Apply here, nowhere else
Use these official links directly. Do not search for an ESTA application and click the first ad, that is how people land on copycat sites.
- Apply for a US ESTA on the official CBP site - the only official ESTA application site, run by US Customs and Border Protection. Fee $40.62 per person for applications from 16 October 2026.
- GOV.UK: USA entry requirements - official UK guidance for full British citizen passport holders, including who cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa instead.
Entry checklist, short visit
- ESTA required, not visa-free without one: British citizens travelling under the Visa Waiver Program need an approved ESTA before travel, unless they already hold a valid US visa. This applies to entry and to transit through the US.
- Cost: $40.62 per person for applications from 16 October 2026, up from $40.27. If an application is denied, the fee charged is $10.62, per the Federal Register notice published 1 October 2026.
- Validity: 2 years from approval, or until the passport used for the application expires, whichever comes first. Multiple visits while it remains valid.
- Stay per visit: up to 90 days. A Visa Waiver Program stay cannot normally be extended, and you cannot normally change immigration status while in the US on it.
- Everyone needs one: each traveller, including children and babies, needs their own approved ESTA, linked to their own passport.
- Passport: you need an electronic (biometric) passport with a chip. Your passport must be valid for the length of your planned stay. The US does not normally require 6 months of extra validity for UK passport holders, but check any transit country on your route, as many do.
- Timing: many decisions are fast, but CBP recommends applying at least 72 hours before travel. Do not leave it to departure day.
- Not everyone can use an ESTA: GOV.UK lists cases where you may not be able to use one, including an arrest or criminal record, a previous refusal or deportation, a previous ESTA overstay, and travel to listed countries on or after the dates GOV.UK states (including Cuba on or after 12 January 2021). If any of these apply to you, check the official ESTA site and the US Embassy route before you book.
- Not a visa, not a guarantee: an approved ESTA lets you travel to the US and seek admission. A CBP officer still makes the final entry decision on arrival.
- Not a move: an ESTA does not give work or residence permission. Work, study, or living in the US needs a separate immigration route, with its own advice.
This page covers full British citizen passports. Other British passport categories do not qualify for the Visa Waiver Program in the same way, and need a visa route instead. Check GOV.UK before you apply.
Scouting trip budget, fixed maths
Flights are per person, the room is shared, daily spending is per person. Trip total is for all travellers. Per person is trip total divided by travellers, with no extra flight added. All flight and hotel figures below are editable examples, not sourced flight or hotel prices.
ESTA total is travellers multiplied by ESTA cost, added after the buffer. If your ESTA is already valid for this trip, set ESTA cost to 0.
Your result
Estimated trip total, all travellers, including ESTA
Worked example on the default inputs: 7 days, 2 travellers, $900 flights per person, $180 room per night, $90 daily per person, 10% buffer, $40.62 ESTA per person. Base is $4,320, plus buffer is $4,752, plus $81.24 ESTA is $4,833 total, $690 per day, $2,417 per person. Flight and hotel figures here are examples for maths checking only. Replace them with quotes you have actually received. ESTA cost is the sourced figure on this page, $40.62, checked 24 October 2026.
From scouting trip to move
A scouting trip answers questions a calculator cannot: which city feels right, what the commute actually feels like, and whether a place in its busiest season is a place you want to live. If the trip goes well, the next step is proper immigration advice for a move, not a longer visitor stay.
There is no matching move page for this route in the current ElsewhereMath cluster, because the cluster move pages are US-origin only. This page therefore links back to the prototype homepage only, and does not point to a move page that does not exist.
Sources, checked 24 October 2026
- GOV.UK, USA entry requirements, opened directly 24 October 2026: ESTA or visa required to enter or transit, passport valid for the length of stay, per-traveller requirement including children, ESTA ineligibility cases, and the rule that an ESTA does not guarantee entry.
- Official ESTA site, esta.cbp.dhs.gov, opened directly 24 October 2026: United Kingdom listed as a Visa Waiver Program country.
- ESTA fee $40.62 from 16 October 2026, denied-application fee $10.62, validity 2 years or passport expiry, and 90-day stay limit, from the Federal Register notice published 1 October 2026 and multiple October 2026 summaries of it checked that day. The previous fee was $40.27.
- Apply at least 72 hours before travel, from CBP guidance reported in multiple 2026 summaries checked that day.
Recheck the official links again before this page publishes as a guide, because entry rules and fees change.