2 ms·

Also I fail to see the distinction between an ESTA/ETIAS and a visa. If I need to apply ahead of travelling, and pay a fee, and this may be denied, how is that

• pacbard 1y ago
  Because applying for a visa takes money, time, and a visit to the embassy. ESTA/ETIAS gets automatically approved within a few minutes of paying for the fee (I guess this is true for 99.999% of applicants). Very few countries allow people to just show up and cross the border. US citizens had that privilege in a lot of places, but it looks like it’s changing now.
  • sib 1y ago
    Not true - there are plenty of countries that have e-visa (online application).
  • ghaff 1y ago
    I have never visited an embassy to get a visa--though I did cancel a couple of business trips when it became too much of an effort because of timing relative to other trips. I've travelled to a bunch of countries where I could just go through immigration with a US passport or maybe pay for a visa on arrival.
• daveoc64 1y ago
  For one, having a visa comes with a high chance of being admitted to the country (although never 100%). That is not true of schemes like ESTA or ETIAS.
  • jltsiren 1y ago
    I think it's the other way around. If you need a visa to enter, the government considers you more suspicious than those who can enter without a visa. And you will likely face more scrutiny at the border. Some countries have visa-on-arrival schemes, which are the opposite of ESTA and ETIAS. The visa still exists as a formality (maybe due to reciprocity or as a tourist tax), but you need to do little beyond paying the fee to get one.