The ESTA Visa Waiver Program was established in the US to provide an extra level of security to pre-screen travellers before they enter the country, while still allowing citizens of designated visa waiver countries to visit the US without a visa. The system was introduced and managed by the Border and Transportation Security directorate and following a successful pilot, the system was rolled out to eight countries in 1989 before being extended to 27 by 2004.

Since the launch of the system, the US has seen huge economic benefit through convenience for foreign travellers visiting the US for business, tourism or medical purposes and also from reduced visa processing costs. However, after the initial launch of the VWP, the Department of Homeland Security reviewed the system and found numerous weaknesses, particularly in the process of reviewing countries to be part of the VWP and also the collection of lost and stolen passports.

The DHS also found concerns regarding the fraudulent use of VWP passports allowing the bypass of the United States Visitor and Immigration Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT), as well as a lack of adequate training of inspectors relating to passport fraud. The review that was undertaken in 2004 included 14 recommendations to improve the VWP system including that VWP travellers be screened by US-VISIT procedures and the introduction of biennial country reviews. They also recommended the establishment of a process for checking all lost and stolen passport data against entry and exit systems.

Introduction of the ESTA improved security

Since this review in 2004, major improvements have been introduced and with the advances in technology over this time, an online process called ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) was able to be introduced in 2009.This provided a much more secure way to monitor travelers entering the US, pre-screening them against a number of databases to conduct background checks before travelers arrive in the US. The digitalization of the system also meant that fraudulent VWP passports were no longer an issue, as the ESTA is electronically linked to the person’s passport, rather than being an actual physical document.

Now there is a very robust system in place for reviewing the countries that are members of the VWP and also risks posed from other countries. An example of the actions included changes that from 2016, dual citizens of Iran, Iraq, Sudan and Syria had their ESTA’s revoked as part of the ongoing security review of countries across the world and the risks posed to the United States and US citizens.

ESTA security questions

On the ESTA application form, there is a set of eligibility questions including a history of being arrested or convicted of a crime or engaging in terrorist activities. There are also questions related to fraudulent activity and whether a previous visa application has been denied. Another of the security questions is whether the applicant has visited Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen since 1 March 2011.

The eligibility information is then checked and will determine whether the ESTA is approved or not. If the ESTA is not approved, the applicant may still be able to visit the US by obtaining a relevant US visa instead, which would involve attending an interview at the US embassy. Since the roll out of the ESTA system, security has massively improved in relation to managing the visa waiver program.