Travel & Safety Information

All clients are responsible for ensuring that they have a valid passport as well as an ESTA or visa to enter the USA. MVP Travel will provide up-to-date information on these requirements at the time of booking.

UK citizens must have a biometric passport (ePassport) to be eligible for visa-free (ESTA) travel to the United States. Please take a moment to ensure you have an ePassport before planning your trip.

What is a Biometric Passport? Also known as an ePassport, a biometric passport is a traditional paper passport with an embedded microchip that holds your personal information as it is printed on your passport’s data page, including your photograph. They were introduced because of the increasing threat of identity theft and terrorism, encouraging many countries to improve the security of their borders. The United States, the UK, and all countries eligible for visa-free travel to the U.S. issue ePassports with security features to prevent the unauthorized reading or “skimming” of data stored on the ePassport chip.

What does a Biometric Passport look like? The simplest way to tell if your passport is biometric is by looking at the cover. If there’s a small, gold camera logo at the bottom, then it’s biometric. Otherwise, the technology held within a biometric passport has become so advanced and the components so small that you can’t feel any lumps or ridges at all.

What do I do if I don’t have an e-passport? The British Government have been issuing updated biometric passports to UK nationals since 2010, so if you have applied for a new passport since then, your current passport should be biometric. However, if it’s not and you wish to travel visa-free, you will need to apply for a new passport. Remember that applying for a new passport can take up to four weeks, especially in the busy summer months, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get a new passport before you travel.

What is an ESTA? ESTA stands for Electronic System for Travel Authorization and it is the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) of the United States. Travelers seeking to enter the US for business or tourism (B-1/B-2 visa), or in transit (C-1) for less than 90 days may be eligible to travel visa free under the VWP if they meet specific requirements. Most ESTA applicants are approved however there are certain exceptions and it is your responsibility to check your eligibility and allow enough time for the application to be processed. Visit https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta to start your application and learn more. The current application fee is $21.00 USD; if you are aksed to pay more, you will not be on the official US Government site. If you have any concerns, please speak to your Travel Consultant at MVP Travel.