If you're a UK passport holder heading to the States, you'll almost certainly need an ESTA, and the official fee has just gone up for the second time this year, to $40.62 from 16 October 2026. That's still only around £30, but websites that mimic the real government site have been charging UK and Irish travellers several times that for exactly the same form. Here's what an ESTA actually costs right now, who genuinely needs one, and the one rule that stops you overpaying for something that should be straightforward.
An ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) is the US government's advance authorisation for visa free visits of up to 90 days, business or tourism, for UK and other eligible passport holders arriving by air or sea. It's not a visa, there's no interview, and most applications are approved within minutes.
The genuine fee for an approved application is $40.62 (roughly £30 at today's exchange rate) from 16 October 2026, up from $40.27 earlier this year and just $21 before 2025. Once approved, it's valid for 2 years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first, covering unlimited trips in that time. The only place to apply is the official government site, esta.cbp.dhs.gov, or its official mobile app. Anywhere else charging you for an ESTA is a third party add on at best.
Prices in this guide are shown in pounds for clarity, but the real charge happens in US dollars on your card, so the exact amount you're billed will move slightly with the exchange rate on the day.
For years, an ESTA cost a flat $21. That changed in 2025, when a US federal law (the budget reconciliation act known as HR-1) introduced new mandatory fee components for ESTA and several other immigration related charges, pushing the total to around $40. Since then, the fee has been adjusted annually for inflation under that same law, which is why it's moved twice in 2026 alone.
| When | Approved application | Denied application |
|---|---|---|
| Before 2025 | $21 (about £15.60) | Partial refund, minus a processing charge |
| From 1 January 2026 | $40.27 (about £30) | $10.27 (about £7.65) |
| From 16 October 2026 | $40.62 (about £30.20) | $10.62 (about £7.90) |
It's a genuinely small increase this time, 35 cents, but it's part of an annual pattern rather than a one off, so expect another small rise around the same time next year rather than being caught out by it.
If you're heading to the US via Canada or Mexico by land, ESTA isn't the right form at all, that route uses a separate I-94 process. ESTA is specifically for arriving by air or sea.
Apply only through esta.cbp.dhs.gov or the official ESTA mobile app. That's it, that's the whole rule, and it's worth repeating because it's the single most common way UK travellers end up paying far more than they should for a form that genuinely costs about £30.
Lookalike websites that mimic the official government page are a well documented problem, not a rare scam. US Customs and Border Protection has publicly warned that these sites don't work on behalf of the government, aren't guaranteed to protect your data properly, and that money paid to them can't be refunded by the real authorities if something goes wrong. One widely reported case saw travellers charged as much as $150, around £112, more than three times the genuine fee, once a lookalike site's own "processing fee" was added on top. An Irish MEP who looked into it found some sites were charging roughly ten times the real price.
A simple way to check you're in the right place: the real site's address ends in .gov, it's run by US Customs and Border Protection, and it will never ask you to pay more than the current official fee shown above.
If you've already applied through a site you're now not sure about, check your application status directly on esta.cbp.dhs.gov using your reference number, rather than assuming it went through properly or applying again and paying twice.
Fill the form in properly rather than quickly. Minor inconsistencies between your passport details and what you type in, even innocent typos, are a genuine cause of unnecessary refusals.
I can't apply for your ESTA for you, it has to be done by you, directly with the US government, but I'm always happy to talk through the process with you before you book a US holiday, confirm you're applying in the right place, and flag anything in your own circumstances that's worth knowing about in advance. If you're planning a trip to the States and want a second pair of eyes on the entry requirements before you go, message me on WhatsApp.
Build your ESTA application into your post booking checklist alongside things like travel insurance, rather than leaving it to the last minute. It's one of the few parts of a US trip that's genuinely in your own hands to get right early.
The official fee for an approved application is $40.62 (around £30) from 16 October 2026, up from $40.27 earlier in the year and just $21 before 2025. A denied application costs $10.62. Always pay through the official esta.cbp.dhs.gov website or app, never a third party site.
Two years from approval, or until your passport expires, whichever comes first, covering unlimited trips to the US of up to 90 days each for business or tourism. If you renew your passport in that time, your existing ESTA no longer applies and you'll need to apply again under the new passport.
Third party websites that mimic the official US government site have been known to charge well over the real fee, in one widely reported case as much as $150, more than three times the genuine cost, plus their own added processing fees. US Customs and Border Protection has repeatedly warned travellers to apply only through the official esta.cbp.dhs.gov website or app, which is the only place the real fee applies.
As part of tightening identity checks, applicants now need to upload a photo of their own face alongside their passport details. The UK government's own guidance notes that if your existing ESTA account doesn't have this photograph on file, you may need to apply again before you travel.
I'll always point you to the real government site and nothing else for your ESTA, and I'm happy to run through the rest of your entry requirements before you book. Message me on WhatsApp.