8

I'm a British citizen, but was born in Iran. I haven't been there since 1978 when I was a child. I have an ESTA which is valid until 2017. I checked via the ESTA checker on the US embassy site and it said I am still approved for travel.

But with the new rules being so ambiguous I do not know whether I need a visa or not.

4
  • @pnuts clearly a typo, I edited. This travel.stackexchange.com/q/66719/32134 suggests there won't be a problem?!?
    – mts
    Sep 12, 2016 at 10:08
  • 2
    The important question here is are you a citizen of Iran or not? Being born there may or may not have that effect, depending on the precise circumstances and who your parents are. Sep 12, 2016 at 11:29
  • UPDATE just spoke to the Washington ESTA line 1 202 344 3710 Told them my situation they said if i had a valid Approved ESTA i could travel on it and didn't need another visa
    – user51096
    Sep 12, 2016 at 12:17
  • 1
    double checked myself. my first answer is incorrect it appears the chap gave me an incorrect answer the next person told me i had to reapply for an esta this obviously got rejected…so i have now applied for a visa complete mess really as no one knows really whats going on
    – user51096
    Sep 13, 2016 at 11:15

2 Answers 2

4

double checked myself.

my first answer is incorrect it appears the chap gave me an incorrect answer the next person told me i had to reapply for an esta

this obviously got rejected…so i have now applied for a visa

complete mess really as no one knows really whats going on

1
  • Thanks for coming back! Why don't you accept the correct answer (by clicking the "check"-sign to the left, under the up/down arrows) or edit one answer so to contain all the information (and possibly deleting the wrong answer).
    – mts
    Sep 14, 2016 at 8:55
1

UPDATE

I just spoke to the Washington ESTA line (1-202-344-3710)

I told them my situation. They said that if I had a valid Approved ESTA I could travel on it and didn't need another visa.

5
  • my pleasure……have asked a friend to also phone to double check
    – user51096
    Sep 12, 2016 at 13:03
  • 1
    @pnuts, Maybe because it doesn't seem too relevant? If Iran passed a law saying I was Iranian, but I wasn't planning on traveling to Iran or doing anything else that required me to observe Iranian law I would ignore it. He's traveling to the US so only the law there matters. If that is unclear phoning and asking what the US law requires seems like the only way to find out.
    – user38879
    Sep 12, 2016 at 17:05
  • @pnuts, I thought it was clear from the question that he isn't in Iran and didn't think he is an Iranian citizen, so Iranian law wouldn't be obviously relevant for determining his status in the US. If it were Iran could disqualify all VWP nationals by passing a law declaring them to all be Iranian. A question about his status under US law, where he's traveling to, is a perfectly valid one, and absent a US law requiring him to look at Iranian law for an answer there's no reason to do that.
    – user38879
    Sep 12, 2016 at 18:54
  • @pnuts, I thought it was clear, though I can see why you'd say otherwise. I also thought it was clear that he was specifically asked to determine what he thought by looking at Iranian nationality law, but I'm happy we agree that wasn't relevant.
    – user38879
    Sep 12, 2016 at 19:40
  • 1
    @Dennis: The US law, as enacted by Congress, disqualifies citizens of Iran from using the VWP, without providing any operative definition what "citizens of Iran" means. That is indeed something the Iranian government decides. Why the US Congress would hand a foreign government the power to arbitrarily exclude individuals from the VWP is a good question, but they nevertheless appear to have done so. Sep 13, 2016 at 7:41

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .