Anything else needed other than a recent passport to enter US?

gizmo1990

gizmo1990

gizmo1990

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Here was I thinking this would be a really easy question to find the answer to on the net...

Could someone catagorically tell me if I need any special visa on top of a regular UK passport to enter the US? My passport was issued in '08 and has a chip so from what little I can find on the net that should be sufficient.

Any advice/links to clear this up would be greatly appreciated.
 
They'll give you a form to fill in when you are on the flight over, it's a rather daft and pointless form but they insist that it's done.

It'll look like this:

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/sample_declaration_form.xml

We did ours online and submitted it but it was a waste of time we still ended up having to do it again during the flight to hand in when we landed.

That's the only thing you'll have to do though. If you have connecting flights between the UK and the USA I'd recommend ensuring you check in as early as you can as it can take a long, long time to get through the additional US controls for US flights.
 
Look at the identification page. If it says 'UK CITIZEN' and has two rows of characters at the bottom of the page, then you're good to go. If you were born in the UK and obtained the passport in the UK, then it will have both of the above and you'll be fine.

But don't forget to fill in an ESTA form at least 72 hours prior to travel.
 
no, you wont need anything else. i didn't fill the form in on the plane due to (as has already been mentioned) knowing from past experience that i'd have to do it again at the check in desk. just be polite and answer their questions truthfully and simply.
 
That's a fair point! :o

As for ESTA, they ask you to do both, and at least say they can deny entry if you don't do both. Whether they ever have, is another matter.
 
I don't think any Valid UK passports (at least for adults and non emergency ones) have an issue with US immigration needs so no worries there.

Just out of interest do you need to know exactly where you are going to be your whole time there or just the first location? I'm going in a few weeks for a while and am going to be staying in a city for a few days in a hostel and then going to head to other places, do I need to know specifically where when I get to the immigration desk? Don't really want to be interrogated and strip searched because I can't say exactly were i'm going for the entire duration. :p
 
Just that? Cool, what I was expecting but just making sure. :)

(Been there before but in a group and was essentially shuttled through with just the eye and finger print scans done).
 
Haha, reading this thread is a little like the internet search I mentioned in my first post!;)

So can we all agree that I need to fill out this ESTA form? If so, from when can I do it? I'm travelling in 2 weeks time, can I do it now for instance?

This APIS form, is this the one that will be given on the flight?
 
The ESTA form can be done online takes like 5 minutes although you do need to have your passport number on you and they approve you immediately assuming you put in all the right info, they then advise you to print off the completion page and take it with you (however they did not check mine last year)

https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/
 
gizmo1990 said:
Haha, reading this thread is a little like the internet search I mentioned in my first post!;)

So can we all agree that I need to fill out this ESTA form? If so, from when can I do it? I'm travelling in 2 weeks time, can I do it now for instance?

This APIS form, is this the one that will be given on the flight?
Click to expand...

you do the ESTA online ( though they will give you a paper version to do on the planes as well ) , the APIS is done in advance on the airline's website

you should do both a minimum of 72 hrs before flying
 
Bumping this for a second...

I assume the APIS doesn't need to be done before getting to the airport? That's what is done at the checkin desk right?
 
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