News report | | 19-09-2025 | ±2 minutes reading time

Are you planning to travel to the United States? Then you are advised to apply for your ESTA as soon as possible. As of 30 September 2025, the ESTA price will significantly be increased. By submitting your application before 30 September, you will still pay the lower price, even if you travel later this year or next year.

The ESTA fee nearly doubled

The US Immigration Service has announced that the ESTA consular fee will soon be 40 USD (approximately 34 EUR). The Immigration Service currently charges 21 USD (approximately 18 EUR) per person for the ESTA. This means that the cost of the ESTA will almost double. European travellers will have to pay more if they want to travel to America for a holiday, a family visit or a business trip. The plan for a possible price increase had already been announced earlier. Now, it has definitively been confirmed by the US Congress. The price increase will take effect on 30 September 2025.

Breakdown of ESTA costs

The ESTA fee that the US authorities will apply as of September is divided into three components:

  • Travel Promotion fee (17 USD)
  • Operational fee (10 USD)
  • Treasury General Fund fee (13 USD)

The first component is the Travel Promotion fee. It is used to finance Brand USA, an organisation responsible for marketing campaigns promoting the United States internationally as a tourist destination. In addition to the revenue from the ESTA programme, Brand USA is funded by contributions from travel and private organisations. The Travel Promotion fee is currently 17 USD per person and will stay the same after 30 September.

The cost for the Operational fee will be increased from USD 4 to USD 10. This relates to administrative costs associated with processing ESTA applications, like the management and maintenance of the digital ESTA system. A completely new element is the so-called Treasury General Fund fee. This portion will benefit the US Treasury and will be used to cover the costs of the federal government.

Part of the One Big Beautiful Bill

The increase of the ESTA fees takes place within the framework of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a President Trump's bill combining several measures. In addition to increasing the ESTA fees, this bill reduces taxes for businesses and for many citizens, cuts spending on the Medicaid healthcare programme, and also on tax incentives for renewable energy.

Apply for the ESTA online

If you want to travel to the United States in the next two years, you can submit your ESTA application now. The ESTA is valid for two years from the issue date. You may travel to the United States an unlimited number of times within the validity period. If you apply for your ESTA before September 30, 2025, you will still pay the old rate, even if you travel to the United States after that date. On average, the ESTA is issued and sent by email within 3 days.

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e-Visa.ie is a commercial and professional visa agency, and supports travellers in obtaining, among others, the ESTA USA. e-Visa.ie is an official partner of the International Air Transport Association, IATA, with membership number 57231226, acts as an intermediary, is no law firm, nor does it employ lawyers, does not provide legal advice, and is in no way part of any government. You can also apply for a ESTA directly with the immigration service (21 USD per ESTA, via esta.cbp.dhs.gov). However, not with our level of support. If you submit your application via e-Visa.ie, our support centre is available to you 24/7. In addition, we manually check your application and all the documents you provide before submitting it to the immigration authorities on your behalf. If we suspect any errors or omissions while doing so, we will personally contact you to ensure that your application can still be processed quickly and correctly. To use our services, you pay us 21 USD in consular fees, which we pay to the immigration service on your behalf, as well as € 32,13 in service fees as compensation for our services, including VAT. Our services have saved many travellers from major problems during their trip. Should an application be rejected despite our support and verification, we will refund the full purchase price (unless an application for a previous USA ESTA was rejected for the same traveller). Read more about our services here.