Visa waiver how many times per year

When transiting in the U. When you want to stay in the U. When traveling to the U. When you plan to study in the U. You need the designated visa if you plan to study for 18 hours or longer in a week, no matter how long you plan to be in the U.

When staying for a long period in connection with a specialized field, special skills, or an artistic field Those planning to stay in the U. F-1 visa Accredited universities and high schools in the U. M-1 visa Study at specialized schools and trade schools in the U. J-1 visa Cultural-exchange visits and study as exchange students at schools in the U. B-1 visa short term business, conference and research in the U. B-2 visa sightseeing and attending events in the U.

Apply for ESTA here. Back to the ESTA application homepage. About the visa waiver program VWP Learn more about the countries and conditions that exempt visas when traveling to the United States. When visiting for sightseeing purposes for up to 90 days. Individual travel, family travel, group travel, visiting homes of friends or relatives, volunteer activities, participation in events or contests without remuneration. Participation in business discussions or negotiations, attending meetings, attending educational, scientific, or other specialized conferences or events without remuneration.

You must apply for a visa B2 visa if you want to stay in the U. You must apply for a visa B1 visa if you are traveling to the U. These individuals can apply for visas using regular appointment processes at a U. Embassy or Consulate. For those who require a visa for urgent travel to the United States, U.

Embassies and Consulates stand ready to handle applications on an expedited basis. If an individual who is exempt from the Act because of his or her diplomatic or military presence in one of the seven countries has his or her ESTA denied, he or she may go to the CBP website , or contact the CBP information Center.

The traveler may also apply for a nonimmigrant visa at a U. Customs and Border Protection strongly recommends that any traveler to the United States check his or her ESTA status prior to making any travel reservations or travelling to the United States. You must have a passport that is valid for at least 6 months after your planned departure from the United States unless exempted by country-specific agreements. In addition, you must have an e-passport to use the VWP.

An e-passport is an enhanced secure passport with an embedded electronic chip. The chip can be scanned to match the identity of the traveler to the passport. You can readily identify an e-passport, by a symbol on the cover. See the example below. More information about e-passports is available on the DHS website. If you use an emergency or temporary passport to enter the United States on the VWP, the passport must be an e-passport.

Most passport offices offer a special urgency procedure to receive a new passport faster. An ESTA can also be applied for through an urgent application procedure. Urgent application procedures are on average approved within an hour.

Aside from the maximum length of stay and the validity of the passport, there are a few other things that are of importance when it comes to the ESTA validity.

Should the ESTA application form, intentionally or unintentionally, be filled in incorrectly or incompletely, the application might be approved as normal, but it will not be valid.

The immigration service does not have access to the information of every traveller in the world, and as such cannot spot every single mistake made. For instance, a wrongly filled in date of birth will not result in a rejected application. The ESTA will be granted, but it will not be valid. It can occur that travellers only notice this when checking in at the airport. The airline will indicate that there is no valid ESTA tied to your passport information.

It's an easy mistake to make. For example, if you book round-trip flights, between July 4th and October 4th, then the day threshold would be exceeded. If this mistake is made, and it is realized, the solution is to reorganize the return flight in order to respect the conditions set by ESTA.

Such a mistake, i. Being the electronic process, every single note, including exceeding the stay limit of even one day, is recorded and associated with the passport number and name. Often many of the people who tend to stay in the United States for an extended period of time try to bypass the day period per trip, and to avoid the hassle of the bureaucracy of a visa, apply for a simple ESTA and try to cross the border Canada or Mexico, for example close to 90 days, thinking of resetting them so as to start over for another three months.

That will not work. Border patrol officers are very aware of the misuse of the ESTA and the day timer is not reset when crossing a nearby border.