Be vigilant when applying for an ESTA USA

Caution and vigilance

When booking thehe cost of authorization to travel to the United States can be sometimes be multiplied by six. Sf your customers are planning to visit the United States, they will naturally need to apply for an Esta (electronic travel authorization system). As a professional, you need to point them in the right direction. Because while the official fee for this is 14 dollars (12.50 euros), it can go completely off the rails. For a family of 4, the cost can be as much as 300 euros... Appearances aside can be deceptive...

Take esta-formulaire.us, for example: the merchant charges $84 per person, under the pretext of helping travelers simplify the process. A Florida-based company that wants to make a lot of money. It's only at the bottom of the page that a few lines mention the exorbitant fees charged, probably to avoid upsetting the Direction générale de la concurrence (DGCCRF): " Our $84 royalty includes the U.S. government's $14 royalty." . As for the payment page, it's not very clear: in fact, it doesn't indicate the file management fees, and only shows the total amount of the fees.

Often, appearances can be deceptive. Take Esta-Official, for example... which isn't official. At the very bottom of its home page, it states in small print that the site is in fact "not affiliated with the U.S. government authorities or the government site cbp.gov". The price is 59 euros per Esta request, whereas the official site charges just 12 euros (14 $). Esta-Officiel is published by a company registered in Mauritius: I-Visas Services, u.

Don't be fooled

These sites sometimes cover other destinations for visa applications, and are extremely lucrative. As the Quai d'Orsay reminds travellers to remain vigilant to avoid falling into certain traps, the ESTA can be obtained by answering the questions on the site https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/ (multilingual), " this is the official site for online payment, even though we tolerate third parties, as indicated on our form." . It's simple, fast and inexpensive. If the form has to be completed in English, the instructions are available in French.

As a reminder, the authorization is valid for two years from the date of issue, but the application must be renewed if the passport expires before that date.