Don't forget that ESTA is the enormous form that everyone traveling to the USA from countries not required to obtain visa has to complete and have approved befo

Don't forget that ESTA is the enormous form that everyone traveling to the USA from countries not required to obtain visa has to complete and have approved before leaving. And it asks for wonderful stuff like: "Have you been a member of a terrorist organization?" with helpful footnote: "Answering yes to any of these questions (there are a few more such gems there) is not a ground for automatic entry refusal." (paraphrased from memory). These questions are pretty much the same that are/used to be on the visa application forms too. Submitting the form isn't free neither - you have to pay a processing fee. What is worse, you can be denied entry with no explanation even if you are not a terrorist and have done all the paperwork, no prosecution needed. Either because your ESTA form submission was rejected for some unknown reason (then good luck obtaining a visa - pretty much denied by default) or on arrival, even though you had everything approved. What a wonderful system that really makes everyone safe and secure :(