You can always submit a group application
If you are travelling with several people, applying for visas can be a lengthy process. With the ESTA, however, there is the possibility of submitting a group application.
Benefits of submitting a group application
There are several advantages to submitting a group application if you are making an ESTA application for multiple people. First, you will save a lot of time, because you do not need to fill in all contact and travel details for every traveller. This only has to be done once for a group application. You also do not have to pay for each ESTA separately; with a group application, you pay all costs at once. However, there is no group discount, so the price per ESTA remains the same.
After the ESTAs have been approved, you will be able to view everything on one status page. If you apply for individual ESTAs, each traveller will instead receive his or her own status page. Many travellers find it much easier to be able to view everything on the same page.
How do I submit an ESTA group application?
First, make sure that you have the passport details and personal information of all travellers for whom you want to apply for an ESTA. A group application starts as any other ESTA application. First open the ESTA form. Fill in the form as you would if you were applying for an ESTA for yourself. After you have answered all the security questions and agreed to the ESTA statement, you can now add a traveller to the form. You do this by clicking on the blue button, “Add a traveller”. As soon as you do this, new fields will appear which you have to fill in. Unlike at the beginning of the application, these fields start at “Traveller data”. Therefore, you do not need to fill in the “Contact details” and “Travel details” fields again.
After you fill out all the information and pay for the application, you will need to provide a passport scan or photo for each traveller. Be sure to take a photo or scan of the information page of each travellerʼs passport in advance.
This way, you can apply for an ESTA for up to 10 people at once using a single application form.
ESTA application for your child
If your child is too young to fill in the ESTA form, this is not a problem. You can fill in the form for someone else, including your own children. To submit an ESTA application for your child, all you need is their passport information. If you do not want to submit a group application, you do not need to fill in yourself as a traveller in the form, even if your child is a baby. If you also enter your own details, this will ensure that you also apply for an ESTA for yourself. If you want to submit an individual application for your child, you do not have to add yourself in the form. You will have your own ESTA.
Double-checking the details
With group applications, it is particularly important that you check the details again after filling in the form. After you click on the green button “Apply for ESTA”, you will be forwarded to the verification page. Here you can check all the details you filled in. The passport details in particular should be checked carefully; even the smallest errors in the passport details can lead to an invalid ESTA. Your ESTA might be approved, but you will not be able to use it because the information does not match the information in your passport. You will then need to submit a new ESTA application and pay for it again.
Group applications do not guarantee that ESTAs will be approved at the same time
It may happen that an ESTA in a group application is approved faster than the others, or that an ESTA takes longer to process. This is normal, because ESTAs are assessed individually, even with group applications. Group applications are intended to simplify the application process. It is therefore not guaranteed that all applications on the form will be approved at the same time. For example, an application may be subject to random screening. If your ESTA takes longer to process in a group application, it does not mean that there is a higher chance of rejection.