ESTA for USA trip

Hi, first post here.

My wife and I are going to Vegas shortly on HM in UC with Virgin Atlantic. I've run into a bit of an issue over the ESTA. I managed to get through the Homeland Security form filling after much head scratching and confusion. I was ably assisted by some people on another forum who'd had the same opinion of the appalling website as me.

Anyway, the issue remains that there is a box titled "First (given) name" which must be filled in. Now this seems pretty straightforward to me, how could there possibly be any confusion you might ask? Well..........

I tried using the passport scan function using my phone initially but gave up when I realised it was merely populating the form with info I could manually enter from a computer keyboard anyway. I hate filling forms in on a phone. I did notice however that the "First (given) name" box got filled in with my TWO christian names using the passport scan method, which is also a reason I ditched that method.

There's been a bit of discussion on the other forum about whether you have to fill all christian names in or not rather than just one. Does anyone on here have any recent experience of this as it's only become an issue in the last few weeks from what I've been told. Obv I don't want to have any problems at Las Vegas airport when we land. Cheers in advance.

Yes you need to add any middle names IF they appear on your passport in the 'given names' field under the surname. And that has always been the case.

The '?' box on the form states

" .. enter ALL names exactly as they appear on your passport .... "

I did my last ESTA in June and I entered both my first and middle name based on the '?' box info.

So since you have a middle name on your passport then you need to enter it into the ESTA application form.

Agreed. I renewed my ESTA recently and entered both first names as on the passport

Just to confuse the issue even more, having just checked my current ESTA which I got in January of this year, I have only entered my first name on it.

Looking at the screen dumps I did when filling it in, it says when applying FIRST (GIVEN) NAME, so unless the criteria has changed you don't need to match your passport 100% because on my GB passport, which was renewed September last year, it has both my First & Middle names on it.

As far as I can remember I have never given my middle name on any travel booking and have never had a problem, I last entered the USA in April and as it was a new passport CBP at Seattle insisted I saw an agent and not having my middle name was never even mentioned.

Sorry to muddy the waters even more so.

As tontybear says, when you hover over the ? at that box it does says all first names, which is fair enough but you'd have thought they might have had the intelligence to spot that they'd left it as "first name" in the singular to start with.

I managed to find a "contact us" link eventually so I've sent an e-mail asking for clarification. Sadly I prob won't get an answer in the timescale they're quoting for a response. I'm gonna end up paying another $14 just for peace of mind.

As someone with a middle name, on passport in middle names section, I'd add I've never supplied this on a ESTA with ZERO issues. As said the form says First name - and First name for me is just my Christian name. My wife has a double barrelled surname in the format premarriagename-myname - and that DOES need to be supplied hyphenated.

Last renewal was literally 1st Aug with entry to US on 9th August (some people say this is a bit tight, but I travel 3-4 times a year to US, so I lose too much of an ESTA if I don't get it close to travel).

ESTA's really are not much to worry about imho - but fully understandable people worry on first one.. I would comment arrivals with the new system into MCO however are lightyears ahead of other US airports - it's literally faster now to go via agent than machine.

I have had a few ESTAs now and have never once included my middle name despite it being on my passport. I have not had any issues at all entering the USA.

I've decided just to go with the original ESTA I applied for with just my first name on it. I've saved myself $14 But slightly nervous. Hey ho, more to hit the tables with

I've decided just to go with the original ESTA I applied for with just my first name on it. I've saved myself $14 But slightly nervous. Hey ho, more to hit the tables with

Is your original ESTA less than 2 years old and are you still using the same passport that the original ESTA was applicable to? If the ESTA is over 2 years old or you've changed your passport within the last two years/travelling under a different passport, then you will need to apply for a new one as an ESTA is only valid for two years unless the passport expires or is replaced within that timeframe.

I’ve never added my middle name to an ESTA, it's on my passport, and I’ve never had an issue. If people were being denied entry for omitting the pointless things it would be much bigger news than forum hearsay.

I find websites like TheDibb incredibly helpful when it comes to asking about Disney, but 99% of posters are irregular travellers and any travel plans breed caution and panic. I would hazard a guess it’s the same with your Vegas forum.

Good luck on the tables.

Update: went to USA on the original ESTA I applied for with no middle name included. No issues at all at immigration, so all good.

Update: went to USA on the original ESTA I applied for with no middle name included. No issues at all at immigration, so all good.