ESTA; Pleasure travel to USA - questions

[NewUser2013]

Please help with a couple of questions around using ESTA to travel to USA for pleasure.

1. After getting the ESTA authorization, what documents are required to be kept in hand when arriving at USA port? we would keep our hotel booking and a print out of our ESTA authorization. Anything else is required to show to the officer for him to allow us to enter USA?

2. When applying for ESTA, would it be enough to give the first hotel address where we will be staying soon after landing, as to the question where we will be staying in the USA?
Obviously we will be travelling to various cities in the country, so we will be staying in various hotels which are not yet booked at this time.
We will only have the address of the first hotel where we will land and stay that day before starting our holidays from there.

3. My British passport was issued in 2005, and my wife's was issued only recently I.e. In November 2013.

Do you know if both these are ok to enter USA in ESTA. I think mine is not e-passport, but is certainly machine readable photo Id page one.

Since my wife's is a newly issued passport. would that be an issue when entering USA for the first time using ESTA? i.e. is there any time lapse that they expect after acquiring a new passport, before travelling to USA on ESTA?

4. Does one need to keep any documents handy to prove their strong ties to UK - I.e. Uk bank statements, etc? Would they ask to prove strong ties to UK. How does one prove this without keeping various documents in hand.

5. Any other practical advise from anybody who has traveled to USA on ESTA authorization will be really helpful.

Also, I take it that with ESTA there is no I94 forms to fill up or keep and handover when exiting USA.

So, are there any other documents /slips/annotations, I.e the likes of I94 of non-ESTA travelers, that ESTA travelers have to safely keep and return to the port of exit, etc?

Thanks.

[cafeconleche]

1. Hmm, that's good, but if you want to be extra cautious, you can also take proof of employment and funds with you to prove you have a reason to go back, and that you have enough money for your trip, especially if you only have a one way ticket.

2. That's fine.

3. The UK has complied fully with the VWP requirements. No worries about the newly issued passport.

4. See 1.

5. That's about it. If you're a bona fide visitor, then you should be fine. Make sure you know your plans.

[NewUser2013]

1. Hmm, that's good, but if you want to be extra cautious, you can also take proof of employment and funds with you to prove you have a reason to go back, and that you have enough money for your trip, especially if you only have a one way ticket.

Thanks... but proof of employment etc, would taking these in hand not be a problem in itself... maybe the officer may think i am bringing these to show it off to an employer in USA? (which clearly is not our intention; since its only a pleasure trip we will be doing; but he may think why I am bringing these on a pleasure trip). I suppose its a problem either way isn't it?

Would be interesting to see what others may say, especially if they have been to USA on ESTA.

Well, we will be buying two-way (return to UK) ticket of course, not just a one-way ticket.

The UK has complied fully with the VWP requirements. No worries about the newly issued passport.

Yeah i supposed so, but what about mine - i.e. since it was issued in 2005, when there was no concept of e-passport/chip passport?
Mine does certainly have the machine readable bit in the photo id page though. - i.e. two lines starting with "<<". Hope that should be enough!


As for point 5, so I was right? There is no need for those 1-94 kinds of slips to take care of.
Just the rubber stamp in the passport by the officer is all to it?
What else would i need to prove i have exited USA after my trip please? Do you know?
I just want to ensure i do everything perfectly as required by the rules, especially given the fact that the USA allows this privileged ESTA status... and i want to make sure i comply with all regulations as there are... hence my paranoia and so many questions

Yes, we will be genuine visitors on holiday to USA.

And one more question: My wife is a housewife. What documents should i take for her to prove she will be back to UK after the trip? Well we have our child, and she needs to go to school once back to UK, and her husband (me) has work back in the UK; so i suppose these answers would do?


Thanks.