Frage · Antwort der Redaktion
Will visiting Syria cancel my ESTA if I already have one?
British passport. ESTA still shows approved until next spring. I want a week in Damascus. I also have a New York work trip in January and I cannot miss it.
Half the threads say the ESTA dies the minute Syria is in the book. The other half say apply again and hope for a waiver. I am not hiding a stamp. I need to know whether I should start a B1/B2 now, before I buy the Beirut ticket.
Antworten · 1
Waleed Al-HasanAntwort der Redaktion
If you travel on ESTA, presence in Syria on or after 1 March 2011 makes you ineligible. CBP names Syria. A tourist week is not the military or diplomatic exception. You still go to New York. You apply for a visitor visa — DS-160, fee, interview — instead of hoping the old approval holds.
Check esta.cbp.dhs.gov before you book January. An approval still sitting on the screen after Syria is not packing. GOV.UK: flying on an ESTA when you are ineligible can mean detention. Do not test that.
There is a case-by-case DHS waiver inside the ESTA process. You do not file a separate form. Do not pack as if you will get one. Tell the truth on the visa form: tourism, dates, cities. A thread that says hide the stamp is bad advice.
Start the B1/B2 now if January cannot move. That is paperwork, not a reason to skip Damascus.
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