What you need to know before you take flights to the US
From shopping in New York for singletons, weddings in Las Vegas for lovers, theme parks in Florida for families or Route 66 trips for road warriors, the States are a huge draw. However, security measures have tightened considerably in the past few years, and visiting the US needs a bit more planning these days. Read on for the lowdown on getting into the States, and search and compare the cost of cheap flights to the US.
Read our tip about getting through security at US airports faster.
Do you need a visa?
Not if you are a citizen of the UK, Ireland or the other 36 visa-waiver countries*. The Visa Waiver Programme is run by the US Department of Homeland Security and allows eligible nationals to travel to the United States for tourism or business for up to 90 days without needing a visa.
For those wishing to stay for more than 90 days a Nonimmigrant Visa is required, for which there are a number of categories. Price information and details about the application procedure can be found on the book your flights to the US, you will need to provide Advance Passenger Information via your airline’s website. The information required for each passenger is:
their name (as on passport), the passport number, country and expiry date of passport. Their gender. Their date of birth and nationality. The passenger’s country of residence and alien registration or Permanent Resident Card Number (if applicable) and the address the passenger will be staying at while in the US.
Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA)
Since January 12, 2009, all nationals of the visa-waiver countries have to register their personal details online at least three days before departure. The Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) must be filled out before travel and contains information similar to that which used to be completed onboard a plane on the I-94W forms (the green ones). The application form can be filled out at the Esta website (esta.cbp.dhs.gov), and it’s a good idea to take a copy of your ESTA application to the airport. The fee is $14, which comprises a processing fee of $4 and an authorisation charge of $10 (if your application is successful). The website accepts MasterCard, VISA and American Express cards as well as Discover.
Make sure your passport is machine readable
A machine readable passport has the holder’s personal details, i.e., name, date of birth, nationality and their passport number contained in two lines of text at the bottom of the photo page. This text may be read by machine.
Once you land in America, get in line
The Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM), formerly US-VISIT, was introduced to improve the safety and security of visitors to the US, as well as US citizens, by registering each visitor (collecting digital fingerprints and mug shots) on arrival and collating this data again on departure. The biographic and biometric data is used to match the visitor with the travel documents and is compared against watch lists. This process applies to all passengers aged between 14 and 79 travelling to the US holding a visa, and since 2004 to all visa waiver passengers too.
Save time by getting in line in Ireland
Travellers to the US can clear US immigration (with the photograph and fingerprints) at Dublin and Shannon Airports before flying, cutting down on waiting times when they land. Aer Lingus, the national carrier, flies to many US destinations and British Airways’ service from London City Airport to New York comes with a 45-minute refuelling stop at Shannon during which passengers may complete US Pre-clearance.
If you do not qualify under the Visa Waiver Programme
If you need to make a nonimmigrant visa application, you can do so online. The web-based non-immigrant visa (the DS-160) should be applied for before prospective travellers have their interviews at the Embassies in London or Dublin or the regional Consulate. The DS-160 can be accessed at ceac.state.gov.
There’s a raft of helpful information about how to complete the new DS-160 at the Embassy website (london.usembassy.gov for London or dublin.usembassy.gov for Dublin). YouTube hosts a helpful demonstration too. Nonimmigrant visa application processing fees, known as MRV (Machine-Readable Visa) fees, start at $160.
* The 38 countries in the visa-waiver programme are the United Kingdom, Ireland, Andorra, Iceland, Norway, Australia, Portugal, Austria, Italy, San Marino, Belgium, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, Chile, Taiwan, Latvia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Denmark, Lithuania, Greece, South Korea, Estonia, Luxembourg, Spain, Finland, Malta, Sweden, France, Monaco, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary and New Zealand.
