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It's probably working as designed. Most people in ESTA countries qualify. The list of country visits that disqualifies you is North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, So
by Miraste 4y ago
It's probably working as designed. Most people in ESTA countries qualify. The list of country visits that disqualifies you is North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, all places where the US is hostile to the government or a major indigenous rebel/terrorist organization. The US government won't ban you outright for going there, but they're happy to deprioritize you.
Compare with China, a non-ESTA country that makes the US a lot of money. The wait time for a visa appointment in Beijing is two days.
- nivenkos 4y agoThere's a load of countries that don't qualify for the ESTA though. It's stopped us having conferences in the US because non-EU nationals working in Europe can't get US tourist visas in time.
- smnrchrds 4y ago> Most people in ESTA countries qualify Correction: most citizens of ESTA countries qualify. For example, approximately three million Canadian residents are not citizens of Canada (they have work permit, study permit, or permanent residence permit instead). Wait times for a visa appointment from Canada are about 1 to 1.5 years now. Fun fact: permanent residents of the US can visit Canada without needing a visa, but this is not reciprocated. Permanent residents of Canada need a visa to visit the US, unless their country of citizenship is one of the ESTA countries.
- dhruvarora013 4y agoThere are citizens of countries that need visas that live in primarily ESTA countries. This is a larger demographic than you think!