On March 4, 2010, President Obama signed into law the Travel Promotion Act (TPA) of 2009, Pub. L. No. 111-145. The Act directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to establish a fee for the use of the ESTA system, comprised of $10.00 for each VWP applicant receiving authorization to travel to the United States and $4.00 for the processing of the ESTA application. Applicants who are denied authorization to travel to the U.S. under the VWP will only be charged $4.00. The fee may only be paid by credit card or PayPal. Applicants may save the application data and return to the application at a later date to enter the payment information. However, the application will not be submitted for processing until all payment information is completed.
WARNING: The administrative fee will be collected by credit card or PayPal. It is crucial that all applicants enter their ESTA and payment information accurately. If information is entered incorrectly, the applicant may be charged additional fees to reapply. Updates to an application will not accrue additional fees. Applicants who do not complete the payment process will not receive authorization to travel to the United States and will not be allowed to board any aircraft or vessel destined for the United States. If an applicant stops payment of the fee, his or her authorization to travel to the United States will be revoked. CBP is not responsible for additional fees that may be charged by the applicant’s credit card company or PayPal for the transaction. By pressing the “Apply” button in the application process, applicants agree not to dispute any administrative fee charged by CBP for the use of the ESTA system, and further acknowledge that there are no refunds.
