To enter the USA, you need an ESTA or a visa. Most Spanish travelers do not need to apply for a visa, so they can easily apply for an ESTA online. Travelers who meet ESTA requirements are advised to apply for this travel authorization instead of a visa as ESTA is cheaper and faster to obtain than a US visa.
ESTA requirements
To travel to the US with an ESTA, you must meet a number of requirements. Certain nationalities (from visa exempt countries) including Spanish can apply for an ESTA. Citizens of countries that are not part of the visa waiver program should always apply for a visa to the United States. In general, travelers with a Spanish passport can apply for an ESTA if they meet some additional requirements.
The ESTA can only be used for vacations, business trips, or stopovers in the United States. Travelers who want to study, start a business or work in the United States cannot apply for an ESTA. In addition, upon arrival in the US, the traveler must be able to present a return ticket or continue their journey. The passport must be valid for the entire stay in the US and cannot stay in the US for more than 90 consecutive days.
In addition, travelers who are viewed by US authorities as a potential threat to American society are not eligible for an ESTA. These are people with contagious diseases arrested or convicted of a serious crime, violating a drug law, or travelers who have been to Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, North Korea, Libya o Somalia after March 1st 2011.
ESTA validity
The ESTA is valid for two years, unless the ESTA passport expires earlier. It is possible to travel to the USA several times within the validity period of 2 years. Each stay can last a maximum of 90 days. Therefore, the ESTA can be used for a second or third trip. The travel data entered in the application form do not have to be changed for subsequent trips. If all passport details are up to date and the ESTA is still valid, the ESTA can be used for other trips.
If the passport details are not entered correctly in the application form, the ESTA will be invalid. Even if the ESTA application has been approved, it does not mean that the ESTA is valid. If the passport information is incorrect (e.g. passport number, name, date of birth, place of birth, date of issue or expiration date), the ESTA cannot be linked to the passport and the airline will not recognize that an ESTA has been issued. In this case, it is not possible to check-in a flight to the US and a new ESTA must be requested with the correct details.
Need a US visa
People who do not meet the ESTA requirements, for example because they work or study in the USA or because they have been to Iraq, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, North Korea, Libya or Somalia in recent years.They cannot and must not apply for an ESTA apply for a visa at the US embassy. To do this, they have to make an appointment at the embassy to explain the reasons for traveling to the USA personally. It can take several weeks for the appointment to occur. Therefore, the visa application takes longer than the ESTA application, which can be submitted in a few minutes. For this reason, travelers who meet ESTA requirements are advised to apply for an ESTA online.
