Visa not approved but not denied and esta!,

[Maditt]

I am a German citizen and recently I applied for a b2 visa for 6 months to travel the us and to see friends I have living in California, i believe I was denied but The officer never told me "you are denied a visa" and my passport was never stamped and I never received a visa denial letter or email. Does this me the officer simply just said no but did not put anything in the system? In which case does this mean my normal esta is still valid and I am now able to travel for the 90 days Instead? I'm curious if this has happened to anyone else and they were able to fly into the US without any problems. Also if my visa is in fact officially denied does this mean if I fly to the US I have still a chance to enter? Thank you!

[bandk]

I am a German citizen and recently I applied for a b2 visa for 6 months to travel the us and to see friends I have living in California, i believe I was denied but The officer never told me "you are denied a visa" and my passport was never stamped and I never received a visa denial letter or email. Does this me the officer simply just said no but did not put anything in the system? In which case does this mean my normal esta is still valid and I am now able to travel for the 90 days Instead? I'm curious if this has happened to anyone else and they were able to fly into the US without any problems. Also if my visa is in fact officially denied does this mean if I fly to the US I have still a chance to enter? Thank you!

You can try and apply for ESTA online. If there's nothing that made you ineligible for ESTA, you should be fine.