ESTA - "Authorization Pending" for 14 days and Counting!

[jrfsp]

If there was no record of your visit in your current passport how would they know
Not suggesting that’s the course of action.

 

[Mitch_W]

If there was no record of your visit in your current passport how would they know
Not suggesting that’s the course of action.

My current passport has a number of Visas to North Korea. But I would think that the US Government has access to all of our travel history with the technology that have even if I had a brand new passport.

 

[Scarlett]

If there was no record of your visit in your current passport how would they know
Not suggesting that’s the course of action.

They know.
Visiting certain countries isn’t a problem: not being honest is the problem.

 

[randompunter]

Yes that is a huge PITA. I had to go through the visa interview process after a trip to Iran. Living in NQ our nearest US Consulate is quite far away in Sydney. Took a few hours of shuffling and waiting for a simple 30 second interview, basically they asked "Why did you go to Iran?" We replied "Tourism" and all was fine. Annoyingly that rule came in in 2015, a few years after we had travelled in 2013 but was applied retroactively to 2011.

 

[Vidhi17]

Hi guys,
Hope you’re keeping well!
I had applied for ESTA on 7th July 2024 for my travel starting from 26th July.
I am on Australian passport since Aug 2023 & prior to that i had an Indian passport with valid US visitor visa.
I can’t keep dual citizenship so i had to renounce my Indian passport.
Now, the problem is my ESTA isn’t approved yet as I had marked yes to question where they ask about denial or refusal. I was refused Business visa in October 2012 due to 214(b) reason.
However, I will be surprised if that’s causing delays as I had received valid US visa on Indian passport & had travelled to states once in August 2022.
I am so stressed!!!
Any thoughts?
Appreciate it!

 

[Cynicor]

was this a last minute trip? Why apply so late?
At this point it is unlikely to matter if you cancel today or in 4 days so you may as well go up to the moment and then cancel when it doesn’t come through.

 

[moa999]

replied "Tourism" and all was fine. Annoyingly that rule came in in 2015, a few years after we had travelled in 2013 but was applied retroactively to 2011.

Got a friend with a similar issue after visiting North Korea. They haven't bothered with the US since.

 

[SYD]

Got a friend with a similar issue after visiting North Korea. They haven't bothered with the US since.

North Korea requires a visa. A friend had that issue and bit the bullet to attend a special event.

Selecting “Yes” to some of those problematic questions is usually a reason for an ESTA to be declined - but you’d expect some advice on being declined. If not, I’d be making a call.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi guys,
Hope you’re keeping well!
I had applied for ESTA on 7th July 2024 for my travel starting from 26th July.
I am on Australian passport since Aug 2023 & prior to that i had an Indian passport with valid US visitor visa.
I can’t keep dual citizenship so i had to renounce my Indian passport.
Now, the problem is my ESTA isn’t approved yet as I had marked yes to question where they ask about denial or refusal. I was refused Business visa in October 2012 due to 214(b) reason.
However, I will be surprised if that’s causing delays as I had received valid US visa on Indian passport & had travelled to states once in August 2022.
I am so stressed!!!
Any thoughts?
Appreciate it!

I was doing some research regarding dual passports. Apparently the advice is *not* to switch between them for your ESTAs. That is, if you have been getting ESTAs in passport #1, don’t switch to passport #2!

The reason for telling the above is that someone switched and their ESTA was pending/denied. In their case they went to the embassy/consulate, who made a note on file, and the ETSA was then approved.

So maybe in your case a visit to the embassy or consulate might be worthwhile? It might be a case of someone unlocking the ETSA once they have the additional information.

 

[Vidhi17]

was this a last minute trip? Why apply so late?
At this point it is unlikely to matter if you cancel today or in 4 days so you may as well go up to the moment and then cancel when it doesn’t come through.

Hey,
Thank you for your inputs! Actually, I thought that it’s easy to get approval & should not take long! I had booked my tickets in May but didn’t know that i should have applied ESTA first! Their website states 72 hours requirement! Yeap you are making sense!
Lessons learnt! But it’s soo stressful & i already had visited us in aug 2022 on indian passport so this ESTA is soo frustrating!

I was doing some research regarding dual passports. Apparently the advice is *not* to switch between them for your ESTAs. That is, if you have been getting ESTAs in passport #1, don’t switch to passport #2!

The reason for telling the above is that someone switched and their ESTA was pending/denied. In their case they went to the embassy/consulate, who made a note on file, and the ETSA was then approved.

So maybe in your case a visit to the embassy or consulate might be worthwhile? It might be a case of someone unlocking the ETSA once they have the additional information.

Hi,
For my case, this is the first time i have applied for ESTA ! Earlier i had an Indian passport which i had to renounce in aug 2023 as I can’t keep dual citizenship.
So, i have applied ESTA on Australian passport!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Hi,
For my case, this is the first time i have applied for ESTA ! Earlier i had an Indian passport which i had to renounce in aug 2023 as I can’t keep dual citizenship.
So, i have applied ESTA on Australian passport!

Noted! The reason for my comment was that at least in some cases, an in-person visit to the embassy might get the block in the ESTA cleared, Since you were later successful in getting a visa in your indian passport, the system might still be blocking you in the basis of the denied one.

The embassy/consulate might be able to clear that.

 

[Vidhi17]

Noted! The reason for my comment was that at least in some cases, an in-person visit to the embassy might get the block in the ESTA cleared, Since you were later successful in getting a visa in your indian passport, the system might still be blocking you in the basis of the denied one.

The embassy/consulate might be able to clear that.

Yeah makes sense!! But in my understanding, i would need an appointment to visit embassy for visa related questions? I was thinking to call today but who will help! And interview date is not anytime soon! Next availability is in December!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Yeah makes sense!! But in my understanding, i would need an appointment to visit embassy for visa related questions? I was thinking to call today but who will help! And interview date is not anytime soon! Next availability is in December!

That’s what i thought too… that you might need an appointment. but according to the post Inread, they simply turned up!

I don’t know if you have many options?

 

[Vidhi17]

That’s what i thought too… that you might need an appointment. but according to the post Inread, they simply turned up!

I don’t know if you have many options?

Also, my partner’s application who is on NZ passport has also been applied in a group! So he hasn’t also got any approval yet! And he has never been to states before & answered every question as No so clean case! But still no approval!

 

[Vidhi17]

Also, my partner’s application who is on NZ passport has also been applied in a group! So he hasn’t also got any approval yet! And he has never been to states before & answered every question as No so clean case! But still no approval!

Heyyy!!! I am so happy!! It’s approved!! 2 days before my travel!!! Yayy