What is ESTA travel authorisation?
If you travel to the United States and you have an e-passport issued by a country under the Visa Waiver Programme, you will have to apply for an ESTA travel authorisation. This must be done preferably no later than 72 hours before departure. After this, you can still apply for ESTA, but if denied there may not be enough time to apply for the necessary visa.
This ESTA travel authorisation has replaced the green I 94 form, that you previously needed to fill in on board your flight to the United States.
Requesting an ESTA travel permission costs USD 14. You only need to pay this amount for your ESTA application if you have a new passport, or if your previous ESTA approval has expired.
You always need ESTA travel authorisation to be able to check in online at KLM.com, regardless of where your passport was issued. This does not apply if you have a United States resident permit.
Important: When applying for ESTA, please make sure you enter the information exactly as stated in your passport.
Visa Waiver Programme countries
The Visa Waiver Programme applies to travellers with an e-passport issued by the following countries: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, The Czech Republic*, Denmark, Estonia*, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary*, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia*, Liechtenstein, Lithuania*, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia*, Slovenia, South Korea*, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom – as well as Australia, Brunei, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore.
* Passports issued by these countries have to be machine-readable e-passports. Depending on where and when it was issued, the passport must also have a digital passport photo and a built-in chip. If you have a temporary or emergency passport that is not an e-passport, you can no longer travel under the Visa Waiver Programme. You must then apply for a visa for your trip to the United States.
If you have a valid visa for travel to the United States, you can still use it for the purpose for which it was issued. You will not need an ESTA travel authorisation until your visa expires. However, if you wish to check in online at KLM.com, you need to have ESTA travel authorisation as well. Otherwise, you can check in at the airport.
You do not need ESTA travel authorisation if you have a United States resident permit.
What should I do?
If you do not apply for ESTA travel authorisation, you may be denied entry to the United States. You can apply for an ESTA travel authorisation at the ESTA pages of the US Customs and Border Protection website. You should do this preferably at the latest 72 hours before your departure. It will take approximately 15 minutes per person to complete the application.
The information you must supply is the same as the information you used to enter on the green I-94 Arrival/Departure Form during the flight. The ESTA travel authorisation has replaced this form.
ESTA travel authorisation is normally granted immediately, but may take up to 72 hours. After the approval of your application for an ESTA travel authorisation, you will receive a reference number. Be sure to print the ESTA application response: you will need the application number to change your ESTA information when your passport expires.
ESTA travel authorisation remains valid for two years. During these two years, you may travel to the United States as often as you like, until any answers to the YES/NO questions in your ESTA application change, or until your passport expires.
You might not receive an ESTA travel authorisation immediately. In this case, you should use your ESTA application number to check to see whether permission for departure will still be issued. You should make sure to do this well in advance since there is a possibility that you could be referred to the US Embassy or US Consulate. We recommend you bring a print-out of the ESTA application response to the departure airport.
Apply for the ESTA travel authorisation
For more information, please read the US Customs and Border Protection Authority Official information sheet(PDF, 197KB).
