ESTA and Niagara Falls

josip

We will be going to Chicago in October and plan to go to Niagara Falls. We would like to see them from the Canadian side.

Are there any problems leaving the US at the bridge crossing in Buffalo and returning same day with ESTA ?

I crossed over and back years ago but with Trump and ICE everything seems much more tense.

TenBeers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058423171/esta-and-niagara-falls

I think you will also need a Canadian visa to cross the border.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058423171/esta-and-niagara-falls

Do they still attach a green slip to your passport when you enter on the Visa Waiver Program (some incorrectly call this ESTA) ?

If so and obviously you will have the stamp the day you entered and it's less than 90 days ago then you should be just fine.

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123771772#Comment_123771772

Not according to https://ircc.canada.ca/english/visit/visas.asp

Nigel Fairservice

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123771776#Comment_123771776

The green slip is gone. I imagine it's all tracked electronically these days.

Doodah7

Why don't you contact the Canadian Embassy here and ask them?

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123775297#Comment_123775297

My original question was about the re-entering the US with ESTA.

TenBeers raised the Canadian visa question and I'm happy with the answer above that I got from the Canadian's website.

Mike3549

I don't see any problems. On paper, by law, everything should be ok. Esta is valid for 2 years and you can do multiple trips, but...

Here's what a quick Google tells me:

"An ESTA approval does not guarantee entry into the United States; a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer makes the final decision at the port of entry."

So in this case and with all trump and ice nonsense, nobody can tell you 100%. I'd say have all your paperwork with you at the border, where you're staying in the states, you return tickets etc.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123780511#Comment_123780511

I don't see any problems. On paper, by law, everything should be ok. Esta is valid for 2 years and you can do multiple trips, but...

Here's what a quick Google tells me:

"An ESTA approval does not guarantee entry into the United States; a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer makes the final decision at the port of entry."

People need to stop conflating the ESTA with the visa waiver.

It means absolutely nothing that the ESTA lasts two years, because the visa waiver only lasts 90 days.

As long as you can still satisfy the requirements of the visa waiver (staying no longer than 90 days, return ticket, money to support yourself) coming back in to the US from Canada then you will be grand.

coylemj

If you enter the US under the Visa Waiver Program, you will get a 90 days pass. It's a stamp on your passport, not a stapled piece of paper.

If you are admitted to the United States under the VWP, you may take a short trip to Canada, Mexico, or a nearby island and generally be readmitted to the United States under the VWP for the remainder of the original 90 days granted upon your initial arrival in the United States. Therefore, the length of time of your total stay, including the short trip, must be 90 days or less.

There is no definition of what constitutes a 'short' trip but it sounds like the OP shouldn't have any problem simply crossing the border to see the Niagra Falls from the Canadian side. Note that 'a nearby island' does not include Cuba, any of the other Caribbean islands should be ok for a quick visit but not a mainland country like Costa Rica.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visa-waiver-program.html

Charles Babbage

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123782688#Comment_123782688

Of course things may have changed, but I went in 2018 for 8 days to Canada on an ESTA and crossed back into the US at Niagara and I had done similar several times on the paper ones. European tourists crossing at Niagara is probably not uncommon.

steve-o

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123782688#Comment_123782688

I haven't even had a US stamp in my passport in the past 5 years!

endofrainbow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123783412#Comment_123783412

Me either - its all done electronically. Last time I got a stamp was April 2022 and I'm over and back 3 times a year.

user060916

It depends on the airport. JFk still stamps, I got one there two weeks ago. Haven't got one in Dublin in years including last week

josip

Just filled in the ESTA application for the family, all the details in and it timed out while trying to pay :(

"The payment status could not be determined at this time. Please check back later for the payment status."

Hopefully just a glitch and not related to the shutdown 😀

89897

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123881353#Comment_123881353

It should be still there just marked as an unpaid application. I did some last week with no issues thankfully. It took about 2.5 hrs to be approved

Chris_5339762

There is quite a lot of incorrect information in this thread as far as i can tell. We did something similar in May 2024, crossing from Seattle in the US to Victoria Island in BC, Canada and back as a daytrip. We all had the usual visa waiver program with an Irish passport.

We needed to fill out an I-94 form which is basically "you are visiting the US as a non-US citizen, this tracks you leaving and re-entering the US while you are on your holidays here" form. It was easy and cost only a few quid. I'd imagine the same thing is needed for Niagra and the Canadian side - may not be worth the extra hassle as we needed customs and border control going both ways.

thebiglad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123783295#Comment_123783295

Same but, in 2021 crossed the border to see the falls, stayed for couple of days (hired a car, visited wineries and Niagara on the Lake - worth doing if you have time) and then crossed back to US, no problem.

Unlikely too much has changed, if they admit you once then they are likely to admit you again…

josip

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123881945#Comment_123881945

Lucky you, did you get it for $21? We're being charged $40 a pop.

Still having the problem and others have also, so I will have to redo them individually. That's an hour and $60 I've lost before a trip I was luke warm about has even started.

89897

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123883574#Comment_123883574

No it was the $40 dollars, I didnt realise the price was going up and was a day late!

Thats annoying, hopefully that gets sorted soon anyone doing this coming close to the 72 hours will struggle

josip

Finally got it sorted thanks to call Support and 89897. Posting here in case anyone in future has a similar problem.

We'd tried Firefox, Chrome, Edge on 2 different laptops and also tried the App on an Android phone. Allowed Pop Ups and disabled Ad Block. Group and Individual ESTA applications. But no joy. Restarted browser cleared cache. Esta helpline admits some applicants have these problems. If you get the problem, then you have to wait 4 hours for a timeout on the ESTA site before you can try paying again.

The 2nd Support Call helper (you get through immediately which I'm not used to nowadays) suggested the same as previous. He actually listened to us when we said we tried those things already, thought a bit and then suggested we try using a different ISP, that sometimes pay.gov is blocked by ISPs. Knocked off wifi on the phone and pay.gov loaded no problem.

Our house ISP is Virgin Media, so it looks like they block pay.gov presumably for all their customers.