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My wife and I are traveling to Canada from Ireland (We are Irish citizens). We would like to visit Seattle in the USA for one night. Will we need a visa? If we do where do we apply?

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  • Get an ESTA cbp.gov/travel/international-visitors/esta
    – DumbCoder
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 11:55
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    @DumbCoder depends on how they are entering the USA.
    – BritishSam
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 11:57
  • Thank you Guys for your answers, We are visiting Canada for 3 weeks so would like to go to the USA for a night or two.
    – Tony
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 16:48
  • BTW assuming you are flying to Canada you need a canadian ETA for that.
    – Peter Green
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 18:09

1 Answer 1

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Are you going by land or by plane or boat?

If flying or going by boat you will need to apply for an ESTA as you are Irish citizens, Ireland is a visa waiver country. Certain ferry crossings count as land crossings though which I have pointed out further down in my answer.

If you are going by land you won't need an ESTA. You will be given an I-94W by the CBP officer when you get to the border.

If you are a citizen of a VWP country, and you are traveling by land to the United States, you do not have to apply for ESTA. If you are coming to the U.S. by air or sea, you DO have to apply for ESTA. If you are not a citizen of a VWP country, you are required to have a visa, and therefore ESTA does not apply to you.

link for more info

Edit: as Henning Makholm pointed out

VWP citizens do not need an ESTA to travel on the ferries between Vancouver and Victoria, BC and Washington state. They are treated as a land border port.

link to this info

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    Your second paragraph could also read "if flying or going by boat you will need to apply for an ESTA as you are Irish citizens and Ireland is a visa waiver country."
    – phoog
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 12:29
  • yeah makes it more articulate @phoog
    – BritishSam
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 13:42
  • There is some debate as to whether or not an ESTA is required for rail travel between Washington and BC.
    – Jacob Horbulyk
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 14:28
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    @phoog see travel.stackexchange.com/q/78957/58919
    – Jacob Horbulyk
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 15:14
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    @HenningMakholm The BC ferry crossings into Washington, at least from Victoria and Vancouver, pre-clear US customs in Canada, too, which differentiates them from most US cruise ship traffic.
    – Jim MacKenzie
    Commented Apr 3, 2018 at 17:02

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