As of November 2022, providing a scan or photo of your passport is mandatory when applying for an ESTA. Before this date, ESTA applications were almost always approved in a matter of hours. However, with the new requirement, thousands of applications are being rejected each day. This has been causing major problems for British people travelling to the USA.

Note: New change on 15-12-2022. Due to an update in the US immigration system, the information in this article is no longer applicable. You can still easily apply for an ESTA via this website..

Numerous ESTA rejections due to new safety rule

The requirement to provide a scan of your passport with ESTA applications was implemented to prevent mistakes with applications. The automated system of the US immigration service scans the personal data from the machine-readable part of the passport. This is meant to prevent incorrect passport details from ending up in the online application form. However, rather than improving the application procedure, this new system has led to numerous rejected applications. Another reason for this extra requirement is that it provides U.S. Customs and Border Protection with a copy of the traveller’s travel document before they arrive in the USA.

Pleun Leijten, Manager of Customer Relations at e-Visa.ie, sees her team facing unprecedented challenges: “I estimate that more than 60% of all passport scans would be rejected if we submitted them to the immigration service as they were provided to e-Visa.ie. Many travellers who have tried this have told us that they had to reschedule or even cancel their trip.”

Each year, hundreds of thousands of British people travel to the USA. Here are some facts:

• In 2019, 4.7 million British people travelled to the USA.
• British people are required to apply for an ESTA to travel to the USA.
• On November 2022, providing a copy of your passport when applying for an ESTA became mandatory.
• Without intervention, around 60% of all passport copies for new ESTA applications are rejected by the US immigration service.
• Thanks to a technical solution by e-Visa.ie, 98% of applications submitted via this website are still approved.

Substantially more passport copies accepted thanks to technical solution

e-Visa.ie has developed a technical solution which allows for 98% of all ESTA applications to still be processed. Image editing plays a central role in this. Because of this technical modification in the system, the vast majority of travellers that submit their application via this website receive an approved ESTA.

Submitting ESTA applications numerous times?

Have you been trying to submit an ESTA application since 29 November 2022 and are you also encountering problems? An application via e-Visa.ie may provide the solution. Many travellers who try to submit an application via the website of the US immigration service receive the following error: ‘We were unable to process the image that was provided. Please try again with a higher quality image’.

However, this error often also appears when the resolution of the scan or photo of the passport is sufficiently high. The same holds for images that were submitted in the format that meets the requirements set by the US immigration service.

ESTA application without worries

Thanks to the technical modifications in the system of e-Visa.ie, it is possible to make the copy of your passport suitable. Additionally, each ESTA application submitted via this website always receives the personal attention required to have it forwarded to the US immigration service as quickly as possible. This is also the case if the technical solutions end up not being enough. The only thing you need to do is make a scan or photo of the information page of your passport (the page with your photograph), as you would when making a digital copy. You submit it with your application, and the visa specialists of e-Visa.ie will do the rest.

ESTA without delay

Did you correctly fill in the application form and do you meet the requirements for the ESTA? Then you will not need to worry about the ESTA application after submitting the form. After approval, you will be able to travel with peace of mind. Most applications for the ESTA submitted via e-Visa.ie are approved without any issues. Although maximum approval times cannot be guaranteed, you will usually receive the ESTA within 3 days. With an urgent application, the application is even approved within 60 minutes on average.

Please note: this news article about the ESTA for the USA is more than one year old. It might contain outdated information and advice, and no rights can therefore be derived from this article. Are you going on a trip soon and do you wish to do know what rules currently apply? Read all about the up-to-date information about the ESTA for the USA.