ESTA Validity Checker (2026)
Enter your ESTA approval date, passport expiry and travel date to see when the authorization ends, how many days you have left and whether you must reapply before you fly.
Your ESTA status
The checker applies the published rule in 8 CFR 217.3(d): an ESTA is valid for two years from approval or until the linked passport expires, whichever is earlier, and each admission is capped at 90 days. Dates are compared on the calendar day, with no grace period added. Informational only - not legal advice, and CBP makes the final decision at the border.
Last updated: 5 October 2026. An ESTA is not a visa and it is not open-ended. It runs for two years from the approval date or until the passport it is linked to expires, whichever happens first, and Customs and Border Protection can withdraw it at any time. That rule is simple, but the arithmetic trips people up: an authorization approved in March 2026 and a passport expiring in November 2026 means the passport is the deadline, not the anniversary. This checker takes three dates - approval, passport expiry and travel - and returns the real expiry, the days between your travel date and that expiry, and a plain verdict on whether the trip is covered.
How ESTA Validity Works
Two clocks run at the same time on every ESTA. The first is the two-year clock, which starts on the day CBP approves the application. The second is the passport clock, which ends on the expiry date printed in your passport. The authorization ends on whichever date arrives first, so a traveller who was approved in 2025 with a passport that expires in 2026 has an ESTA that dies with the passport, and a traveller approved with three months left on the passport has an ESTA that dies in three months. There is no rounding up, no grace period and no extension: the date in the system is the date the authorization stops working.
Within that window the ESTA is a multiple-entry authorization. You do not need a new one for each flight. What you do need, every single time, is to stay under the 90-day limit per visit. The Visa Waiver Program does not permit stays beyond 90 days, it does not permit extension inside the United States, and it does not permit a border run to restart the clock. If your plans might exceed 90 days, or include paid work or study, an ESTA is the wrong instrument and a visa is required before you travel.
The dates also work backwards in one common scenario: a trip that starts before expiry but runs past it. Because admission is decided on the day you arrive, arriving on 10 March with an ESTA expiring on 25 March is normally fine for entry, but the authorization should still cover you for the whole intended stay - and any trip planned beyond the expiry date needs a new ESTA filed before departure. The checker flags this by showing the expiry date and the days remaining on the trip side by side, so you can see whether the two dates overlap safely.
ESTA Facts Table (2026)
The figures below are the published rules and prices as at 5 October 2026, drawn from CBP's ESTA pages and the Code of Federal Regulations rather than from third-party booking sites.
| Feature | Rule in 2026 | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Validity | 2 years from approval, or passport expiry, whichever is first | 8 CFR 217.3(d) |
| Maximum stay | 90 days per visit, not extendable under the Visa Waiver Program | CBP, checked 5 Oct 2026 |
| Entries | Unlimited entries while the ESTA remains valid | CBP ESTA FAQ |
| Fee | $40.27 per applicant, paid only on the government site | esta.cbp.dhs.gov, 5 Oct 2026 |
| Fee history | $21 until 30 Sep 2025, $40 from 30 Sep 2025, $40.27 from 1 Jan 2026 | H.R.1 and 1 Jan 2026 inflation adjustment |
| Processing | Most decisions well inside 72 hours; apply at least 72 hours before departure | CBP guidance, 2026 |
| Passport rule | Valid e-passport with machine-readable zone and embedded chip | Visa Waiver Program requirements |
| Countries | 42 Visa Waiver Program countries are eligible | CBP, 2026 |
| Application photo | A selfie photograph is now required, with tighter photo validation | CBP changes, 2026 |
| Decision | Authorization does not guarantee admission; CBP decides at the border | 8 CFR 217.4 |
When You Must Reapply
Even a valid ESTA can stop being usable while the calendar still shows months of life left. The authorization is tied to the answers you gave, so any change to those answers or to the passport breaks the link. Treat the events below as an automatic trigger for a fresh application, and pay the $40.27 again rather than hoping the old approval carries over.
| Event | Effect on your current ESTA | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| New passport issued | Old ESTA stays linked to the old passport number and cannot be used for travel | Apply again with the new passport details |
| Name or citizenship change | Approval no longer matches your travel document | Submit a new application with the updated information |
| Answer changed to yes on an eligibility question | Previous approval is based on answers that are no longer true | Reapply and expect the visa route instead |
| Travel to Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Yemen or Cuba | Travel after 1 March 2011, or to Cuba after 12 January 2021, makes you ineligible for the Visa Waiver Program | Apply for a B-1/B-2 visa before travelling |
| Arrest or charge after approval | Answers on the form have changed; the authorization may be withdrawn | Reapply and disclose the circumstances |
| Two-year anniversary reached | Authorization ends on the approval date plus two years | Apply for a fresh ESTA, ideally before booking |
| Passport expiry reached | Authorization ends on the passport expiry date, even if the two years are not up | Renew the passport, then reapply for ESTA |
Timing advice is deliberately conservative because applications are usually approved quickly: CBP asks travellers to apply at least 72 hours before departure, while most decisions arrive much sooner. In practice, check your expiry the day you book, apply the moment you see a gap, and keep the approval notice with your travel documents. A declined application is not a bar to the United States - it simply means the visa-free route is closed and you should apply for a visitor visa instead.
ESTA vs Visa: Which One You Need
An ESTA covers visa-free short visits for citizens of the 42 Visa Waiver Program countries. Everyone else, and anyone who answers yes to an eligibility question, needs a visa. The two routes differ in price, effort and flexibility, and the table below shows the practical difference rather than the marketing copy you will find on third-party sites.
| Question | ESTA | B-1/B-2 visitor visa |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $40.27 | $185 application fee |
| Where applied | Online, government site | Consular interview in person |
| Typical wait | Usually well inside 72 hours | Interview appointment plus processing time |
| Length of stay | Up to 90 days, no extensions | Up to 6 months at the officer's discretion, extendable in some cases |
| Validity | 2 years or passport expiry, whichever first | Often up to 10 years, multiple entry |
| Works for | Tourism, business meetings, transit | tourism, business, medical treatment and longer visitor plans |
| Guarantees entry | No - CBP decides on arrival | No - the officer at the port of entry decides |
If you are unsure which route applies to you, start with the visa eligibility checker and then confirm the destination requirement in the ESTA guide. Travellers who also hold an UK ETA or are watching the European ETIAS rollout should remember that each authorization is separate: none of them substitutes for another, and none of them substitutes for a US visa.
What Changed in 2026
Three changes matter for anyone checking their ESTA this year. First, the price: the fee moved from $21 to $40 on 30 September 2025 under the 2025 budget law, then to $40.27 on 1 January 2026 when the inflation adjustment applied. Paying more than $40.27 means you are on a third-party site that charges a service fee for a form you could complete yourself in the official system.
Second, the application itself: a selfie photograph is now required, and CBP tightened photo validation checks during 2026, so a poor-quality or heavily edited photo is a common cause of delay and refusal. Third, the data requirements: a proposal published in the Federal Register on 10 December 2025 (90 FR 57208) would expand the information Visa Waiver Program travellers must disclose, including travel history and social-media identifiers. Comments closed on 9 February 2026 and the proposal had not taken effect as of 5 October 2026 - it remains under review, so answer only the questions currently on the form and check the official ESTA site before each application rather than relying on summaries of the proposal.
None of these changes alters the core validity rule. Two years or passport expiry, whichever comes first, still governs every approval issued today, and the checker above uses that rule and nothing else.
How This Checker Calculates Your Dates
The tool reads three inputs: the approval date from your ESTA, the expiry date of the passport you used, and the date you plan to fly. It adds two years to the approval date, compares that anniversary against the passport expiry, and takes the earlier of the two as your ESTA expiry. It then subtracts your travel date from that expiry to produce the days remaining. A result of zero or more means the trip falls inside the validity window; a negative number means the authorization has already lapsed by the time you travel.
Leap years are handled on the calendar rather than by counting 730 days, so an approval on 29 February 2024 reaches its two-year point on 28 February 2026. Everything runs in your browser: no dates are sent anywhere, and nothing is stored. The figures are an aid to planning your own dates, and the authoritative record is the approval notice CBP issued to you.
Frequently Asked Questions
How We Fact-Checked This Page
Checked on 5 October 2026 against: 8 CFR 217.3 and 217.4 for the two-year and 90-day rules; the official ESTA fee page at esta.cbp.dhs.gov showing $40.27 on 5 October 2026; the fee history of $21 to $40 on 30 September 2025 and the 1 January 2026 inflation adjustment; CBP's Visa Waiver Program country list of 42 countries and its restricted-travel rules dating from 1 March 2011 plus Cuba from 12 January 2021; CBP's 2026 application changes requiring a selfie photograph and tighter photo checks; the Federal Register proposal published 10 December 2025 (90 FR 57208) with comments closing 9 February 2026, not in effect on the date of checking; and the published B-1/B-2 visitor visa fee of $185 used for the comparison table. Prices and rule status can change, so confirm the current figures on the official CBP site before you apply.