U.S. Visa Waiver Travelers Face a $40 ESTA Fee. What Changed?

(UNITED STATES) — U.S. officials kept the Electronic System for Travel Authorization charge at $40 per traveler through April 2026 after raising the fee on July 1, 2025, increasing costs for visitors from Visa Waiver Program countries and helping offset a sharp cut in federal support for Brand USA.

The higher ESTA fee applies to travelers from nations including Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and France who use the Visa Waiver Program to visit the United States for tourism, business or transit without a visa. The previous fee was $21.

Congress tied the increase to rising ESTA system costs and reduced federal backing for Brand USA, the U.S. tourism marketing organization. Federal support for Brand USA fell from $100 million to $20 million annually as part of the fiscal year 2026 budget, effective October 1, 2025.

That combination has changed both the cost of entry and the scale of U.S. tourism promotion abroad. Industry modeling from the U.S. Travel Association said the changes could deter 5-10% of international arrivals.

ESTA, launched in 2008, serves as the mandatory online pre-screening system for Visa Waiver Program nationals entering the United States for short stays. Before the pandemic, it processed over 20 million applications annually.

The fee increase took effect after passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2025. By early 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported collecting over $800 million in FY2026 fees, helping stabilize operations even as Visa Waiver Program applications fell 15% amid higher costs and global economic pressures.

Every applicant aged 2 and older from 41 Visa Waiver Program countries must pay the same amount. There are no exemptions for frequent travelers, children or business visitors, and approvals remain valid for two years or until passport expiry.

Families now face a visibly higher bill. A family of four could see costs rise from $84 to $160, while a group of six pays $240 upfront.

For Australians, the new ESTA fee comes to roughly AU$60, up from AU$32, based on April 2026 exchange rates. Travelers from the United Kingdom face about £32, from £17.

Congress raised the charge as operational deficits widened and ESTA costs climbed with inflation and cyber upgrades. Officials also used the fee structure to support Brand USA after lawmakers reduced non-defense discretionary spending while giving border enforcement larger budgets.

Of the $40, $4 covers CBP processing, with the rest split between system maintenance and Brand USA, per statute. The fee funds technological changes including enhanced biometric integration and fraud detection.

Brand USA, created by the 2009 Travel Promotion Act, relies on a public-private model in which federal matching funds double private contributions from airlines, hotels and destinations. Private funds fell to $60 million in 2025, reflecting a slower industry recovery.

By April 2026, Brand USA campaigns had shrunk 70%. The group no longer ran major TV ads in Europe or Asia and shifted instead to digital micro-targeting, even as the United States prepared for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Christopher Thompson, chief executive of Brand USA, said in February 2026: “We’re leaner, but resilient—focusing on high-ROI digital.”

The pullback came as other destinations increased promotion. Canada’s tourism budget reached CAD$150 million in 2026, while Australia also expanded spending.

International arrivals to the United States fell 8% year-over-year in FY2026 through March, according to NTTO data. Visitors from the United Kingdom were down 12%, while arrivals from Japan fell 10%.

Spending also weakened. The United States projected $140 billion in international visitor spending, compared with $170 billion before the change.

Brand USA’s mission reaches beyond advertising. Before the cuts, it helped drive $279 billion in 2019 spending from 80 million visitors through ads, trade shows and content such as VisitTheUSA.com.

The wider economic impact stretches well beyond airports. International tourism supports 9 million jobs, and the World Travel & Tourism Council forecast in 2025 that $12.5 billion was at risk from diverted spending, a projection that held steady into 2026.

Some local businesses already felt the change. Dallas hotels reported 15% fewer European bookings as World Cup preparations intensified.

David Huerta of the U.S. Travel Association called the higher charge a “self-tax on tourism” and warned of $20 billion cumulative losses by 2028 Olympics.

The Visa Waiver Program itself, however, remained intact. Eligible travelers can still stay up to 90 days without a visa interview, and no broader 2026 immigration shifts changed that framework.

That has mattered for travelers watching a tougher U.S. policy climate. While H-1B fees rose to $100,000 for offshore petitions and travel bans expanded under a January 1, 2026 proclamation affecting 19+ countries, Visa Waiver Program visitors faced no new hurdle beyond the higher ESTA fee.

Enhanced social media vetting introduced on March 30, 2026 applied to some nonimmigrant visas, but not to routine ESTA travel. For many visitors, the main practical change remained the cost.

Applicants still complete the process online and answer 10 security questions. They need a valid e-passport with a chip, travel itinerary information and a payment method.

Credit and debit cards are accepted for the $40 payment. Third-party sites charge extra.

Most applicants still receive a quick answer. Approval is instant for 80% of cases, while others can take up to 72 hours.

Travelers are advised to apply at least 72 hours before departure. In 2026, processing delays averaged 24 hours as heightened vetting linked to new USCIS protocols added pressure, though the Visa Waiver Program remained streamlined.

No further fee change had been announced by April 2026. Travelers renewing expired ESTA authorizations or applying with new passports must pay the full $40, with no prorated refunds or grandfathering.

The budget fight that shaped the new charge also reflected broader federal priorities. Lawmakers cited “fiscal responsibility” as the federal government faced $2 trillion deficits and shifted more money toward walls, technology and deportations.

DHS budgets grew 25% for those efforts, including a new Costa Rica deportation deal for 25 migrants weekly. Tourism promotion moved in the opposite direction.

That divergence has fueled criticism from airlines, hotels and travel groups that say the United States is making itself harder to sell abroad at a time when it is preparing to host two of the world’s biggest sporting events. Airlines for America has lobbied for a reversal.

The pressure reaches business travel as well as leisure trips. Companies sending executives under the Visa Waiver Program now absorb the higher cost, while conventions have seen weaker foreign attendance.

CES 2026 recorded a 5% decline in international attendance. The B-1/B-2 visa fee, by contrast, held steady at $185 for travelers outside the Visa Waiver Program.

For frequent travelers, the rules are unchanged except for the price. They need to renew only when their authorization expires or they get a new passport, but each renewal triggers the full fee again.

The increase applies uniformly across the Visa Waiver Program’s 41 countries, including Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

For travelers, the math is simple and immediate. A system once priced at $21 now costs nearly twice as much, even though the basic terms of travel remain the same.

For Brand USA, the funding shift means trying to market the country with a much smaller federal contribution. The organization now works with a reduced budget as private contributions also remain below earlier levels.

For the United States, the trade-off is becoming easier to measure. Officials have protected ESTA operations and preserved the Visa Waiver Program, but they have also raised the price of entry and narrowed the country’s marketing reach at a time when global competition for travelers is intensifying.

As the 2026 World Cup approaches, that tension is unlikely to fade. Huerta’s warning that the charge amounts to a “self-tax on tourism” captures the dispute over whether the higher ESTA fee and reduced Brand USA funding will pay for themselves, or push more travelers to spend elsewhere.