What is an ESTA? What is it for? Who might need it?
The Visa Waiver Program (VWP) enables most citizens or nationals of participating countries* to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. Travelers must have a valid Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) approval prior to travel and meet all requirements explained below. If you prefer to have a visa in your passport, you may still apply for a visitor (B) visa.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/tourism-visit/visa-waiver-program.html
For the “visa waiver” countries see the Appendix to this post.
Bulletin for those who have or are considering renouncing U.S. Citizenship
Today, Tuesday November 3, 2026 I became aware of information advanced by some that:
Individuals who renounce U.S. citizenship and are citizens of a “visa waiver country” may no longer be eligible for an ESTA (as a substitute for a visa) to enter the United States.
I am not convinced that this is true. Some discussion of this is available on the Wither law firm site as follows:
“US Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations (CBP OFO) has confirmed that certain individuals with a connection to US citizenship may not be eligible to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).”
You can read the complete article in the at the following link:
The article does NOT say that renounced U.S. citizens are ineligible for ESTA. It does say there have been some circumstances where renounced U.S. citizens have been denied ESTA.
It is not clear that this is because those denied had renounced U.S. citizenship or whether the fact of renunciation may have contributed to uncertainty over U.S. citizenship status.
I had the opportunity to discuss this issue with U.K. Diane Gelon. Our conversation was recorded as a podcast.
Important!!!
This does NOT impact Canadian citizens entering the USA. Canadians are in the privileged position of needing only a Canadian passport. Canadian citizens do NOT need ESTA. Canadian citizens do NOT need a visa.
London, UK based U.S. lawyer Diane Gelon offers some interesting insights in this podcast.
Appendix – What are the visa waiver countries?
- Andorra
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Brunei
- Chile
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Monaco
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Qatar
- San Marino
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Taiwan*
- United Kingdom**