ESTA fee to be introduced for international travellers to the US

I did mine dread. Not sure if it'll speed things up or not.

Under the Travel Promotion Act signed by US president Barack Obama (Hey Barack!) last week, a fee will be introduced for the ESTA application to subsidise a new national marketing body designed to promote US holidays abroad.

International passengers travelling to the US under the visa waiver programme are required to submit an ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) application prior to travel, which is currently free. The new charge will be at least $10 or could be as much as $17 per person. No implementation date has been set as yet, but CWT will advise all customers of this information as soon as it is available.

ESTA applications are normally valid for a period of two years and cover multiple trips to the US during that time period. Once the validity period has expired, travellers will be required to pay the fee again.

Customers can apply for an ESTA directly online at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta.html

Countries in the Visa Waiver Programme include: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom.