ESTA Questions: What you will be asked?

If you are travelling to the US and you are a citizen of a country in the Visa Waiver Program, you can apply for an ESTA, which involves completing the online application form and answering some sets of questions. The information you provide will determine whether or not your application will be accepted, and your information will be screened to ensure the information is correct.

If you provide incorrect information, your ESTA will be declined, even if you have made a mistake or error, so it is essential to take your time when completing the form and check your answers before submitting your application.

What questions are asked on the ESTA Application?

There are multiple sections that you must complete on the application form, which are detailed below:

Applicant Details and Passport Information

This section includes:

• First name and family name (plus any alias names)
• Gender
• Date of Birth
• City of Birth
• Passport Number
• Country of Citizenship
• National Identification Number (if applicable in your country)
• Passport issuance date, expiry date, and issuing country

Nationality and Citizenship

In this section, you will be asked questions such as:

• Are you currently a national or citizen of any other country? If yes, you will have to provide the country of nationality or citizenship.
• How did you acquire nationality or citizenship from this country?
• Have you previously held citizenship with any other country? If yes, you will provide the country (ies) and disclose how you obtained the citizenship.

Contact Information

In this section, you will answer questions like:

• Fill in your Address Line 1
• Fill in your Address Line 2
• What is your apartment number?
• Which City are you from?
• Fill in your Province or State or Region
• Fill in your country.
• Fill in your telephone number.
• Fill in your Email address.

Other ESTA Application Questions

• Questions relating to Global Entry Membership. This is a question related to whether the applicant is a member of the CBP Global Entry Program, which requires the membership number to be provided, if applicable.
• Family name and first name of both parents
• Social media questions like platform, provider, and your social media identifier. These questions are optional, and you can choose to leave them blank.
• Employment information like your Current job title (if any), employer name, and address.
• Travel information
• Your point of contact in the US (name, address, phone number)
• Your address while in the US
• Emergency contact information

What are ESTA Eligibility questions?

This section has questions related to drug use, diseases, criminal convictions, terrorist activity, fraud, and travel to high-risk countries. You also need to confirm if you have ever been denied a US visa, are seeking employment in the US, or stayed longer than you had permission for on a previous visit to US.

The ESTA eligibility questions are to profile you to know if you will pose a threat to US security and public safety. Your response to these questions will determine if the US Department of Homeland Security will approve your ESTA application or not.

Each question comes in the form of Yes and No checkboxes, and you are expected to answer each of them truthfully. Failure to answer the questions truthfully could result in the denial of your future applications.

Here are ESTA eligibility questions:

• Do you have a mental or physical disorder? Are you a drug addict? Do you currently have any of the following communicable diseases: Active Tuberculosis, Cholera, Plague, Smallpox, Yellow Fever, Diphtheria, Infectious Leprosy, Gonorrhea, Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers, or Severe acute respiratory sickness that can be transmitted to other people and result in mortality?
• Have you ever been convicted or arrested for a crime that resulted in serious harm to another person, severe damage to properties, or government authority?
• Have you ever violated any law relating to the use, possessing, and distribution of illegal drugs?
• Have you ever engaged in any terrorist activities, sabotage, espionage, or genocide?
• Have you ever misrepresented yourself or others or committed fraud to obtain or help others obtain an entry or visa into the United States?
• Were you previously employed in the US without prior permission of the United States government? Are you currently seeking employment in the United States?
• Have you ever been denied a visa to the US? Has your application for admission ever been withdrawn at any US port of entry?
• Have you ever stayed in the US longer than the agreed-upon admission period granted by the United States government?
• Have you ever traveled to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, or Libya on or after 1st March 2011?

These questions are the ones that will decide whether your ESTA will be approved or declined. If any of the answers to these questions are ‘yes,’ then there is a high tendency that your ESTA will be declined. The final section includes a waiver of rights to appeal the decision and confirmation that you have answered the questions correctly to the best of your knowledge.

Once you have provided the information covered in the sections outlined above, you are required to make the ESTA application fee using an electronic card, and you can then submit the application.

When and how will I find out about the ESTA decision?

You will receive the decision by email to the email address you provided in the application form. You will usually find out within a matter of minutes, although some applications can take up to 72 hours to process, so it is advised to leave adequate time before you travel.

My ESTA was denied. What can I do?

There are several reasons your application could be denied related to the eligibility questions. However, if you made an accidental error in the application, you can re-apply with the correct details. You may also be able to obtain a different type of visa if your ESTA is denied.