6 ms·

Worth remembering that visiting there (or Iran) will mean your ESTA privileges are revoked, and you’ll need a visa to travel to ‘merika.

usrme 5y ago
This was news to me and it turns out that this is indeed the case: https://e-visa.ie/usa/news/iran-and-esta https://e-visa.ie/usa/news/iran-and-esta. They mention the 1st of March, 2011 as the cut off point, but I haven't been able to suss out why it's that date exactly. I'm guessing it has to do with the Arab Spring, but that is just conjecture. Hopefully someone can correct me if I am way off base.
fsloth 5y ago
Holy moley, thanks for the heads up! Your comment should be the top comment, given the business of business which for us non-US citizens still requires often interacting with the said polity! Also - US, hello? That kind of sucks. Tourism would be a great way to integrate these areas more to the "western" spheres of business (I'm not saying that is a valuable value as such, I take no sides, but I presume US would consider this still advantageous to it's positioning). When I read this news I immediately thought I could go and visit the ruins of Babylon (yes, I can go and see pieces of it museums in non-ESTA-nulling places but it's not the same thing). Now - ancient babylon vs. ESTA privileges? Oh man, choices, choices.
- bassdropvroom 5y ago
  I'm European-Kurd, and had to travel to Kurdistan Region (northern Iraq) for my sister's wedding a few years before I had to go to the US. I was denied my ESTA without a refund (it was $20 iirc, so not a huge amount but as someone who had just graduated, every penny counted for me) due to this exemption. Had to get a full visitors visa to go which took a lot longer, and was way more expensive. The exemption, which was put in place due to ISIS in 2013, seems reasonable though unfortunate.
- verelo 5y ago
  Years back i seriously considered an Iran trip out of general curiosity about the region. It quickly became clear this would inhibit future travel to the US so i figured it wasn’t worth the trouble. Super disappointing, it would be cool to see the area.
notsureaboutpg 5y ago
You can travel to Saudi, sell rockets to the Butcher of Arabia himself, take pictures with enslaved workers in the gulf and watch a public execution for adultery and they'll let you travel to 'merika no questions asked. But you can't visit Iraq or Iran
selphy1 5y ago
Lets say you have two passports. One Irish and one Russian. If you use Russian passport to enter Iraq, will you still have trouble with ESTA with your Irish passport?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- bzzzt 5y ago
  You're asked to fill in a questionnaire when entering the US as a foreigner. I think lying at the 'did you visit...' questions would be grounds for the US to declare you 'persona non grata', so it's not a risk you'd want to take if want to keep the possibility of entering the US again.
hawk_ 5y ago
usually such places (destination under embargo or sanctions) are happy to not mark your travel document in any way and let you through. they may issue a booklet to indicate when your stay there should end which you can discard when you're out.
- short_sells_poo 5y ago
  The problem is if the US authorities ever find out, you may be fully banned from the country. Is that a risk worth running?
  - akie 5y ago
    I guess it depends on where you live, and if you have regular reasons to come to the US. I live in Europe and have visited the US maybe three times in my life, and I wouldn't necessarily be terribly sad if I could never visit again. So, I'd take the risk.
- saiya-jin 5y ago
  This, plus also if you change passports because they happen to expire or you lose them, the trail is completely broken. US immigration doesn't have a clue, not from global flight data, not from your IDs. The negative side is you have to lie on ESTA form which sucks, but the whole US approach to Iran is plain stupid and amoral so I didn't mind it. I went to Iran, it was the most amazing 1-week trip vacation I've ever done (Damavand, Isfahan, Yazd, a bit of Tehran). Amazingly friendly people, everybody spoke english, most signs are dual farsi/english, and the best part - its completely untouched by mass tourism. Feels surreal in current world, in the best way possible. Even if this trip would ban me for life from US which is practically impossible with current tech, trips like these are 100x worth it. Can't recommend enough.
  - gruez 5y ago
    > US immigration doesn't have a clue, not from global flight data They may not be actively checking, but the information is definitely available for them. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27275163 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27275163
fortran77 5y ago
Just get another passport. Or have them stamp your entry on a piece of paper separate from the passport. Notice it says in the article: > Entry: If there is evidence of travel to Israel in your passport entry is unlikely to be granted. Israel will, upon request, give you a removable sticker for your passport instead of stamping it if you also need to travel to unfriendly countries. I'm sure Iraq will figure out the same thing. (despite the irony!)
- krisoft 5y ago
  > Just get another passport. That unfortunately is a very dangerous and very bad advice in this case. The ESTA doesn't just check your passport for evidence of you being traveled to these countries. They ask you if you did. If you tell the truth, you don't get a visa waiver. If you lie and they learn about it from some source you can be in a heap of trouble. This trouble can include deportation, inability to ever again enter the USA, complications with entering many other western nations, etc. I don't know about the probabilities of them figuring out the lie. It can be anywhere between "being hit by lightning" and "almost certainty". The potential consequences on the other hand are known and quite dire.
  - hef19898 5y ago
    I guess it depends on the passport you are holding, doesn't it? Having a German one gives you the highest number of countries without visas, so I personally wouldn't mind. Something people travelling to Israel and the Arabic world are coping with two sets of passports anyway already. Different if you are from another country, read poorer and not part of the Western world.
ucha 5y ago
IIRC ESTA only asks for 5 years of travel history so maybe it wouldn't affect people who don't plan to visit the US in the next 5 years...

usrme 5y ago

This was news to me and it turns out that this is indeed the case: https://e-visa.ie/usa/news/iran-and-esta https://e-visa.ie/usa/news/iran-and-esta. They mention the 1st of March, 2011 as the cut off point, but I haven't been able to suss out why it's that date exactly. I'm guessing it has to do with the Arab Spring, but that is just conjecture. Hopefully someone can correct me if I am way off base.

fsloth 5y ago

Holy moley, thanks for the heads up! Your comment should be the top comment, given the business of business which for us non-US citizens still requires often interacting with the said polity! Also - US, hello? That kind of sucks. Tourism would be a great way to integrate these areas more to the "western" spheres of business (I'm not saying that is a valuable value as such, I take no sides, but I presume US would consider this still advantageous to it's positioning). When I read this news I immediately thought I could go and visit the ruins of Babylon (yes, I can go and see pieces of it museums in non-ESTA-nulling places but it's not the same thing). Now - ancient babylon vs. ESTA privileges? Oh man, choices, choices.

bassdropvroom 5y ago
I'm European-Kurd, and had to travel to Kurdistan Region (northern Iraq) for my sister's wedding a few years before I had to go to the US. I was denied my ESTA without a refund (it was $20 iirc, so not a huge amount but as someone who had just graduated, every penny counted for me) due to this exemption. Had to get a full visitors visa to go which took a lot longer, and was way more expensive. The exemption, which was put in place due to ISIS in 2013, seems reasonable though unfortunate.
verelo 5y ago
Years back i seriously considered an Iran trip out of general curiosity about the region. It quickly became clear this would inhibit future travel to the US so i figured it wasn’t worth the trouble. Super disappointing, it would be cool to see the area.

notsureaboutpg 5y ago

You can travel to Saudi, sell rockets to the Butcher of Arabia himself, take pictures with enslaved workers in the gulf and watch a public execution for adultery and they'll let you travel to 'merika no questions asked. But you can't visit Iraq or Iran

selphy1 5y ago

Lets say you have two passports. One Irish and one Russian. If you use Russian passport to enter Iraq, will you still have trouble with ESTA with your Irish passport?

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
bzzzt 5y ago
You're asked to fill in a questionnaire when entering the US as a foreigner. I think lying at the 'did you visit...' questions would be grounds for the US to declare you 'persona non grata', so it's not a risk you'd want to take if want to keep the possibility of entering the US again.

hawk_ 5y ago

usually such places (destination under embargo or sanctions) are happy to not mark your travel document in any way and let you through. they may issue a booklet to indicate when your stay there should end which you can discard when you're out.

short_sells_poo 5y ago
The problem is if the US authorities ever find out, you may be fully banned from the country. Is that a risk worth running?
- akie 5y ago
  I guess it depends on where you live, and if you have regular reasons to come to the US. I live in Europe and have visited the US maybe three times in my life, and I wouldn't necessarily be terribly sad if I could never visit again. So, I'd take the risk.
saiya-jin 5y ago
This, plus also if you change passports because they happen to expire or you lose them, the trail is completely broken. US immigration doesn't have a clue, not from global flight data, not from your IDs. The negative side is you have to lie on ESTA form which sucks, but the whole US approach to Iran is plain stupid and amoral so I didn't mind it. I went to Iran, it was the most amazing 1-week trip vacation I've ever done (Damavand, Isfahan, Yazd, a bit of Tehran). Amazingly friendly people, everybody spoke english, most signs are dual farsi/english, and the best part - its completely untouched by mass tourism. Feels surreal in current world, in the best way possible. Even if this trip would ban me for life from US which is practically impossible with current tech, trips like these are 100x worth it. Can't recommend enough.
- gruez 5y ago
  > US immigration doesn't have a clue, not from global flight data They may not be actively checking, but the information is definitely available for them. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27275163 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27275163

fortran77 5y ago

Just get another passport. Or have them stamp your entry on a piece of paper separate from the passport. Notice it says in the article: > Entry: If there is evidence of travel to Israel in your passport entry is unlikely to be granted. Israel will, upon request, give you a removable sticker for your passport instead of stamping it if you also need to travel to unfriendly countries. I'm sure Iraq will figure out the same thing. (despite the irony!)

krisoft 5y ago
> Just get another passport. That unfortunately is a very dangerous and very bad advice in this case. The ESTA doesn't just check your passport for evidence of you being traveled to these countries. They ask you if you did. If you tell the truth, you don't get a visa waiver. If you lie and they learn about it from some source you can be in a heap of trouble. This trouble can include deportation, inability to ever again enter the USA, complications with entering many other western nations, etc. I don't know about the probabilities of them figuring out the lie. It can be anywhere between "being hit by lightning" and "almost certainty". The potential consequences on the other hand are known and quite dire.
- hef19898 5y ago
  I guess it depends on the passport you are holding, doesn't it? Having a German one gives you the highest number of countries without visas, so I personally wouldn't mind. Something people travelling to Israel and the Arabic world are coping with two sets of passports anyway already. Different if you are from another country, read poorer and not part of the Western world.

ucha 5y ago

IIRC ESTA only asks for 5 years of travel history so maybe it wouldn't affect people who don't plan to visit the US in the next 5 years...