Obtaining ESTA authorization for minors

All foreign nationals traveling to the United States must have a valid travel authorization. Minors between the ages of 2 and 18 must have a minor’s ESTA.

What is the ESTA form for minors?

An ESTA authorization for the United States is a travel authorization that allows you to enter the United States without a visa. If you wish to benefit from the Visa Waiver Program for your minor child, you must first verify that his or her profile meets certain criteria such as

• Have a valid passport;
• Travel with a U.S. recognized airline or shipping company;
• Be a national of a Visa Waiver Program (VWP) member country;
• Stay in the United States for up to 90 consecutive days;
• Travel for tourism or business reasons.

An ESTA offers many advantages. It is a good alternative to a visa which is longer and more expensive to obtain.

An ESTA is valid for 2 years. It allows for multiple stays during this period. You can make several stays of less than 90 days without having to obtain a new authorization for each member of your family.

Apply for ESTA as a minor

Just like adults, minor children can travel to the United States with a simple ESTA. To do so, you just have to fill in a mandatory ESTA questionnaire on the Internet, which consists of three sections:

• The first one concerns the traveler’s civil status: name, surname, parents’ names, date and place of birth, nationality, employer’s name and social network profiles. Since December 2022 it is also necessary to upload the photo of your passport;
• The second part of the ESTA form concerns the stay: reason for the stay, local address and emergency contact;
• The last part is related to medical and criminal history.

In order to proceed with the validation of the minor ESTA you must pay the processing fee for your ESTA.