Eligible residents or citizens from all VWP (Visa Waiver Program) nations should get approval via the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) before planning to visit the USA under the VWP. Ireland, being a member of this program, has to follow the same procedure. The citizens of Ireland willing to travel to the United States of America will first need to get an electronic passport (e-passport), which will remain valid until after end of their scheduled tour.

Since Ireland has a contract with the US that permits them to visit on a present passport up to the expiration date – so the Irish citizens passport must be valid just for the duration of their stay in the US. If you are planning your trip, it is highly recommended to check the official site of the US Embassy for updates and also consult with your travel provider to ensure that you fulfil all requirements.

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What is Electronic System for Travel Authorization?

It is an electronic authorization system that requires tourists who are member of the VWP (Visa Waiver Program) to register prior to visiting the United States.

In case you’re not eligible for an ESTA or if your application has been rejected, you can then apply for a US Visitor Visa.

Registration

Irish citizens have to register via the Department of Homeland Security site, where they will need to pay charges.

Also, registration will be completed by 3rd persons on your behalf, like travel companies, and numerous applications can be done and paid for in a single transaction.

However, as there is no surety of this, it is highly recommended that all tourists should apply for the ESTA prior to book their flight to the US to avoid issues when entering the nation and to have sufficient time to apply for visitor visa in case your ESTA is denied.

Required Info for the ESTA application

Various questions in the ESTA application are required fields. Here is the required info you will need to provide within the ESTA form:

• Personal data
• ID card and Passport data
• Contact details
• Info regarding a contact person in the United States
• Company info
• Safety related problems

Passport Info

To travel with ESTA, you must be aware of this below-mentioned passport info:

1- Machine-readable Passports

Irish citizens should have their single machine-readable passport of they want to get approval for the Visa Waiver Program. If not, they will need to apply for a US tourist visa, in advance, from their closest US Embassy or Consulate.

Moreover, Ireland has been issuing machine readable passports since the year 1993. If you are not aware of machine-readable passport, it is a passport in which all your details have been mentioned on its data page which likewise has your picture. Remember if your passport has handwritten details, it is not considered a machine-readable passport.

2- Passport Validity

In numerous cases, to visit the US, you should have a passport having validity of minimum six months after your entrance date. As we have already discussed above, since Ireland has a contract with the United States that allows tourists to visit on their current passports up to the actual expiration date, that’s why their passport should be valid just for their stay period in the US.

Furthermore, in case you are travelling on the Visa Waiver Program visa-free and your passport has validity of less than ninety days, you are allowed to enter till the date of your passport expiration. Also, if your passport is invalid for your stay duration stay, you should apply for a fresh passport from the closest US Embassy or Consulate.

How to Check your ESTA Status?

Citizens can check the processing status of their current ESTA application or ESTA status on the official website.

They need to have the following info with them:

• Their passport no.
• Their ESTA application number
• Their date of birth

When you check your ESTA application status, one of the following 3 options given below will appear:

1. Authorization Pending – It means your ESTA will be processed by the authorities of the US.
2. Authorization Approved – It means your ESTA application has already been accepted.
3. Travel Not Authorized – It means you are rejected to enter with ESTA (visa-free). Then again, you need to apply for a US tourist visa.