylemj wrote: »

It costs nothing to do it, it only takes a couple of minutes and if they expect you do it, there's no reason not to.

Clearly they don't expect you to do it as if they did it wouldn't be an optional field. In any case, you have to provide most of the information to the airline before checkin, so they can get it that way if they need it.

jack presley

circular flexing wrote: »

Clearly they don't expect you to do it as if they did it wouldn't be an optional field. In any case, you have to provide most of the information to the airline before checkin, so they can get it that way if they need it.

I didn't update my travel details one time (it was a year later but the flight number was the same and I was staying in the same hotel so didn't feel the need to update) but when I got to yer man in immigration, he ate the head off me for not updating it and "making him do more work".

It was an early flight and he was obviously just in a bad mood so as the earlier poster says, you might as well update it for a peaceful experience at the immigration desk if you happen to be dealt with by someone who got out on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

coylemj

circular flexing wrote: »

Clearly they don't expect you to do it as if they did it wouldn't be an optional field. In any case, you have to provide most of the information to the airline before checkin, so they can get it that way if they need it.

They do expect you to do it, it's why the flight details and address on the first night of your next visit are the only fields you can change on your ESTA profile after it's approved. An ESTA approval covers multiple entry in two years, that's why they allow you to update the data for each trip.

You make it sound like it's their problem, not yours. Good luck with that attitude if you get someone on a bad day as outlined by the poster above.

iusedtoknow

circular flexing wrote: »

Clearly they don't expect you to do it as if they did it wouldn't be an optional field. In any case, you have to provide most of the information to the airline before checkin, so they can get it that way if they need it.

this is exactly the attitude that gets you stopped at for longer than necessary at immigration. The burden of proof (be your plans for your trip or your hotel) are completely on you - it is not up to Immigration to chase down details about your trip