V-Flyer

Just been sorting through some old stuff, amongst which is an old passport of mine, complete with US visa! It says it's valid indefinitely, so would that mean that, in theory, no ESTA is needed?

A moot question maybe, but does anyone know???

I had one of those US Visas in an old Passport.

I now have an ESTA and no problems - I suspect that without an ESTA you may have a little difficulty entering the US

buns

buns wrote:I had one of those US Visas in an old Passport.

I now have an ESTA and no problems - I suspect that without an ESTA you may have a little difficulty entering the US

buns

The issue would even extend to even getting on the plane.

Essentially no ESTA means you don't board. Of course a visa may counter the need for ESTA but it has caused problems with people not being able to do OLCI for example.

The only way to see if it is still valid would be to contact the US Embassy.

A valid Visa means no need for an ESTA. When the LFO went off to do her studies in the US a year ago she needed a visa but not an ESTA.

Doesn't the visa have to be physically present in the passport presented at the border?

My parents are Malaysian citizens and they both had indefinite visas issued in the early 90's. However, when we went to Florida last year, following consultation with the US Embassy, they had to re-apply for another visa.

Jonathan

Valid visa = no ESTA.

However I believe all indefinite visas were revoked after 9/11. Mine is now only valid for 10 years.

I again believe if the visa expires after the passport it is in you have to carry the old passport with the visa and your new passport or apply for a new visa.

A pain that as a visa holder I still have to complete the I90 form but there is no waiver form any more!

Also never had an issue with OLCI.

W.

tontybear wrote:

buns wrote:I had one of those US Visas in an old Passport.

I now have an ESTA and no problems - I suspect that without an ESTA you may have a little difficulty entering the US

buns

The issue would even extend to even getting on the plane.

Essentially no ESTA means you don't board. Of course a visa may counter the need for ESTA but it has caused problems with people not being able to do OLCI for example.

The only way to see if it is still valid would be to contact the US Embassy.

I do,of course,have an ESTA - it was just an idle question really. I hadn't even remembered I'd ever had a visa. D'uh....

'American' is a strange language - 'indefinite' only meant 10 years - even before 9/11 - so beware!

Peter

what type of visa B1/B2 ????

Do all visas not expire with the passport when it expires. They are registered and tied at a passport number.

I have a visa (O1) but that came through after I'd used an ESTA a couple of times. So I'm not sure if that has any bearing on it or not. I'll find out later this year when the ESTA runs out, but the visa continues.

And if you do travel in on your visa don't forget to do the I94 and hand the bottom part in when you check in for your return home. It can really mess up the next time you try and go in to the States.

My take on US visas is that they are NOT tied to the passport they live in. If you have a visa in an old passport they write the cryptic message 'VIOPP' in your current passport. Eventually I plucked up courage to ask - it stands for 'Visa In Other PassPort'

But a visa that's more than 10 years old - even if it says 'indefinite' - forget it

Peter

As has been pointed out the old B1/B2 visas which were indefinite were all expired years ago