Passport to travel to the United States
You are traveling to the United States for business or for a trip with family or friends. The American authorities have done everything possible to simplify the formalities for entering the United States while ensuring the greatest security for travelers. If you are traveling without a visa but with ESTA electronic authorization, you will need to present a certain type of passport to immigration.
You can complete your formalities by Internet in a few minutes if you are in possession of your passport by clicking on the online form.
Biometric or electronic passport required
For security reasons, the U.S. authorities require that every traveler entering the country have a biometric or electronic passport. To find out if your passport is valid, look at the cover of your passport: the small symbol of a microchip should be present under the word PASSPORT. If so, you have the right document for your trip to the United States.
If your passport is too old or has expired, all you have to do is apply for a renewal from the administrative services in your country. The United States is one of the countries that require your passport to be valid for at least 6 months when you enter the country.
Passport and ESTA authorization
In addition to your biometric or electronic passport, you must have an ESTA authorization. The ESTA USA travel authorization allows you to travel to the United States without having to apply for a US visa.
This official document will allow you to enter the United States and stay for a maximum of 90 consecutive days. The ESTA is valid for two years.
When applying for ESTA, it is mandatory to upload a photo of your passport in the ESTA form. Uploading the passport photo is mandatory since December 2022. When filling out the ESTA form, you will be asked to upload a JPEG or PDF file of your passport.
Electronic and biometric passport photo
To illustrate our point, here are two photos of a European standard passport. This passport is French and has the e-passport logo at the bottom of the cover page.
The biometric passport is also required for a visa application for the United States. There are many different travel visas for foreign nationals depending on the purpose of the stay. Whatever your destination in the United States the process of obtaining a visa is the same, whether it is a visa for New York or a visa for Los Angeles for example.