{"id":564,"date":"2019-04-12T12:31:56","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T11:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/"},"modified":"2024-10-11T08:16:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T07:16:52","slug":"visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Visa or ESTA to travel to the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All travel to the United States requires a travel authorization. Whether it is the  <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">visa or ESTA<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The choice will depend on the length of your stay and the reason for your departure. Are you going there to work, to do an internship or simply to discover the American territory? These reasons determine which official document is best suited to your situation. So  <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">visa or ESTA<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">  ? Let&#8217;s look at this in more detail in the rest of this article.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ESTA, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the online travel authorization<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> online<\/span><\/h2>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before detailing the different cases that apply to the ESTA or visa, let&#8217;s start by <a href=\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/esta-formality-for-your-trip-to-the-usa\/\">defining what the ESTA is<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ESTA, also known as the Electronic System of Travel Authorization, is an official document that allows citizens of the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) to travel to the United States for short stays.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contrary to the visa that comes in multiple documents specific to each situation (J1 visa, F1 visa, M1 visa, etc.), which we will see later, the ESTA is unique and covers several reasons for staying.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ESTA travel authorization is an initiative of the U.S. government and was created in order to facilitate the processing of visa applications and to secure the country from terrorist threats. <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ESTA form is of great help to the American authorities, as obtaining the ESTA requires meeting several criteria. If applicants do not meet the criteria, they must apply for a visa at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate.  <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Visa-USA-esta-passeport.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\" src=\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Visa-USA-esta-passeport.jpg\" alt=\"visa usa esta passport\" class=\"wp-image-262\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>visa or ESTA to travel to the USA<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are the ESTA requirements?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To check your chances of obtaining ESTA travel authorization, here are the requirements:  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">travel to the USA for a maximum of 90 days (note: the ESTA is valid for 2 years, which means that over 2 years you can travel to the USA as many times as you want, provided you never stay more than 90 consecutive days on American soil);<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">travel to the United States for tourism, business or transit;<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Have a valid biometric or electronic passport (be careful, the passport is very important, always have a valid passport when ordering the ESTA and during your trip);  <\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">be a national of a member country of the Visa Waiver Program (France is a member);  <\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">know your return date (when ordering the ESTA, it is not mandatory to purchase your tickets beforehand. However, when you arrive in the USA, you will have to present your return ticket to customs).  <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The ESTA authorization is only available on the Internet. For an online application, you can go to the official government website or to a specialized website that provides an additional service in filling in your information.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you meet all the ESTA requirements, but still have the question of visa or ESTA? Several elements can help you choose the ESTA:  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its price is much cheaper than the visa: 21$ taxes to pay online on the official ESTA website;  <\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">its accessibility because the form is filled out online;  <\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">its ease of obtaining, it is enough to fill in the form to have a passport and an e-mail address;  <\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Its speed of obtaining, you receive an answer to your ESTA request in maximum 72 hours.  <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you do not meet all of the above criteria or if you wish to travel to the United States to work, intern, study at a university, get married or simply live in the United States, a visa application is mandatory.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The visa and its variations <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of travel authorizations<\/span><\/h2>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The visa and the ESTA are both <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">travel authorizations<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, applying for a visa requires a much longer and more expensive procedure than ESTA. However, it offers you more opportunities and possibilities for experiences abroad.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The list of visa travel authorizations is important because each reason has a corresponding visa. To give you an example, here are the main visas requested by foreign nationals:<\/span><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">B1 business visa<\/span>;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">B2 tourist visa or for medical reasons ;<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-j1-internship-usa-what-is-the-procedure\/\">J1 visa for an internship<\/a> or exchange program;<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/how-to-obtain-a-us-student-visa\/\">F1 student visa<\/a>;<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The E2 investor visa;  <\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">etc.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each visa requires specific procedures, for example, for international internships (J1 visa), the applicant must find a sponsoring organization certified by the U.S. government, in order to obtain the DS-2019 form.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, although the administrative procedures vary depending on the visa chosen, all applicants must <a href=\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/how-do-i-apply-for-a-visa-at-the-american-embassy\/\">make an appointment at the U.S. Embassy<\/a> to be interviewed by a consular officer. This decisive interview with the U.S. Homeland Security representative will determine your ability to live in the U.S. (means of financing, level of English) and the consistency of your plans with the requested visa.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you make your appointment at the U.S. Embassy, be sure to gather these items:  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a passport (biometric or electronic) with a minimum validity of 6 months;  <\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a chronopost envelope with your address of domiciliation;  <\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the DS-160 form that you filled out for the VISA application and your SEVIS number;<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">documents proving your solvency (pay slips, bank statements, etc.).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is an exhaustive list, additional documents may be requested depending on the reason for departure (letter of commitment from your sponsor, valid job offer, official documents proving admission to a school, etc.).  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Visa or ESTA<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> : summary <\/span> <\/h2>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Please note that for both <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">travel authorizations<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to the USA (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">visa or ESTA<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), the most important element is your passport. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your passport must be valid for the duration of your trip (for the ESTA) and for at least 6 months during your interview at the US embassy (for the visa). <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If this is not the case, you will need to apply for a new electronic or biometric passport. <\/span> <\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For ESTA, the authorization is directly linked to your passport number through the electronic systems of the American customs. Therefore, if your identity documents have expired, you will have to renew them and apply for a new ESTA afterwards.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Obtaining an ESTA  <\/span><\/h3>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under no circumstances should the applicant travel to the United States for commercial purposes. The ESTA is only dedicated to short tourist and professional stays (conferences, contract signing, meetings&#8230;) as well as transits (by air or sea).  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you don&#8217;t meet all the ESTA requirements, here are the types of visas that are closest to ESTA travel authorization:  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for business travel: the B1 visa;<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for tourism, vacation or leisure: the B2 visa;<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and for transits: the C visa.  <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Obtaining a visa  <\/span><\/h3>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apart from the ESTA requirements, all other reasons require a USA visa application.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Please note: if you wish to settle permanently in the United States, you will need to obtain a permanent residence card, called a Green Card, by participating in the American diversity program lottery, for example.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All travel to the United States requires a travel authorization. Whether it is the visa or ESTAThe choice will depend on the length of your stay and the reason for your departure. Are you going there to work, to do an internship or simply to discover the American territory? These reasons determine which official document &#8230; <a title=\"Visa or ESTA to travel to the United States\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Visa or ESTA to travel to the United States\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-564","page","type-page","status-publish"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Do I need a visa or ESTA to travel to the United States?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You have planned to go to the USA only, you don&#039;t know which document to turn to? ESTA or visa, which one is better for my stay?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do I need a visa or ESTA to travel to the United States?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You have planned to go to the USA only, you don&#039;t know which document to turn to? ESTA or visa, which one is better for my stay?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Plan your trip to the United States of America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-11T07:16:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Visa-USA-esta-passeport.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"275\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"183\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/\",\"name\":\"Do I need a visa or ESTA to travel to the United States?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Visa-USA-esta-passeport.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-12T11:31:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-11T07:16:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"You have planned to go to the USA only, you don't know which document to turn to? ESTA or visa, which one is better for my stay?\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Visa-USA-esta-passeport.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Visa-USA-esta-passeport.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Plan your trip to the United States of America\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Do I need a visa or ESTA to travel to the United States?","description":"You have planned to go to the USA only, you don't know which document to turn to? ESTA or visa, which one is better for my stay?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Do I need a visa or ESTA to travel to the United States?","og_description":"You have planned to go to the USA only, you don't know which document to turn to? ESTA or visa, which one is better for my stay?","og_url":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/","og_site_name":"Plan your trip to the United States of America","article_modified_time":"2024-10-11T07:16:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":275,"height":183,"url":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Visa-USA-esta-passeport.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/","url":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/","name":"Do I need a visa or ESTA to travel to the United States?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Visa-USA-esta-passeport.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-12T11:31:56+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-11T07:16:52+00:00","description":"You have planned to go to the USA only, you don't know which document to turn to? ESTA or visa, which one is better for my stay?","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/visa-or-esta-to-travel-to-the-united-states\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Visa-USA-esta-passeport.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Visa-USA-esta-passeport.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/","name":"Plan your trip to the United States of America","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":856,"href":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/564\/revisions\/856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esta-etats-unis.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}