ESTA For Group Travel
ESTA or the electronic system for travel authorization to give it its full name is an automated system designed to determine if people are eligible to travel to the United States. When applying as a group whether it be friends or a family (or a mix of both) you can apply for a group ESTA.
This is designed to make the application process more simple as you can bunch your applications together. However, before you start the process make sure that everyone intending to travel as a valid passport from a visa waiver eligible country. If you are unsure whether you meet the criteria follow this link to check.
The Group ESTA Application Process
The application process for a group ESTA might seem imposing but it is usually quite quick and simple in most cases. You can make the application online and each members application should only take around 10 minutes.
So, the more people in your group there are the longer the application process will take. Group ESTA application can be for as many as 50 people so if you have a larger group the application process can certainly take quite some time to complete.
However, by using group ESTA you will be able to find out quickly whether you have been approved for travel. You approval decision should be made quite quickly within 72 hours at max so the good news is you won’t have to wait long for a decision. However, it is still recommended that you get your application in well before your planned departure date.
The Benefits of ESTA For Group Travel
Using ESTA for group travel does carry a number of benefits as previously mentioned it can be used for up to 50 passengers and people in the application don’t even need to travel together. You can also combine everyone’s application into one single payment as well.
Both these points are huge timesavers which is always going to be a bonus when it comes to making travel plans. You can also keep track of everyone’s status at the same time and easily edit/ update the application information.
If someone cancels, for example, removing their application is quick and easy. You can also use ESTA for group travel to apply on behalf of another person all you need to do is ensure you make this clear during the application process. Group ESTA is simpler and more concise and gives you greater flexibility and freedom.
What Information Do You Need?
When making an ESTA application for group travel it might surprise you to learn that the information required is relatively minimal. This means making a bulk load of applications should be quite quick and easy for most people.
Below, I’ve listed all the essential information you will need to include for each traveller. It’s important to remember than this does include babies as well as some people incorrectly believe they don’t need a passport. They do and will need an ESTA application as part of your group as well. Follow this link to find out more information about traveling to the United State with children.
Passport Details/ Information:
This will include your passport number, country of issue, country of citizenship, issue date and expiry date. If you hold multiple passports you must include the same information for them as well.
Personal Details/ Information:
This will include your full name, surname/ family name, date of birth, city, and country of birth, gender and details of any known aliases.
Parents Details/ Information:
This will include your parent’s full names. In the event, you don’t have this information simply enter unknown instead.
Contact Details/ Information:
This will include your full address, your state/ province/ or region, city of residence, country, email address and phone number.
Emergency Contact Information:
This can be approached in two ways if you are staying with someone in the U.S then you should include their personal information which includes their full name, telephone number, and email address. However, you can use the information of your hotel/ accommodation instead.
U.S Contact Information:
This section follows the same guidelines as the above. It can be the details of your hotel/ accommodation or the details of a person you are staying with.
U.S Address:
If you are staying with a friend or family member who already lives in the United States you will need to enter their full address details including the house number or name, street, state, city and zip code. However, if you are staying at a hotel or similar accommodation you can enter those details instead.
Employment Information:
Finally, if you or anyone in your group is employed you will need to submit their employer’s name and the full address including the state, province or region as well as the city and country.
ESTA Eligibility Questions:
Finally, you will need to submit answers to the nine ESTA eligibility questions. You can look at these questions before starting your application as well simply follow this link to the ESTA website to see them.
So, that completes our look at everything you need to know about using an ESTA for group travel. To make the process easier ensure everyone in your group as the essential information laid out above and take a look at the eligibility questions.
