About ESTA approval for travel to the United States

Hand baggage restrictions

Currently, there are additional security measures at the airport, for all flights to the United States. This means we must strictly enforce the adherence to our hand baggage rules. To avoid delayed flights, we strongly advise you to arrive early before departure of your flight to the United States, both at the airport and at the departure gate. To reduce hand baggage to a minimum, we also strongly recommend you check in your baggage.

Read more about the additional security measures for flights to the United States 

Read more about your hand baggage 

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 be not enough time to apply for the necessary visa.

This ESTA travel authorisation is in addition to the information that you need to give to the US Customs and Border Protection Authority when flying to the United States. Requesting an ESTA travel permission is free.

Apply for the ESTA travel authorisation

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, 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 e-passports. An e-passport has a digital passport photo and a built-in chip, and can be read by machine. 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. 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 will enter on the green I-94 Arrival/Departure Form – this is the form that is handed out by the cabin crew during the flight. Eventually, the ESTA travel authorisation will replace this form, but for now you will need to apply for the ESTA travel authorisation as well as to complete this green form before arrival.

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 write this down: you will need it 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 reference number to check to see whether a 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.

Apply for the ESTA travel authorisation
For more information, please read the US Customs and Border Protection Authority Official information sheet(PDF, 197KB).